Blast, he had given the man the day off. “Is he at least here?”
“No. He left early this morning. I don’t know where he’s gone.” The maid was shrinking further and further into herself.
“And Mrs. Peade. Has she left the house as well?”
“Yes,” the maid squeaked.
“Well, have a footman find them both and bring them back here. One of them must know where Eve has gone.” And when he found her, he’d drag her back to him where she belonged!
Bloody hell! She was out there. Alone. Anything could happen to her.
Henry’s stomach churned. Why had she left? Why now?
Where had she gone and what was he to do?
He needed her, didn’t she realize that?
Chapter 16
“Mother!” Henry called as soon as he entered the townhouse that he’d left not twelve hours earlier. The servants were still busy cleaning up from the ball and setting the place to rights but his mother wasn’t about.
With each passing moment, since Eve had disappeared, his heart had not let up on its fierce pounding and if this kept up, it might just come right out of his chest.
“Mother!” he yelled again.
“Henry, what is it?” she called from the top of the stairs.
“Eve! I mean, Miss Doyle. Is she here?”
His mother frowned. “I haven’t seen her since last night.”
“Damn and blast!” he pounded the wooden balustrade.
“Come up and tell me what this is about.”
Henry looked up at the woman who gave him birth. “She’s left me.”
“Left you?”
“Yes, left me,” he answered with a bit of indignation. “That’s what I said.”
“Come up. We’ll have some tea and you can explain.”
“I don’t have time for tea.”
“Yes, you do!” Her sharp order took him back to a time when he still wore short pants and his mother’s demeanor hadn’t changed since that time, with her arms crossed before her and an eyebrow raised. It was a demand not to be ignored, and feeling much like he had as a child, Henry climbed the stairs, ready to be chastised for whatever he’d done.
Of course, he’d done absolutely nothing he shouldn’t have, but suspected his mother might not agree.
By the time he reached her sitting room, Henry’s mother was already seated and pouring tea.
“Tell me what has happened?” she asked slowly, just as she had done when he was a child. “I don’t think you’ve been this anxious since…well, it’s been quite some time.”
Well, he wasn’t usually an excitable fellow. Not even when his father and brother died and Henry suddenly found himself being addressed as Kilsyth instead of Cochran.
“Eve…Miss Doyle left sometime after I retired and before I rose today, and took all of her belongings with her.”
“What time was that, dear?” she asked as she handed Henry a cup of tea.
