Driven by a mad impulse, Anthony bent to scoop up the Panda. Many cats didn’t like being picked up, but the Panda settled onto Anthony’s arm as if being carried around was his due. Anthony petted him and received a rumbling purr in return.
“Panda,” he said softly. “You’re about to go on another journey. Don’t worry, your meals will still be regular. And God willing, your lady will come after you.” He pulled one of the capes of the voluminous coat over the cat and walked out into the weeping rain.
* * *
Diana was too disturbed to concentrate on her editing, so she switched to writing letters. When even that pastime proved hopeless, she took refuge in the arrival of Jane’s shipment of Indian wares. She spent a delightful afternoon inventorying jewelry, carvings, shawls, scarves, and more. Jane had a wonderful eye for what was special and beautiful.
Diana chose some of the very best pieces to use as samples when she looked for new outlets for their goods after the holidays. Then she picked out presents for her family and friends. She’d made substantial inroads on the shipment by the time she finished, but she kept track of it all, and having people wear the presents would be good for business later.
Only then did she wonder where the Panda was. Ordinarily he would have joined her and she’d have had to protect the delicate silks and shawls from his claws, but he hadn’t shown up. He was probably indulging himself in an all-day nap, or he’d been accidentally shut into a room, though she’d often suspected that he had the magical ability to pass through solid doors.
She didn’t start to worry until he failed to show up for dinner. Henevermissed meals! The Spook had gone with Rory and Gabriel to his grandparents’ estate. Could the Panda be mourning because his friend was gone?Where could he be?
She moved through the house asking all the servants if they’d seen him. No one had. What if he’d slipped out when Anthony left? What if he’d been run down by a carriage or attacked by a dog or was shivering helplessly in the cold rain?
She was almost frantic when the footman delivered a note sealed with the Castleton arms. Anthony had not been happy when he’d left, so she broke the seal warily. Though he was entitled to hurl invective at her, she hoped he was too much a gentleman for that.
The message was short and to the point:
If you ever want to see the Panda again, come to the lodge.
She read it again, then again, her eyes wide with astonishment. The lodge had to be the one on the Castleton estate. A good distance from the main house, it had once been the home of a forester and his family. Quiet and cozy, it was a favorite retreat of Anthony’s. It had also been their meeting place in that golden summer.
She read the note again, then balled it up in her fist and snarled, “I’m going to kill him.I’m bloody going to kill him!”
* * *
Since he couldn’t leave Diana to worry about her cat for very long, Anthony had to work fast. He sent a note to Athena and Will at their Oxfordshire home to say he’d been delayed and wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it for the family Christmas.
He was interrupted by the Panda politely reminding him that food would be welcome. The cat found poached salmon very agreeable. He was a highly adaptable feline.
It wasn’t unusual for Anthony to retreat to the lodge when he wanted peace and quiet, so it was well stocked with fuel, staple foods, and high-quality drink. It also had painfully pleasant memories of the times he’d spent there with Diana.
Any new memories of her at the lodge would be explosive, because she was going to show up blazing like a cavalry charge. Understandably so; abducting a lady’s beloved cat was very low, but it was the only thing he could imagine that was guaranteed to bring Diana after him. Once she arrived, well, he couldn’t predict what would happen, but he thought he would achieve certainty at last.
With hampers full of delicacies and a hastily improvised cat carrier that was comfortably padded for the Panda, he set off for Raines Abbey and the isolated lodge where he’d known both heaven and hell.
Chapter 10
Hoping to catch Anthony before he left London, Diana ordered the Vance carriage that had been left for her convenience to take her to Castleton House. Icy winter rain saturated her cloak in the short dash from her coach to the duke’s front door.
The knocker was up, so she hoped the scoundrel was still there. The Castleton knocker was a massive ram’s head, a creature that figured prominently in the Raines family coat of arms. She wielded it ferociously, the boom echoing through the house.
When a footman opened the huge door, she swept into the atrium entry hall, not caring that she was dripping all over the mosaic floor. An earlier duke had probably stolen it from a Roman temple. She snapped at the footman, “Tell your disgraceful master that Lady Diana Lawrence demands to see himright now!”
Nervously the footman said, “I’m sorry, my lady, but His Grace just left for his country estate.”
“How long since he left?”
“Perhaps an hour?” The footman looked as if he couldn’t wait for this madwoman to depart.
She swore and swirled to go, managing to bang the heavy door as she left. It was late and the weather was wretched. The roads would be in dreadful shape.
No matter. She knew where he was going, and Raines Abbey wasn’t far, less than a day’s journey away in Berkshire, not very distant from the Lawrence family estate. She’d go and collect the Panda and continue on to her family gathering.
After she wrung that traitorous duke’s neck.
* * *
