“But you did keep certain discoveries from me, did you not?” He blew out his air and scratched his fingers over his head. “So is this the real reason for Mr. Rowe’s presence here?”
“I told you I saw him in London. Mr. Rowe was already watching Mr. Bauer on behalf of one of his clients, but he was also concerned that Mr. Bauer might try to take advantage of the Society. Over the course of the last few days, we uncovered more evidence against Mr. Bauer, and then today the most condemning evidence arrived.” She still had the obituary in her possession from when she and Gabriel had been talking in the conservatory. She took it from her pocket and shared it with her father.
He accepted the slip of paper, retrieved his spectacles from the welt pocket of his loose waistcoat, and propped them on his nose.
“Our symposium speaker, whoever he is, isnotThomas Bauer. He tricked Mr. Hawthorne into believing he was a phrenologist. He tricked everyone.”
After reading the paper, her father removed his spectacles, pinched the bridge of his nose, and exhaled noisily.
She could sense what he was thinking. How could something like this happen? How would they be able to explain this to the Society members? In a few hours the members would wake and find that their guest of honor not only had played them all for fools but also had stolen money from them.
“What a predicament,” he said at last. The fire’s light cast shadows, emphasizing the deep lines of worry in his brow. “I fear what will happen when this news spreads. This could very well spell the end of, well,everything.”
Without warning, the door flung open on it hinges, nearly slamming the wall behind it. Ella jerked and whirled around in her chair.
Mr. Hawthorne stood in the doorway, appearing every bit as disheveled as her father. Instead of sad contemplation, anger darkened his round face. His heavy jowls shook with each word, and outrage narrowed his eyes. “She’s gone, do you know that? And that Gutt fellow too. Their things are gone. Completely!”
Confused at the onslaught of information, Ella asked, “Who’s gone?”
“Miss Sutton!” he cried, incredulous. “Her chamber’s empty. Everything’s gone.”
Stunned, Ella looked at her father. Suddenly even more of the pieces lined up.
Miss Sutton had always been supportive and enthusiastic about Mr. Bauer, but Ella had thought she was simply in awe of the man’s talent. Never did she suspect that the woman might be involved somehow. It almost made sense. According to Phoebe, Miss Sutton had been instrumental in facilitating and encouraging the friendship between Mr. Hawthorne and Mr. Bauer. She had likely been manipulating Mr. Hawthorne’s affections this entire time. She even encouraged Phoebe’s infatuation with Mr. Bauer.
“Someone needs to answer for this.” Mr. Hawthorne’s indignant words pulled Ella back to the present.
Pointing out that this entire situation was his decision wouldn’t be easy, but truthfully, Mr. Hawthorne had been swindled. And in that regard, she felt sorry for him.
What her father said was true—when word of this got out, it spelled the end of everything they all had worked so hard for. Ella covered her father’s withered hand with her own. She had no idea what the next several hours would bring, but the sense that their entire world was about to shift settled heavily on her shoulders.
Chapter 35
IT WAS Acouple of hours after midnight when Gabriel stood outside the door to Miss Hawthorne’s chamber, preparing himself for what might await him inside.
His clothes and hair were still damp from his foray into the nighttime air in search of Bauer, and the rugged scent of horses and the forest still clung to him. He and two footmen had ridden to the village. The woods. Over every bit of meadow and field within several miles of Keatley Hall.
They’d found nothing. Not a single trail or trace of Bauer.
Gabriel would not waste time being frustrated or questioning the decisions he’d made up until this point. He had to stay calm, rational, and focused, for he had to stay ready for anything that might come next.
Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck and shook out the tension gathering in his shoulders before he tapped his knuckles against the door to announce his presence before entering Miss Hawthorne’s chamber.
Before Gabriel could say a word, Mr. Hawthorne jumped fromhis chair near the fire, his finely tailored coat askew on his torso, his eyes wild. “Well? Did you find him?”
Gabriel quickly assessed the firelit room. Mrs. Chatterly and Mr. Parker sat on the far side of the canopied bed. Ella was seated beneath the window. Mr. Wilde was absent. Gabriel shook his head and closed the door. “No. How is Miss Hawthorne?”
Ella stood and tightened her shawl around her shoulders. “No change.”
His gaze fell to the bed where the normally vibrant, energetic young woman now lay motionless, her paleness emphasized by the dried blood on the bandage over her forehead.
Mr. Hawthorne forged ahead, the pitch and volume of his voice unusually high. “Are you aware that Miss Sutton has vanished? Her chamber is completely empty! Every single item is gone. Gutt, also, is nowhere to be found.”
Gabriel glanced toward Ella to gauge her response, and she nodded slightly. It made sense to him that Gutt was gone. But Miss Sutton?
Hawthorne continued, “Also, the magistrate has arrived. A fellow named Moore. He’s in the great hall speaking with the servants and Wilde. He said he wanted to wait to go through the boxes and trunk Bauer left behind until you were here to give a statement since you were the last to see him. We should head down there as soon as you’re ready.”
After a brief discussion, it was decided that Mrs. Chatterly and Mr. Parker would stay with Miss Hawthorne, and the others made their way down to the great hall. Once introductions had been made to Mr. Moore and a constable by the name of Jones, they continued down to the basement-level storage area.
