My hand went up to my neck, as if I expected it to still be there. “What happened to it?”
“Did it fall off at some point yesterday? I don’t recall you wearing it when you came in to prepare for bed.”
Panic seized me as I stood and scanned the room. “The last time I recall touching it was at Victoria Station. Once we arrived here, I don’t remember thinking about it again until now.”
Had I lost it at the station?
“It was old,” Gallagher said with a frown. “Perhaps the clasp broke and it slipped off.”
“No.” I shook my head and went to the bed, pulling back the covers.
“It wouldn’t be there,” Gallagher said. “I don’t remember you wearing it when you came into the room last night.”
“I need to find the locket. It’s the only link—” I almost said it was the only link to my parents, but despite Gallagher probably knowing the truth about me, she and I had never talked about my origins.
A knock at the door summoned Gallagher and she spoke to a maid.
“Lady Mandeville is here,” she said to me. “The maid will take you to the north parlor to meet with her.”
“I cannot meet with her until I find my locket.” I lifted the pillow off the bed to look beneath.
“I’ll search for it,” Gallagher said as she took the pillow from me. “If it’s in this house, I will find it.”
Fear nipped at my heart as I thought about the locket being lost at Victoria Station. If it had fallen off there, I would probably never see it again. “I pray it is here.”
Gallagher nodded as I moved around her to follow the maid.
I scanned for the locket as we traversed through hallways, down two sets of stairs, and to the front of the house. Had Alec seen the locket? If he remembered seeing me wear it here in this house, last night, then my heart would at least be put to rest until we found it.
“Is Mr. Paxton-Hill at home?” I asked the maid right before she opened the drawing room door.
“I believe he’s receiving Lady Mandeville, miss,” the maid said with a nod.
Relief washed through me, though it was no guarantee. Alec might not have any recollection of seeing the locket.
I stepped into the room and found Aunt Maude and Alec speaking to a beautiful woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Her blond hair was twisted into an attractive updo, and her blue day gown was impeccable. If she was struggling financially, her appearance did not suggest it.
“There you are, Clara,” Aunt Maude said with a pleasant smile as she lifted her hand to summon me over to the small group. “I’d like you to meet Lady Mandeville.”
I stopped before Lady Mandeville and offered a practiced curtsey.
“Lady Mandeville, this is my niece, Miss Clara Day Hill. Clara, this is the Viscountess Mandeville.”
“How do you do?” I asked her.
“How do you do?” Her voice had a cultured Southern drawl. “Your beauty precedes you, Miss Hill. Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt is a dear childhood friend, and she wrote to me about you. She said you are breathtaking, and I quite agree.”
I wondered what else Mrs. Vanderbilt had told her old friend. Had she mentioned George? Did Mrs. Vanderbilt even know that George had been courting me? It would surprise me if she didn’t.
“Thank you,” I said to Lady Mandeville.
“Shall we have a seat?” Aunt Maude asked. “We have a lot to discuss.”
I glanced at Alec as the ladies began to move to the sofas in front of the fireplace. “I’m missing my locket,” I said to him quietly as I touched my chest where it had been lying yesterday. “Have you seen it?”
He frowned and shook his head.
“Do you remember—”
