Lady Charlene stepped in, her tone low and grim. “There’s been… a jest.”
Sebastian’s gut dropped. “What jest?” His voice scraped out, hollow with dread.
Charlene winced. “Her mother and his. And the two of them.” She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, as though ashamed to say it aloud.
His pulse roared in his ears.
“But Maddie would never take it seriously,” Ashley rushed to say, her voice cracking. “Not since…” Her hand moved vaguely, gesturing toward Sebastian. Her eyes shimmered with guilt.
Of course, he thought, jaw clenching. They all knew.
And yet.
Paisley…
Sebastian turned toward Thomas. “He wouldn’t—” The rest snagged in his throat. It was too dark a thought, too monstrous.
Thomas rose slowly, his expression carved from stone. He didn’t need to speak. The look in his eyes was enough.
Sebastian’s stomach knotted as a single, brutal truth slammed into him.
We’re already too late.
“We need to save her.” Thomas made for the door.
“Now,” Sebastian said, voice grim. If Paisley had done this, he wouldn’t draw it out. He’d have everything already planned and in place. He wouldn’t leave anything to chance again—not after he lost a wager with Linsey when his friend married Lady Ashley. “We check every church first.”
Rotheworth stilled. “You think he has a special license?”
“I think the rogue planned this.” Sebastian’s eyes blazed. “And if he means to make her his by force, he’ll have to kill me first. And nothing—and nobody—can help him if he’s laid a finger on her.”
Ashley’s voice trembled. “We must leave immediately!”
Thomas was already issuing orders to a footman in the hall. Rotheworth tossed back his brandy and crossed to the door. “Agreed.”
“I’m coming too,” Lady Charlene declared, chin lifted in a stubborn fashion.
“Of course,” Rotheworth said. “The men will ride ahead, you and Lady Ashley can follow in a carriage.”
Sebastian’s jaw flexed. He nodded once. “We’ll start with the churches within ten miles. One of them will have seen him. If we don’t find them by nightfall—”
“We’ll keep riding,” Rotheworth said grimly. “Church by church, house by house. We’ll find them.”
Charlene’s voice shook with barely restrained fury. “And when we do, I want the first slap.”
“No, the first slap is mine,” Lady Ashley said. “You can have the second.”
Sebastian gave a hard nod. “After I break his skull.”
He stormed from the room, rage and dread propelling him faster than reason. Behind him, the household erupted into motion—coats grabbed, boots stamped, doors flung wide.
But in his heart, only one thing mattered.
Maddie was gone.
And he would bring her back—or die trying.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
