“I will not argue on that point.”
What remained of the morning passed slowly. Lydia enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Aunt Emma, hearing all about the salon she and Lord Beasley had attended the night before and even raising her brows at a few suspected scandals that might be brewing.
Once her aunt was settled in the drawing room with a book and her knitting, Lydia met with her brother’s cook, and then the housekeeper, performing a few of the tasks that Blackheart’s duchess would eventually take on.
Just as she and Mrs. Duckworth finished locking away the silver, Mr. Hill appeared in the doorway.
“A Mrs. Mumford here to see you, my lady.”
Lydia had to think a moment before she could place the name. What was Ollie’s governess doing coming here?
“Why on earth…?” And then it dawned on her that something must be wrong. “Where is she?”
“I’ve asked her to wait in the north drawing room.”
Not taking time to untie her apron, Lydia rushed from the dining room toward the front of the house where she found the governess pacing back and forth and wringing her hands.
“What’s happened?” Lydia didn’t bother wasting time with niceties.
“Master Oliver is missing, my lady. A short while ago, I found him outside in the garden with two older boys. They were obviously from the docks, and His Lordship has made it very clear the child wasn’t to associate with them. Mrs. Crone, of course, shooed them away. I thought nothing was amiss when Master Oliver returned without argument to the nursery, but I went to check on the nuncheon, and he was gone when I came back. We’ve turned the entire house upside down looking for him, and Lady Tempest says good riddance, but I’m worried. Those boys…” Mrs. Mumford paused long enough to shudder. “They’re trouble. And Oliver was doing so well.”
“Did you send for Lord Tempest?”
“We have, but he isn’t in his offices.”
Lydia refused to panic. “Sit down. We’ll find him. Ollie will be fine.”
Lydia set her mind immediately to sifting through the various possible scenarios. “Lord Tempest must be at the warehouse.” Or perhaps the offices of the new company he’d purchased.
But Lydia wasn’t willing to sit around waiting for a servant to locate him. If these little thieves and thugs knew where Ollie had been living, they might also know that his new guardian was the same man who was making trouble for the gang bosses.
Ollie had hidden in the warehouse once before. It was likely he’d do so again. It was possible that he’d already found Jeremy himself.
Lydia burst to her feet again. “Return to Lord Tempest’s residence and wait there in case Ollie returns on his own.” Perhaps Ollie was just being curious. That was possible but…
“I’ll go to the warehouse myself and send word as soon as I’ve found him.” She ushered the governess out the front door and, at Mr. Hill’s startled expression, relayed the situation. She needed a carriage right away, and her coat. There wasn’t time to change.
“A carriage was scheduled for your aunt, but you can take it instead. And Reginald and Trevor are coming along.” Mr. Hill didn’t ask if she wished to have the manservants go with her, he simply told her this.
Already thinking of all the places Ollie might be hiding, she simply nodded, eager to get to the warehouse.
“Very well, but we must hurry!” She slid her arms into her coat and then pulled on her gloves, moving anxiously toward the door as she did so. So far, luck appeared to be on her side as the carriage pulled up almost immediately after she’d stepped outside.
“The Tuesday Warehouse, John!” she shouted up. “And hurry, please!”
A small boy’s life might be at stake!
She was barely aware of the two footmen hopping onto the back as the carriage pulled into the street and turned toward East London.
If she didn’t locate Ollie right away at the warehouse, she’d drive straight to the shipping company’s office to alert Jeremy. She wasn’t precisely sure where it was located, but surely, John would know? Oh, dear, what would she do if he didn’t? The last thing she wanted was to drive around aimlessly in search of him while poor little Ollie…
She halted that train of thought. Dwelling on worst case scenarios had never been something she’d practiced.
He’s fine. He has to be fine.Ollie was likely hiding somewhere in the warehouse—or better yet, in Jeremy’s townhouse.
Not until they turned onto Wapping Street did she stop to remember the promise she’d made to Jeremy about coming there alone. But she did have two manservants with her. And her driver.
And this was an emergency!
