If they could find her.
*
Sebastian strode throughthe east wing, heart pounding, boots striking hard and fast across the marble. He’d searched every room in this castle—twice. Her bedchamber, all the other chambers, the kitchen, the music room, the parlor, the conservatory, even the bloody linen closet. Maddie was nowhere.
“Have you seen Miss Maddie?” he barked at a footman passing him.
The poor man nearly jerked out of his livery. “No, my lord. Not since breakfast.”
Sebastian turned on his heel and strode toward the back of thehouse.
He’d already questioned half the staff. One maid mentioned seeing Maddie heading toward the stables. So he’d gone there, calling her name, tearing through the stalls like a man half-mad.
Nothing.
No Maddie. No note. No sign of her.
Just a hollow, echoing silence that clung to the air and whispered of something very, very wrong. He should have found her by now, but it was as though she’d vanished from the estate. As though she’d never been here. As though this entire time had all been a dream.
But it wasn’t.
He burst through more doors, more rooms, eyes scanning, breath harsh. This wasn’t like her. She wouldn’t simply vanish.
He climbed the stairs two at a time, then descended again after sweeping the guest floor once more. Still nothing. The panic clawing up his throat now threatened to choke him.
By the time he stepped into the drawing room, he knew he must have looked half-wild. When Lady Ashley glanced up from her book, alarm flickered across her face. Thomas, beside her, set down his brandy.
“She’s not in the house,” Sebastian said tightly. “I’ve checked every room. Twice.”
Ashley set aside her book. “You mean Maddie?”
“Of course I mean Maddie! Have you seen her? Did she say anything about going to town?”
It was the only other option that made sense—but his gut rejected it.
Ashley blinked, confused. “No. She would have told me. We were going to walk in the gardens later.”
Sebastian scrubbed a hand through his hair. “She’s not in the stables either. I thought—I don’t know. Someone saidthey saw her heading there.”
Thomas straightened, frowning. “So she left the house, but there’s no sign of her in the stables, and no one’s seen her since?”
Sebastian’s mouth tightened. “Exactly.”
Ashley stood. “Are you certain—?”
“Yes!” he snapped, then immediately softened. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—just… something’s wrong. I know it.”
A silence fell, heavy and pulsing with tension.
Then Rotheworth and Lady Charlene stepped into the room, brows raised at the gathering.
“What’s happened?” the man asked.
“Maddie’s missing,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to figure out where she’s gone.”
“How can that be?” Lady Charlene asked. She eyed Sebastian. “Why isn’t she with you?”
Sebastian’s chest tightened. For a moment, he should’ve been surprised they knew. But no—he should have expected it. If he weren’t so worried, he’d be flattered Maddie had told them. But there was no time for that now.
