On tiptoes, she tried to peek above the conveyances. A flash of brown from his jacket caught her eyes. For a moment she wondered why he wasn’t in uniform. “Alex,” she shrieked louder.
He turned and looked right at her. She waved madly and screamed his name again, but a carriage moved in front of her, blocking her vision. Without thinking what might happen, she ran into the street. Horses neighed and rose on their hind legs as drivers cursed, swerving to keep from hitting her.
From behind, the panicked cry from the dowager sliced through the air. Judith couldn’t stop to explain her actions to the older woman. Not yet.
Judith zigzagged between two more carriages before reaching the other side. The alley where she’d seen Alex was empty. Her heart plummeted and tears stung her eyes. Quickly, she scanned up and down the street again, looking, searching in panic. Where was he? He did see her, so why didn’t he answer her call?
Elbowing past the crowd of people on the walkway, she hurried in one direction, praying it would take her to Alex. Up the street, more shouting from drivers arose along with the neighing of horses. Without looking to see, she hoped her carelessness hadn’t caused the commotion.
She ran as fast as she could, clutching her dress in her fists as she held it up to her ankles, trying to keep her feet free. Strands of hair clung to her moist face, and she didn’t care that she’d left the shop without her bonnet. This was more important.
Ahead of her, another passageway approached fast. She turned and hurried into the alley, hoping this was the way Alex had gone. On the boardwalk, heavy footsteps clamored behind her mere seconds before someone grasped her elbow, bringing her to a stop.
“No.” She sobbed, trying to yank her arm away. “Let me go.”
“Judith, cease this improper display immediately.”
Trey’s voice calmed her frazzled nerves only slightly. She swung her head and gazed into his worried eyes. A scowl darkened his face as his lips pulled tight in a straight line.
“Trey, you must let me go.” Her voice broke and more tears filled her eyes. “I saw Alex.”
His eyes widened, and he glanced up and down the alley. “Where?”
“I saw him across the street from the dress shop first,” she said, pointing, “but then he ran in a different direction. I don’t know which way he went.” She clasped his hands with hers. “Trey, he looked right at me. He knows I’m here. Please, help me find him.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what he looks like.”
“He’s wearing a brown coat and tan breeches with black riding boots.”
Trey’s head swung toward the road. Worry creased his brows. “Judith, my sweet, that describes most of the men I see.”
Another sob came from her as she pulled away. “No, you have to do this for me. He’s very close, I can feel it.”
He pulled her in his arms. “My darling, I cannot.”
Panic surged through her. They had to keep looking. But even as she struggled in Trey’s arms, he wouldn’t let her go. “Please, Trey. You have to find him. Maybe he went behind these buildings—”
“My sweet, you are not listening to me. I told you, I don’t know what he looks like.”
“His hair is brown and curly, his eyes are brown,” she said with a shaky voice, but soon her cries wracked her body. She buried her face in Trey’s chest and let out her fury. This couldn’t be happening. So close, and yet so far, and to think Alex slipped right through her fingers.
“Shhh…” Trey stroked her back and shoulders. “If he’s this close, then I’m certain my solicitor will find him.”
Pain sliced through her heart, making her ache just like when she thought she’d first lost Alex. Yet, anger rose in her chest, because she had screamed his name. Why hadn’t he stopped when she called out to him? He looked right at her mere seconds before the carriage had blocked his path.
He had definitely seen her, yet ran in the opposite direction. Doubt clouded her thinking, wrenching her heart. The answerwas plain and simple. He hadn’t gone to the woodsman’s cottage to meet her because he didn’t love her any longer. And just now he’d avoided her, which told her he was too much of a coward to explain.
She pressed closer to Trey and his arms tightened around her. Warmth from his body blended quickly with hers, soothing her, and comforting her more than she expected. His scent of spice and leather clung to his clothes, and she resisted the urge to bury her face in his neck and be swept away.
“There she is!”
The call from the dowager duchess brought Judith from her momentary safe haven.
“Oh, good heavens child. What happened to you?”
Judith tried to pull away from Trey, but he continued to hold her in his strong arms, so she stopped struggling and settled against him, content to remain there. She pushed back the strands of hair hanging in her vision, wiped her eyes and looked into the worried face of the dowager. “Please forgive me, Your Grace, but—”
“Mother,” Trey interrupted. “She thought she saw a childhood friend, but she must have been mistaken, because I cannot see him, either. Seeing this person reminded her of home and when her parents were still alive.”
