Still nothing.
His heart beat a little faster.
Had something happened to her?
He was about to go in search of her when he heard someone humming a tune just outside the front door.
He let out a breath of relief, for Mrs.Gayle was coming up the walk with a shopping bag in hand.
“Your Grace, is anything wrong?”she asked, marching into the hall and immediately noticing his frown.
“I don’t know.”He took her gently by the elbow and escorted her back outside.“Wait here.I think someone might be in the apartment.Let me investigate first.”
She put a hand to her throat.“Oh, Your Grace.Do be careful.”
After years working for the London magistrate, he had been trained to always be on his guard.
He knew how to handle himself in a fight.
“Don’t worry about me.Chances are, if there was an intruder, he fled when he heard me open the door.”
Alex’s residence had two bedrooms upstairs, one of which had an ample dressing room attached to it.The other, he used as a study.The main floor contained a spacious parlor, a kitchen with a large pantry, and a dining room that could accommodate a party of up to twenty.Having a dining room of that size was quite ironic since he mostly kept to himself and never had anyone over to dine with him.
He made a quick search of the downstairs rooms, needing no more than a cursory inspection of the parlor, dining room, kitchen, and pantry to know there was no one lurking in them.There weren’t really any places a man could hide in those rooms.
Nor was there anything of notable value worth stealing.
He quietly made his way upstairs and opened the door to his study with care.
“Bollocks,” he muttered, immediately noticing the disaster made of it.
Papers that had been neatly stacked on his desk were strewn all over the floor.
Desk drawers had been yanked out and were also lying on the floor overturned.
Was this what Harold meant when he had said his brothers were indisposed?
“Of course,” he muttered, raking a hand through his hair, furious and frustrated that those louts had gotten the better of him.
While their eldest brother was talking to him, the younger ones had broken into his apartment to search for money or any valuables that could easily be stuffed into their pockets and later sold.
Or was it only documents they wanted?
It did not appear so, because they had merely shuffled through the papers on his desk and those tucked in his drawers before tossing them aside.
They were not going to find any sensitive documents in here, for he kept those in a hidden compartment under his bedroom floorboards.
Thankfully, his account books were left untouched and no bank drafts had been removed from his ledger.This confirmed they were looking for things that could easily be sold.
He released a breath, relieved the letter of intent he’d signed this morning concerning his betrothal had remained in his solicitor’s office for safeguarding.
He now patted the breast pocket of his jacket to make certain his marriage license was still there.
Yes, it was.
Staring at the mess, he decided it was safest to carry the license with him at all times for these next two days until the wedding.
He’d kept one hundred pounds in a decorative jar on the fireplace mantel.The jar was shattered and the money missing.
