Page 40 of Wicked Highland Heroes

“I’m not yet sure.”

“I wonder if Lady Quincy and Lady Consworth know of her whereabouts?” the earl said.

“Why would they know anything?” Erroll demanded.

“They were baiting her with some rather nasty gossip earlier.”

“When was this?”

Montgomery thought for a moment. “Nearly three hours ago, when she first arrived.”

“What was the gossip?”

“You won’t like it,” he replied. “Lady Quincy has a malicious streak.”

“That she does.”

“They said that perhaps you did not find the younger Miss Crenshaw to your liking, but you certainly wouldn’t settle for the elder. To her credit, Miss Crenshaw didn’t turn on them until Annabelle implied that you and the two sisters would share a bed after you married one of them.”

“Good God,” Erroll growled. “That goes too far even for Annabelle. I will deal with her after I find Miss Crenshaw.”

“Is it possible she simply went home?”

“Unlikely. She was in the middle of a not-so-well laid plan that required she be seen tonight.”

Montgomery’s brows shot up. “That sounds interesting.”

A thought struck and a sense of apprehension rose. “What do you mean she turned on them?”

Montgomery laughed. “She gave them both a well-deserved set-down, that included calling Annabelle stupid—well, dense, I believe was the word she used, but she meant stupid. I intervened before she could do any real damage.”

“How fortunate for me,” Erroll muttered.

“The ladies deserved what they got, but I decided it was best to save them from her wrath. I feel certain she was about to will them to ashes on the spot.”

“I have been on the receiving end of that wrath. She is quite capable of the deed.”

“Would that be when you were with her in her bedchambers at a certain inn?” Montgomery asked.

“That would be the time.”

“Exactly what happened? Rumor is, she shot you.”

“She did.”

His friend’s eyes glittered. “When you find the lady and set things to rights, I want to hear every detail.”

“We shall see,” Erroll said. “But now I must find her.”

Paisley lifted a brow. “In the gardens?”

“I pray not.” Erroll took a deep breath and left his friend behind as he went down the stairs.

He made his way through the gardens in the direction Oscar had said he should find the servants’ entrance to the kitchen. Moments later, he found the door and, without knocking, entered. The clatter of work came to a deathly-quiet halt and everyone stared. So much for not drawing attention to himself. His mother once told him he was incapable of being inconspicuous. As usual, she was right.

“Forgive the intrusion,” he said to the woman he took to be the cook.

She wiped her hands of the ham she’d been slicing and hurried around the table toward him. Erroll closed the door behind him as she stopped in front of him and bobbed a curtsy.