Silence.
Keaton stood, senses heightened and alert for the slightest hint of anyone remaining in the hallway. He visualized the layout in his mind, picturing the position of each door and trying to gauge which one had opened to admit Hale and Georgia.
It was impossible to be certain, and he had no intention of opening each door and listening for occupants in the room beyond, or even calling out. He gritted his teeth, hand reaching for and finding the hilt of an antique saber that he knew his uncle kept attached to the wall in just that place. The leather-wrapped hilt warmed against his hand, feeling welcoming. His anger surged hot, smouldering coals fanned to blistering heat.
Slowly, he brought it under control. Gradually, that forge fire heat became a simmer. He released the ornamental sword, gritting his teeth.
It all becomes clear now. Painfully clear. The letter of distress to summon her to Silverton. There was no letter. It was a ruse to allow her to leave the house alone and rendezvous with Lord Hale. But what to do about it?
He turned, knowing the location of Edric’s study further along the corridor. There he could sit and think, alone and in the dark. Had he been manipulated from the beginning? If so, he now needed to discern what Georgia’s plan had been.Ifthere was a plan and not his raging paranoia. To inveigle herself into his affections? To gain some foothold financially through their entirely legal marriage, even if it was morally devoid of substance? And how to end it without a scandal ensuing that would make the original seem like a children’s game.
The ton will have enjoyed gossiping about the Lady who was found atop a blind Duke. The Blind Duke, in fact. How much more they will love hearing of the cuckolded Blind Duke taken advantage of by an unscrupulous woman and her lover. I will not be a laughing stock!
CHAPTER 14
Georgia laughed at a joke by Lady Gertrude Cranstan, wife of the Earl of East Anglia. It was not funny, but everyone else tittered, and she wanted to seem polite. So far, the half dozen ladies who had been left by their husbands seemed to be accepting her, even deferring to her rank. This was a surprise to Georgia and somewhat gratifying. She wished she were free to enjoy it, though. Her mind kept returning to Amelia.
What are they up to? They would not hurt her, I know that.
The Vexleys had doted on Amelia, giving her preferential treatment over Georgia. She had accepted it—Amelia was their only daughter after all. So what harm could Amelia possibly come to under their care?
“I say, where is that lovely girl, Lady Alison?” asked Lady Jane, wife of the Viscount Tring. “I had a fascinating conversation with her over dinner that you really must all hear.”
Georgia had not had the opportunity to speak to Lady Alison, the only unwed guest to attend. She glanced around the drawing room in which the ladies had congregated, but the pretty young lady was nowhere to be seen.
“She is the daughter of Godalming, isn’t she?” Lady Jane asked.
“I believe so,” Lady Gertrude piped up. “Knew her grandmother well. Don’t know the granddaughter.”
“I believe she arrived with Lord Hale,” Georgia put in, recalling seeing Lady Alison and Lord Hale putting their heads together more than once at dinner.
And what a relief. At one point, I thought Lord Hale was being distinctly flirtatious towards me. I hope I was sufficiently aloof to discourage him...
Georgia had realized that evening exactly how little she knew of the game played between men and women at events such as this. Thankfully, Keaton had appeared distracted. She did not think he had heard much of the brief exchange with Lord Hale.
I do not know if he is the jealous type, and do not wish to find out. I must stay in the good books of both him and his uncle until the promised help of finding Elias materializes.
“Well, we are one short of a four for bridge. Assuming she plays. Where can she have got to?” Lady Jane said, querulously.
“I will endeavour to find out,” Georgia said, standing.
The other two protested but did not rise. Georgia outranked them both but was also younger, lacking as much grey in her hair as they lacked any other color on their own. She smiled and assured them she should welcome the chance to look around such a fine old house as Swinthorpe, then excused herself and left the room.
I will have the opportunity to ask one particular question of Lady Alison, namely: Where did you get your perfume?
Georgia had noticed that Lady Alison seemed to favor the same kind of fragrance that she did, of which Georgia had very little left. That Keaton seemed to like it made her want to procure another bottle. She ambled along a hallway that was quiet and with no sign of Lady Alison. She timidly knocked on a door and opened it a crack, looking into a dark room. Then she tried another, hesitant about trying random doors in someone else’s house but not knowing how else to find her quarry.
Two more doors revealed darkness and silence. From somewhere ahead, she heard a sound from behind a door, and from somewhere else the distinctive noise of men at some game or another. She headed towards the smaller sound, came to a door which she knocked at, then opened. Again, she was met with darkness and was about to close the door when she heard the rustle of movement again.
Oh Lord, please tell me I have not waltzed into a darkened room in which Lady Alison and Lord Hale are engaged in something I should not see!
Georgia was about to quickly and quietly close the door again, leaving whoever it was to whatever it was, when a voice came from the dark.
“Ah, Georgia. Lost your way returning to the drawing room?”
It was Keaton’s voice, but Georgia could not see from whence the voice came. She pushed the door wider and exposed more of the room beyond to the light of the lamps that lit the hallway. But those lamps could only reach so far. The side of the room was still dark.
“Keaton? No, I did not. I was looking for Lady Alison to make up a four for bridge. Why are you not with the other men?”
