Whatever becomes of me, know that Ashford will always remain the place where I remembered how to live.
Charlotte
Julian’s sobbing dragged him back to the present.
“You have to go after her,” Julian insisted, tears streaking his face. “You have to bring her home. She’s part of our family now. She can’t just leave.”
Edward folded the letter carefully, though his hands wanted to crush it.
“I do not know where she has gone,” he admitted hoarsely.
Julian stared at him in disbelief. “You always know everything.”
“I do not know this,” Edward replied, already rising. “But I will.”
He dressed quickly, every movement precise despite the turmoil under his ribs.
Clara remained near the door.
“She left before dawn,” she said softly. “She did not wish to wake the household.”
“Where?” Edward demanded.
Clara hesitated only briefly. “She went to her cousin’s. Beatrice lives on Hawthorne Street. I can give you the address.”
Relief and fury collided inside him, sharp and undeniable.
“Thank you,” he said curtly, already reaching for his coat.
Julian caught his sleeve. “Bring her back,” he pleaded.
Edward crouched before him and took his shoulders firmly. “I will bring her home.”
Not to Ashford.
Home.
He rode hard enough that the early morning air burned in his lungs. The streets were barely stirring when he reached Beatrice’s door, dismounted without ceremony, and struck the knocker with force that echoed down the narrow lane.
The door opened sooner than expected.
Beatrice stood there, startled but composed.
“Your Grace—”
“Where is she?” Edward demanded. “I must speak to her at once.”
Beatrice studied him, and whatever she saw seemed to settle something in her.
“She left at first light,” she said. “She was asking questions. About the road near Hawthorne Hollow. About the carriage.”
Edward went still. “She intends to investigate it herself?”
“Yes. “Beatrice’s voice softened. “And when she feels she must think clearly—when she feels she does not belong anywhere else—she goes to the lake near there. It is where her family used to walk. Where she went after … after the accident.”
The implication needed no further explanation.
Edward’s jaw tightened. “You should have sent for me.”
