The ballroom around them faded away as he approached her, her face all he could see. Hayward said something to him as he stepped forward to take Hattie’s hand, but he didn’t hear it.
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her.
“If you’ll pardon me, Windham, I claimed Lady Harriet’s firsttwodances.” Egerton stepped smoothly in front of him, a smirk on his lips. “This is my dance.”
“Easy there, Windham,” Hayward murmured as Egerton took Hattie’s arm with a proprietary air that made Cass’s hands clench into fists.
“I don’t like the familiar way he’s touching her, Hayward.”
“No, I don’t care for it either.” Hayward’s voice was tight with anger. “But there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll only hurt Lady Harriet if you make a scene. Keep your wits about you, Windham.”
They stood there for some time watching the dancers move through a quadrille, which proved to be as endless as the Sussex Waltz had. At last, the music ended, but Egerton didn’t return Hattie to Lady Fosberry.
Cass waited, scanning the crowd, but he didn’t see Hattie, and still she and Egerton didn’t come. Where could he have taken her?
“What’s the matter, Windham?” Hayward nudged him. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“The dance has ended, and Hattie hasn’t yet returned. Do you see her?”
“No. There are too many people. I can’t see a thing." Hayward frowned. “You don’t think he’d take her off somewhere, do you?”
“Yes, I do. Go around to the left, and I’ll take the right, and we’ll meet back here. Make haste, Hayward.”
Cass shot off in the other direction, weaving his way through what felt like thousands of people, searching for a flash of golden curls or the flutter of a deep blue gown. Lady Dumfries’s ballroom felt enormous as he hurried around the perimeter, ignoring greetings as he went, his throat closing in rage and panic with every step.
Where was she? Had Egerton taken her somewhere? Hattie knew better than to disappear with Egerton, but if he had managed to lure her away, or worse, forced her, it could be hours before they were found.
By that time, Hattie’s reputation would be ruined. It was, doubtless, precisely what Egerton wanted to happen. If thetonbelieved Egerton had compromised Hattie, a marriage between them would be the only way to save her reputation. He wouldn’t put it past Egerton to intentionally compromise her. It was the surest way to get a hold of her money.
This was his fault. He should never have befriended Egerton in the first place. He’d known who and what Egerton was, but he’d allowed the man into his home anyway. If he’d had even a shred of self-respect, Egerton would not have been in his townhouse at all, and he never would have seen Hattie’s letters.
By the time he met up with Hayward again he was breathless, either from running around the ballroom, or rage. He couldn’t have said which. “Did you see her, Hayward?”
“No, and not Egerton, either. They both seem to have vanished. This is bad, Windham.”
It was. It was as bad as it could be.
“Let Lady Fosberry know, would you, Hayward? It’s possible Hattie isn’t missing at all and simply went to the ladies’ retiring room. Lady Fosberry will know if that’s the case.”
But it wasn’t. He couldn’t have said how he knew, but he did.
“Yes, right away.”
Hayward rushed off toward Lady Fosberry, and Cass flew out the ballroom door, but as soon as he reached the corridor he stopped. Where should he start? Lady Dumfries’s townhouse was three floors, with endless nooks and crannies and dark corridors, and that was to say nothing of the garden.
And Hattie had disappeared without a trace.
