She turned away to hide her face from him, but it was already too late. Samuel had seen it, a shift, the subtle change in her expression, another tiny crackin her façade.
“I recall thinking it was curious I hadn’t once seen you without gloves before that night. But it wasn’t curious, was it? It was by design.”
He leaned back, away from her, away from the light streaming in through the carriage window, far enough so his face was shrouded in shadow.
And he waited.
She swallowed, her pale throat working, and twisted her hands in her lap, as if she could erase the scars by rubbing the soft silk over them, like marks on achild’s slate.
Since that first night at Almack’s, Samuel had wanted to shatter her composure, to see an honest reaction from her, but as the movement of her hands grew more urgent, more panicked, he found he couldn’t bear it.
“Stop it, Emma.” He caught the tips of her gloved fingers, stilling her. “Giveme your hands.”
“No.” She jerked away from him, and folded her hands tightly in her lap. “The scars are…they don’t matter. Are you aware, my lord, that Caroline Francis is missing?”
Samuel blinked. “Missing?”
“Yes. Helena says Caroline has been…entertaining a gentleman since the season began—a nobleman who prefers private engagements.”
“What nobleman?” Samuel demanded, once Emma’s words had sunk in. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know that. Helena hasn’t seen his face. She knows only that he fetched Caroline from the Pink Pearl yesterday. Caroline was meant to return last night, but she never did, and no one has seen her since.”
“It’s the same man,” Samuel muttered.“It has to be.”
“Whatman, my lord?”
Samuel wasn’t certain he wanted Lady Emma knowing his family’s secrets, but this business had taken a sudden, ominous turn. If Caroline was missing, the only way he could get her story was from Helena Reeves’s lips. He needed to speak to Helena again, and he needed her to tell him the truth this time.
For that, he’d have to go through Lady Emma Crosby.
Samuel didn’t believe for a moment that Helena had been Emma’s lady’s maid, but the truth about the connection between the two women no longer mattered. What did matter was it seemed not a single word would cross Helena’s lips without Emma’s permission.
“The two housemaids I mentioned, who went missing from my country estate in Kent.” Samuel dragged a hand through his hair, his throat tight. “The first, Amy Townshend, disappeared last August, and then Kitty Yardley six weeks later. When Caroline vanished in January, we feared the same fate hadbefallen her.”
“But then she turned up at the Pink Pearl.”
“Yes. I brought Lovell to London for the season for Lady Flora, but I also came for Caroline Francis. I hoped she could tell me something about the circumstances under which she left Lymington House, and how she ended up in a London brothel. The scoundrel who seduced her—”
“Is very likely the same man who took Amy and Kitty, and the same man who hasCaroline now.”
“I don’t see how it could be anyone else. But you seem to know a great deal about Caroline’s business.” And, by default, a great deal about his family’s business. “Why is that, Lady Emma?”
She gave him a tight smile. “Helena Reeves is Caroline’s only friend at the Pink Pearl, Lord Lymington. Caroline has confided in Helena, and Helena has confided in me.”
Damn it. That’s what he was afraid of. “Listen to me. If Helena knows Caroline’s secrets, then she’s in as much danger as Caroline is.”
Emma hesitated, then to Samuel’s shock she reached out and grasped his hand. “I need your help, my lord. If you agree to assist me, I’ll return the favor.”
Until she asked, Samuel would have claimed he’d never help Lady Emma, who’d caused him nothing but trouble since he’d first laid eyes on her. But all at once, helping her was the only thing that mattered to him. “What can I do?”
“I need to see Helena at once, but Madame Marchand knows I want to persuade her to leave the Pink Pearl. As you can imagine, Madame doesn’t look upon me with a friendly eye.You, however—”
“You want me to go to the Pink Pearl and fetch Helena for you.”
“Yes, but I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as you imagine. Helena doesn’t know or trust you, and she’s learned to be wary of noblemen. She won’t go with you.”
“What, then?”
