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“Maybe she’s right. Or maybe, after a bit of a slippery struggle, you would find what you need inside to trudge the remainder of the way. We all need stepping stones sometimes. You’re lucky to have a family who will never allow you to become bogged down deeper than you can withstand.” Zachariah was watching Oliver intently now.

“I hate that I still need her so much. Hate that I always seem to bungle the simplest things without her. Men are supposed to take care of the women in their life. Not the other way around.”

“Si. I know just how you feel. I could say the same of my relationship with Sofia. But we don’t have to keep being the same men we were yesterday. We aren’t done growing until we become foolish enough to stop trying to be more. To be better. I’m not finished trying. Hell, I feel like I’ve only just begun. How old are you, Zach?”

“Fifteen at the end of the month.”

“Nearly a man. A man respects his own limitations, sets his own boundaries … makes his own stepping stones. Because only he knows the length of his stride and the measure of his own endurance. Go or don’t go Zach, but tell your mama what you intend to do. Think about your limitations and your strengths and find a way to build a bridge between the two.”

Zach nodded, clearly taking Oliver’s words to heart.

Finally, Oliver acknowledged Christopher. “Good morning. Have you seen my sister?”

“Good morning, Zach, Oliver. No, I have not. I was looking for her myself. She’s not at the cabin. I just stopped by to deliver a mountain of food from the kitchens for you. Apparently, Mrs Simmons has taken offence to your rapid weight loss. Zach, have you eaten? If not, perhaps you’d like to break your fast with Mr Lioni.”

“Oliver is fine,” Oliver corrected, still watching Zach with a queer expression on his face.

“I can search her out while you two fill your stomachs and prepare for the busy day.”

Zach threw the ball into the air several times and caught it. “Yes. I’d like that.”

“Have you seen Nora this morning, Zach?” Christopher asked. “Perhaps Sofia is with her?”

Zach missed the ball and scooped it back up to continue his game. “Nora was in the stables not long ago. She was waiting for Gabriel. He promised yesterday that he would ride with her out to the old ruins. But Miss Lioni wasn’t there.”

After returning to the kitchens, where no one had seen Sofia, and performing a quick sweep of the downstairs rooms, Christopher went to her bedroom door and knocked. It was half past nine and he was beginning to worry she was feeling unwell.

“Sofia?” he called out, then cracked the door to peer inside. The curtains were drawn, the bed made. He had no idea if she had risen and tidied it herself or if the bed had not been occupied overnight, but anxiety was beginning to slink through his veins in earnest.

Further down the hall, he rapped on the door of the ducal suite, then tried the handle. It turned.

“Gabriel? Violet?”

“Come in, Christopher. What’s the matter?”

“Probably nothing, but I can’t find Sofia. No one has seen her.”

“All right. I was headed out for a hack with Nora. Let’s check there and employ Nora’s help in finding her,” Gabriel said.

Twenty minutes more and no one had seen Sofia. The tickle of worry had calcified into cold hard dread that sat heavy in Christopher’s stomach. Along the path back to the cabin, they met Violet, who had searched the rose garden.

“Nora, take Jeremy and run out to the apple orchard to look,” Gabriel said, sending the girl scampering off at a run. “I’ll have a pair of footmen search the winter garden, outbuildings, and the carriage house and ask a maid to check her room more thoroughly for a note.”

Christopher’s memory drifted to the men in town, their expressions and the way they had set his teeth on edge. He turned to Gabriel.

“Gabriel. There’s something … Christ.” He burrowed his fingers through his hair.

“Out with it.”

Christopher nodded. “Oliver ran up some gambling debts before he came here. He and I rode out to the village earlier this week to make good on them. Everything about the men he paid off felt threatening. I paid what Oliver owed but they didn’t seem satisfied.”

Gabriel’s shoulders stiffened, his expression dark. “You should have told me. If you were concerned, you should have let me know. You put Violet and the children at risk, along with Sofia. I would have had men keeping watch if I thought there was the slightest risk of trouble.”

“You’re right, and I’m sorry for it. I didn’t think anything would come of them, but now …” He groaned and started walking again, picking up speed with every step. Violet caught up with Christopher and looped her arm through his. “Ignore him, Christopher. We know you wouldn’t intentionally put any of us in harm’s way. She’s probably at the cabin right now.”

Christopher glanced back to Gabriel, whose expression remained remote. He covered Violet’s hand with his and tried to smile, then called out to Oliver and Zach, who were outside the cabin stacking firewood.

“I can’t find Sofia. We’ve searched everywhere else on the estate. Tell me she’s here.” Christopher made to look inside but froze with a glance in Oliver’s direction.