“Noon, I believe.”
At that she raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t that rather late for you?”
“Yes, well, I’m no longer accustomed to being out at all hours of night.”
“So, she left sometime between…say three in the morning and noon?”
“That is my estimation.”
“And nobody saw her leave?”
“If they did, I wouldn’t be here wondering where she’d gone.”
“There’s no reason to be sharp,” his mother scolded.
No, there wasn’t. “I apologize.”
“Do you think her brother may have come to take her away?”
Henry thought on it for a moment, but found it unlikely. Not in the middle of the night. Had he, Jeffries would have alerted him. “I don’t believe she’s with her brother.”
“So where do you think she’s gone?”
His mother was so blasted calm that it added to Henry’s irritation. “If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t be here looking for her, now would I.”
“Calm yourself, Henry, and tell me what happened. Why would she leave?”
“How the blazes would I know?” He stood and began pacing, ignoring the tea his mother had provided. “I took her in when it wasn’t required. I could have turned her and her brother away, but instead, I assumed guardianship, rid her of her Irish lilt and taught her to actually pronounce a “g” at the end of a word when required.”
“Is that so?” His mother observed as she reclined back in the settee, watching him.
“I gave her a roof over her head, food, and all comforts afforded to her station as my ward.”
“Go on.”
“We worked together and Miss Doyle became invaluable in her assistance with returning correspondence and keeping the library tidy.”
“Did you ever thank her?”
Henry turned on his mother. “Thank her?”
“If she’s so invaluable to you, then I assume you thanked her for her assistance.”
Henry pushed his fingers through his hair, trying to recall. Yet, he couldn’t remember.
“And this wager, between you and Pickmore.”
He stilled. “You knew about that?”
“Of course, dear. Pickmore told me. I advised against it, of course, but the two of you went ahead, molding Miss Doyle into a proper miss and presenting her to society, to fool them into thinking she was someone she wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he argued weakly.
“It wasn’t?” Her eyebrow lifted. “Then, how was it?”
Henry had no answer.
“You took her for granted. She allowed you to change her, then you dressed her up and took her to a ball, and for what?”
