In the few minutes it’d taken them to drink their brandy, Hawk decided the man’s constant good nature and his penchant not to let more than thirty seconds pass without uttering a word would wear thin in a hurry. Quick had told him it was fine if the earl wanted to handle all the particulars should they go ahead with a contract of marriage. Though Hawk didn’t want to deal with Lord Switchingham, he might not have a choice. He had to remind himself that it was Adele who needed to be happy with Quick, not him.
Hawk walked into the drawing room, immediately noticing that Loretta wasn’t there. Had she gone up upstairs for just a few minutes or had she already retired for the night?
“There you two are,” Adele said, rising from the settee to greet them. “I was beginning to think you had decided not to join us tonight, and that would have been a dour ending to the evening.”
“It has hardly been fifteen minutes since you left the dining room,” Hawk countered.
“That’s a long time.”
“You have no patience, Adele,” Hawk mumbled more to himself than to her.
But she answered, “You’ve told me so countless times.”
“We wouldn’t have left you on your own for the rest of the evening, Lady Adele,” Quick offered. “It was all my fault we kept you waiting so long. I’m afraid I’m the one who had the duke talking so much.”
“Shame on you, Mr. Quick,” she said with a smile ofdelight on her face. “Didn’t you say you wanted to show me a clever move on the chessboard that would make a match go faster?”
“I’d planned to. If you still want me to.”
“Indeed, I do. I’ve had a board set up for us over here.” She pointed to the far corner.
“Adele,” Hawk said, when his sister turned away. “Where are Minerva and Miss Quick?
“I would assume Miss Quick needed a few moments to herself after dinner, as I did,” Minerva said, coming up behind him.
“Oh, yes,” Adele said. “I didn’t think to tell you she went up to the servants’ wing.”
To check on Farley, Hawk thought, with a mild tinge of aggravation.
“But,” Adele continued, “I suppose she could have decided to go to her room after that. I really don’t know, and she didn’t say. It shouldn’t have taken her this long. Perhaps she got lost.” She turned to Quick. “Our guests often do before they become familiar with the house.”
“Did she say why she was going to the servants’ wing?” Hawk asked, though he was certain he knew the answer.
“To return a boy who had gotten lost. She said he was part of her staff. He found us when we were looking at Miss Wiggins’s puppies. Miss Quick decided to go with him to make sure he made it back to his room without losing his way again.” Adele stopped and frowned. “Now that I think about it, I suppose I should have gone with them, but then I’ve seldom been to that section of the house, either. I might have never found my way back myself.”
“Neither of you should have gone. You should have pulled the bell cord and had one of the servants take him back,” Hawk said, his irritation growing increasingly difficult to control. Though Loretta was perfectly safe in thehouse, he didn’t like the thought of her wandering through corridor after corridor, trying to get back to the drawing room.
“Should I go look for her, Your Grace?” Minerva asked.
“No, no,” Quick said, striding over to Hawk. “I don’t want to bother either of you with this. She’s my sister; I’ll go find her.”
“I’ll handle this, Quick,” Hawk said in a tone that let the man know arguing would be futile. “It would be my luck you’d get lost, too, and then I’d have to find both of you. Minerva, you need to stay with Adele and Mr. Quick.”
Hawk grabbed a candle off a side table, dipped it into the flame of one of the lamps to light it, and then strode out of the drawing room without further comment. It was best to begin where Loretta had started, at the back of the house where the puppies were kept.
It didn’t surprise him that Farley had wandered off to have a look around the house. Hawk was fairly certain that roaming the streets of London was what Farley was used to doing every day. He also had doubts the lad was lost when he stumbled upon Loretta and Adele. More likely than not, he heard Miss Wiggins or the puppies barking and went to investigate. If Farley had been on his own as long as Hawk suspected, he’d probably learned how to go wherever he wanted with no trouble finding his way back.
The door where the dogs were kept was closed. Hawk opened it, and held the candle up to look inside. Miss Wiggins got to her feet, walked over to a crate, and peered over the top at him. She wagged her tail and licked her chops. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered. “I have nothing for you.” No doubt the dog was used to Adele bringing her a treat from the dinner table about this time every night.
After closing the door quietly, he started down the corridor. At the end of it, he had two choices. Either routewould take him to the back stairway, which led up to the third-floor wing where the staff resided. If he turned left, a long corridor and one turn would take him to the stairs. If he went right, he’d have to make two opposite turns and then cut through the staff’s kitchen and dining area before making it to the stairs.
Hawk thought for a moment. He remembered how Farley had skillfully dodged him when he was running from him during the storm. Instinct told Hawk the boy was fairly good at taking turns, cutting through parks, squares, and corners. Hawk turned right and then took an immediate left. He’d gone about twenty-five steps when he saw a shape, and the swishing of a cream-colored skirt coming toward him.
His stomach clinched.
Loretta.
A tremor of arousal gripped him.
