CHAPTER 10
Where in Pluto’s dark hells is she?
Phin’s enthusiasm to find the woman he was going to marry had begun to wane around the time he checked the forty-fifth room for Olive, but not his determination. It was just that… Well, he’d searched the whole damn estate when he’d returned after speaking to Athena at Newfincy, starting with the bedrooms and ending with the kitchens, scullery, and the remarkably well-stocked cellars.
All he’d found for his troubles were some teasing grins from gentlemen who seemed to know exactly why he was looking for her, shocked expressions from the servants he’d interrupted, and a mediocre bottle of ‘77 claret he’d snagged from the wine cellar.
Oh, and his jacket.
Well, at least he was dressed now, and his clothes had dried out during his search. He was still wearing the sturdy costume he often wore while excavating and the tweed hid the mud well.
When he checked Olive’s room, he’d found his jacket draped across a chair, so he’d shrugged into it while checking his reflection in her mirror. His waistcoat was buttoned correctly, and he’d have to find a non-drenched hat before he could be considered proper, but at least he wouldn’t look like a complete barbarian when he proposed marriage to Olive.
On the other hand, she’dlikedhim in a kilt, hadn’t she?
Phin’s lips quirked upward. His brother, Lysander, was a bit of a clotheshorse, but swore that the ladies loved a man in a kilt. Of course, his oldest brother was known as the Beast of the Oliphants partially because of his propensity to wear such a barbaric garment, but Lysander was rarely wrong. He hadn’t been present much at the house party—busy with his estate—but he’d been here often enough to tease Phin about the Draw of the Kilt being still very muchen force.
But for now…
With a nod to himself in the mirror, he yanked on his lapels, making sure he was straight, then turned to continue his search.
It wasn’t until he was standing in the front entrance hall, twisting around rather helplessly, that he put his hand in the pocket of his jacket, and his fingers brushed paper.
Oh, aye, he’d forgotten the letter from the Society, which he’d shoved in there days ago. But...
He pulled it from his pocket and realized it had been unfolded and re-folded in the wrong direction before being forced back into the envelope. It was safe to assume it had been read in the intermediate time, and it was also safe to assumewhohad been doing said unfolding, reading, refolding.
Olive.
If Olive had read the letter from the Society, could that explain why he couldn’t find her right now?
The answer came in a flash.
Aye, ye wee stupid dobber. She thinks ye took her virginity and are jaunting off to London and the Holy Land without her!
Since his cheek was still sensitive from his sister’s slap, he amended that last chastisement to, “she gave ye her virginity,” and decided he liked that better anyhow.
He slapped the paper against his palm, working his way through the conundrum. If she thought he was leaving her, after everything they’d just shared, where would she be? Because now, more than ever, he needed to find her and explain his feelings.
“Mr. Oliphant?”
He whirled about, only to be faced with one of the many young misses attending the house party. Which one was she? “Miss…Bonnie, aye?”
The young lady was bonnie indeed, but not in the sparkling way of her blonde sister. This Miss Oliphant, whom Phin knew resided at the Oliphant Inn with her mother, the baroness who was also the proprietress, had the same sort of quiet beauty of his Olive.
Her lips curled slightly, and he wasn’t certain he could interpret the knowing look in her eyes. “Aye,” she drawled in imitation. “You look as if you are searching for someone?”
It was clear she knew exactly who he was searching for, and Phin didn’t have time to play games.
“Do ye ken where Olive is?” He didn’t even bother with propriety—if he were lucky, he’d soon win the right to call herOliveto whomever he wanted. “I need to find her.”
“Of course you do.” The woman’s grin grew. “I could not quite understand what she was going on about, but it had something to do with a riverbank and mud and something falling in.”
Phin was already shaking his head. “That was days ago. We thought thesphaerahad fallen into the ancient river mud, but excavations revealed we were mistaken.”
“I am not going to pretend to understand that, but Iwilltell you that the conversation I had with her was only about an hour ago.”
An hour ago.Afterthey’d returned? After they’d decided the excavation was a failure?
