“Where is Mr. Elstone?” she asked the servant girl.
“Gone, Miss,” the girl replied.
“Gone?” Poppy frowned. Where could he possibly have gone in his condition? Not to the breakfast room, that much she knew for certain.
“Hired a coach from the Hound and Hare,” the girl said, gathering up the sheets in her arms. “Left in the middle of the night, they did.”
Poppy’s mouth fell open. “Gone from The Chase?” What in the world would have inspired him to do such a foolish thing?
“Aye, Miss.” The maid nodded.
And then the rest of the girl’s words sounded in Poppy’s ears. “Did you say ‘they’?”
“Captain Galbraith and Mr. Elstone,” the servant confirmed.
Poppy’s heart sank. She couldn’t help it.Theywere gone.Hewas gone. Had he fled because of their conversation in the dead of night? “Do you know why?”
The girl shook her head. “Sorry, Miss.”
Poppy was sorry too. If she hadn’t pushed Alec to tell her his secrets, would he still be here? Had he fled because of her?
She made her way to the chambers Alec had occupied to confirm that he was truly gone. The housekeeper, Mrs. Manley, was just closing the door behind her.
“My cousin and his friend have left us?” she asked.
“Arrived without warning and left the same way,” the older woman replied sourly.
“Strange,” Poppy muttered, her heart sinking.
“Indeed,” the housekeeper agreed. “Quiet as a mouse too. Didn’t even know they were gone until this morning.” She tugged a note from her pocket and said, “Found this under the bedside table. The only evidence that the fellow was ever even here.”
Poppy took the folded foolscap from the woman. The note hadn’t been read. A raven’s crest was pressed into the unbroken wax. “They hired a coach from the Hound and Hare?”
The housekeeper nodded. “Apparently, sent one of the stable hands into the village in the dead of night.” Then she gestured toward the note in Poppy’s hand. “I’m sure his lordship will send it on.”
Poppy agreed with a nod. “I’ll take it to Papa myself.”
After leaving the housekeeper, Poppy went in search of Laurel. Luckily, the sound of her sister’s violin filtering down the corridors lead Poppy to the music room. Laurel was the only one of them who’d taken to that particular instrument.
Upon Poppy’s entrance, she found her sister in the middle of the room. Laurel’s bow flew over the strings as she was lost in a world of her own music. For a moment, Poppy wished something could take her away from Halwell Chase just as easily.
Snowy, her sister’s fluffy white cat, meowed from his spot on a nearby divan and the spell from which Laurel had lost herself was broken. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Poppy. “Oh! Good morning!”
“I don’t know if it’s good.” Poppy waved the sealed note in the air and said, “Daniel and Captain Galbraith have fled in the dead of night.”
“I beg your pardon?” Laurel placed her instrument on the nearby piano seat, her brow furrowed in the same confusion Poppy felt. “They fled?”
“And Daniel has a broken leg, for pity’s sake!”
Laurel snorted at that. “Well, Daniel’s hardly known for his common sense.”
Common sense was one thing, but… “He couldn’t even walk on his own yesterday! And now he’s left along with Captain Galbraith! Why would they do that?”
Laurel crossed the room and seemed to finally notice the note in Poppy’s hand. “Did they leave a note? Let me see.”
Ha! Neither of them had been that considerate. Poppy shook her head. “This seems to belong to the captain. It’s unopened.”
Laurel reached her hand out toward the vellum, but as soon as she touched it, she yanked her hand back as though she’d been burned.
