Page 111 of A Shadow Amongst the Roses

“We do not yet know. And we will not guess. But we will find him.”

The steward stepped forward, his voice breaking. “My lady, I sent him. I asked him to deliver a simple message. I never imagined, I never thought anyone would interfere.”

Eliza turned to him, calm and certain. “You trusted the boy and the path. So did I. The fault is not yours.”

The words steadied him enough to breathe. He swallowed hard. “He had been asking all day to be useful. When I gave him the task, you would have thought I had given him a prize.”

Thomas shifted his weight, folding his arms, a quiet anchor in the center of the room.

“There is something we must understand,” he said. “If word spreads, the man responsible will know we are looking for him. And he may disappear before we learn who he is.”

The parents exchanged a glance, fear tightening again.

Eliza stepped closer to them. “Sammy’s memory will matter. Yours may as well. But if this becomes talk among the tenants, the wrong ears will hear it.”

She paused, letting the meaning settle.

“It is not gossip I fear,” she said quietly. “It is warning him too soon.”

The mother pressed a hand to her chest. “What must we do?”

Eliza held her gaze, steady and warm. “Sammy will remain at Hartleigh. Only the five of us here will know he is safe. For his sake, and for every child here, you will not speak of this to anyone. Not beyond this room. Not until we have the man who did this.”

The father straightened, resolve replacing fear. “You have our word.”

Thomas inclined his head in a small acknowledgment. Approval. Gratitude. Both unspoken.

Eliza released a slow breath. Thornhaven settled around her, familiar and watchful. These were her people. Loyal. Afraid. Brave all the same.

“Good,” she said. “Now tell me everything. Where Sammy went. What was said. Every step.”

Thomas moved to her side, not in front of her, not behind. Exactly where he belonged. She felt his presence without having to look.

Together, they would find the truth. And this time, it would not escape them.

Chapter Fifty-One

By the time they reached Hartleigh again, the house had drawn in upon itself.

The lamps in the south drawing room cast a soft glow against the windows. From the gravel below, Eliza could see the reflection of figures moving past the glass. Inside, the fire would be banked. The curtains half drawn. It was the room the family chose when the day had taken more than it gave.

Thomas handed his reins to a groom and came around to her side. The ride back from Thornhaven had been brisk and spare of conversation. There was little left to say until they spoke to Eleanor and Nathaniel.

Eliza placed her boot upon the mounting block, then stepped down without waiting for his hand. Her muscles still held the shape of the saddle and the long hours before it. The ache suited her. It kept her steady.

“Her Grace is in the south room,” Mr. Carter said when they passed through the front doors. “His Grace as well. Lady Clara is with them.”

Eliza inclined her head.

“Tell no one we have returned,” Thomas said quietly. “Not yet.”

Carter bowed and vanished.

They crossed the hall together, their steps falling in the familiar pattern. Eliza tracked it without thinking, as if the house itself laid the pieces before her. The family gathered. The windows overlooking the rose garden. The beds below those windows that had been disturbed this morning, in a way no gardener would have left them.

The door to the south drawing room stood half open. Eleanor’s low voice drifted though. Nathaniel answered. Clara’s lighter murmur threaded between them.

Eliza did not pause. She went in.