“I promise to settle down one day.”
His brother raised his eyebrows. “Is there a lady who might tempt you?”
Damian sighed. He would like to tell Luke about Lady Diana and how utterly fascinating she was, but that would only give his brother false hope. “Not while there’s important work to be done.”
Luke rose to stab the glowing coals with the poker. Sparks flew up the chimney. “Then I expect I shall go on worrying.”
“How did the spring planting go? Have enough seasonal workers?” Damian asked to distract him.
A servant brought in a tray with a warm meat pie that flavored the air and placed it, as well as a small dish of sauce, some cheese and pickle, and a pile of bread and butter before him. As Damian ate, Luke spoke about yields, the recent work undertaken, and the latest happenings in the village. Damian was glad to see his brother’s eyes had brightened. He would spend the next few weeks here with Luke, until summoned by Lady Diana, and hoped to find his brother even more eager to embrace his future when he returned.
Chapter Eleven
Ashburnham House settledinto its usual routine. Grandmama had returned to her townhouse in London to see friends before it grew too hot, and Papa began a new painting. When Diana met him at dinner, once he’d enquired after her day, he became lost in his thoughts while gazing at her speculatively. Was he considering another husband for her? Although his standards were high, so far, those he’d chosen had failed to suit her, which made her nervous. She relied on his usual disinterest when she must broach the subject of her visit to Penny.
Diana hadn’t yet received a reply from Penny. She dealt with her impatience by riding over the meadows until Artemis was ready for her stall, and she was a little calmer.
Five days later, their butler, Burrows, handed Diana the post with a smile as she hovered in the hall. The letter had come from Bath. Two pages, crossed and crammed into every available space. The postage would be expensive. Heart beating fast, Diana hurried upstairs to read it.
How absolutely intriguing!Penny wrote.An adventure! Is the earl very handsome? I am guessing he is! Of course you may come a little later than expected. I shall find an excuse to satisfy Mama. I love intrigues! If only I could play a bigger part in it. But I have met someone, Diana!A paragraph followed, describing the paragon Penny loved desperately.He is so very charming. It’s too early to tell, but I am hopeful we might suit.
Diana turned the paper on its side to read the last few lines.I pray you find Anne, the sweetest person you could ever meet. She, of all people, did not deserve such a horrid fate. I hope you bring good news when you arrive. Even the smallest suspicion that she might still live. Shall I have a glimpse of your handsome protector? I am consumed with curiosity, and I can’t wait to see you.
At her desk, Diana took out a sheet of bond. She would write to convey her delight at Penny’s news and her promise to tell her all when they met, if there was much to tell. But first, she must write to Ballantine. She took out the card he had given her with his estate and Mayfair addresses, tucked into her glove drawer. As she dipped her quill in the inkpot, excitement rose in her chest like bubbles of champagne. Finally, she could search for Anne. She could read the doubt in Penny’s words, but Diana refused to consider the possibility her friend, Anne, would never be found. It was too painful. She would ensure this letter went off in the next post and then must wait for Ballantine’s reply. She had written that she’d been unable to locate the Hare and Hounds Inn and relied on him to do so.
In her letter, she described Anne’s home in Chippenham, and the woodland where the kidnapping had taken place. She described the location where the coach had been held up, which was not a great distance from Anne’s home. The inn could not be more than a half day’s ride away.So, as you see, it all occurred within a relatively small area. I know you will say it made it expedient for a quick escape, but what if there’s another reason? What if the rogue has a property in the vicinity? Even Bristol is not very far away, especially if they traveled by the back roads.
She signed it, put down her pen, and blotted the paper, hoping she’d made an excellent case for Ballantine to take up her cause. He wouldn’t refuse her now, would he?
After another agonizing wait of almost a week, Ballantine’s letter arrived. Diana snatched it up from the silver salver in the hall and whisked it away before it came to her father’s notice. Closing her bedroom door, she sat at her desk and broke the seal. She unfolded the page with trembling fingers.
It was a brisk letter, merely signed with his title. As her coachman would take her to Bath, Ballantine wrote, he would take her and her maid up in his carriage in Milsom Street near the corner of Green Street, the day of her arrival, which he trusted would be Monday next, at one o’clock. If something occurred to prevent her, she was to send a message to Longview Hall.
She considered Milsom Street a good choice. It wasn’t far from the Howards’ townhouse. She could walk there when she returned to Bath. The coachman would accept her excuse that she needed to do some last-minute shopping. The street was always crowded with shoppers and visitors to the town. She would have to pack lightly in a portmanteau she could carry herself; otherwise, their driver, Horace, would insist on delivering her luggage to Penny’s house.
Diana turned her attention to her clothes while wrestling with another problem. Her lady’s maid fussed around the bedchamber, helping her select what to take. Diana could not have her involved. She gazed at the slim, red-haired girl who carefully folded a spencer. “Tims, would you like to visit your mother while I’m in Bath?”
“I would, my lady,” Tims said with a grin.
“The coach will drop you there on my way to Bath, and I’ll pick you up again later. But don’t mention it to the staff, will you?” She laughed. “Or everyone will want the same.”
Tims’s freckled face grew serious. “I won’t say a word, my lady.”
“I know I can rely on you, Tims. I’ll take the blue muslin,” Diana said, pleased the issue of her maid had been easy to take care of. Tims wouldn’t tell—she was too wary of Grandmama.
Diana could only be grateful her grandmother had not returned from London to the dower house, where she could be called upon to accompany Diana to Bath.
She pulled out her cape, smiling at the thought of what lay ahead. Days spent in Ballantine’s company, and finding Anne and freeing her from her abductor. Did he hold her in the hope that more money might be forthcoming?
*
Damian spent theevening in the library after dinner, explaining to his bemused brother why he must dash off to Bath.
“Is it a lady?” Luke asked again.
“A lady in distress, you might say,” Damian conceded.
“Aha!”
