“Rome—dirty, crowded, and full of corrupt cardinals,” Giovanni said, catching Jamie off guard. “Only power and opera make up for it. London will be the same.”
“No corrupt cardinals there,” Jamie pointed out.
“Who needs it?” Luciano asked no one in particular. “C’ruption all the same.” He downed another glass and made a face. “They brought out the bad wine.”
“You think the city c’rupt?” Luciano asked Nora, leering at her décolletage.
Movement at the head of the table saved Jamie from committing murder. Nora rose with the other ladies, and they all scrambled to their feet, Luciano swaying slightly.
Nora gave Jamie a pleading look.
“I shouldn’t be long,” he said. He hoped it was true.
Old men’s preference for leisurely conversation dashed Jamie’s hopes. Most of the young wisely kept quiet. Luciano’s loose tongue made one inappropriate comment too many and drew a frown from Castellimonte.
“I will see Luciano to his quarters,” Giovanni offered. At the count’s nod, he pulled Luciano, who rudely protested, out. A few of the others slipped away with him. Eduardo stayed.
“No manners, the young,” Scarface, General Rambaudi, said bitterly. Murmurs of agreement rolled around the table.
“Not all of us, certainly,” Eduardo said, offended.
“No,” Castellimonte agreed. “Not all young men. He will be dealt with.”
Poor Luciano, the would-be wine maker who can’t hold his liquor, Jamie thought. He looked down at his glass. He had left his dinner wine untouched. Luciano’s drunken stupidity gave him distaste for it. He sipped the count’s port sparingly and steeled himself to listen to a conversation Wentworth probably didn’t care about. At least he could report that Luciano posed no threat.
Nora’s facehurt from smiling, and her head hurt from struggling to understand the giggling chatter of the Italian ladies. She almost sagged with relief when Jamie’s form filled the doorway and he stepped briskly to her side.
She relished a husband who could see how she felt; he began making their excuses to leave immediately without being asked.
When the receiving room doors closed behind them, Jamiepaused long enough to embrace her. He ignored the footman standing guard in his livery, eyes studiously forward.
“Let’s fetch Isabella,” he said, “and go home.”
“Please. Quickly.” The word “home” on his lips gave her comfort.
Jamie ordered their wraps and an escort to be brought round and took her by the hand. “Shall we send someone for Isabella? You look too weary to climb four stories.”
She nodded. He dispatched a message.
Jamie helped her with her wrap and sat her on a marble bench near the massive entrance to the Palazzo. She anticipated a short wait.
Long minutes passed with no sign of Isabella. The point of discomfort loomed just as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Nora turned at the sound, but her relief proved short-lived. The footman returned alone and alarmed; he rattled on in Italian so fast Nora demanded translation.
“The nursery is empty,” Jamie said grimly. He barked orders, demanded to see the nursery maid, and demanded to see the housekeeper. Then he bolted up the stairs at a dead run.
Nora followed as fast as she could while he took the steps two at a time. She heard the nursery door slam open and ran more quickly down the hall. She slid through the door to see Jamie surveying the vast empty room. She saw no Isabella, no nursery maid, no living human being.
Nora began to shake uncontrollably, unable to move while Jamie prowled like a caged lion, shouting for the housekeeper. The dragon herself, dressed entirely in black, her hair piled on her head in a series of tight braids, bustled into the room.
“This cannot be!” the housekeeper exclaimed. “I saw the child here myself after she greeted the count. I assigned a mature, responsible girl to her, not some bird who would flit off to meet her boyfriend.”
Nora felt the criticism like a slap.
“Did anyone check the garden?” the woman demanded.
“At night?” Nora asked. “No ‘responsible girl’ would take the child out at night, even in the walled garden.”
“Check it anyway,” Jamie told the footman. “Think again,” he said to the housekeeper.
