“Do you wish to bellow this entire house down? Little good it will do you.” Christopher’s calm voice made Helena jump. She was all too aware that Benjamin looked toward her as she flinched, but neither of them commented on it.
“It would make me feel better,” his brother argued.
“Hurrah for that! It won’t bring Julia back.”
“You never did understand —”
“Enough,” Lord Sheylough barked, talking over the two of them.
The door opened at the back of the corridor, and the three men spilled into the main entrance hall. Lord Robert led the way, his pace fast. Christopher raced behind him, trying to keep up, and Lord Sheylough walked at the back.
“Do not speak to me again, Chris,” Lord Robert warned, tossing the words over his shoulder.
“Me? Why not?” Christopher asked, following him. There was such a crimson tinge to his skin now that Helena couldn’t take her eyes away from him. The moment that had passed between them in the garden room was haunting her. His touch to her cheek had been soft, even caring. She’d wished to believe him, but her head had argued against her heart.
I do not know what to think anymore.
“I have to find her,” Lord Robert said wildly.
“And I am trying to help you.” Christopher matched his brother’s tone. “Don’t bite the hand that tries to feed you, Robert.”
Lord Robert stepped toward Christopher, threateningly, with his hand balled into a fist. Lord Gibbs stepped between them.
“Might I suggest you take a breath,” Lord Sheylough adopted a darker tone. All at once, the cousin that was usually so jovial and full of life became graver. The resemblance between him and Christopher was all the more noticeable with that change. “When you are not lost to your anger, maybe then you will see your brother is trying to help you.”
“Then explain that note. The one Lady Helena found.” Lord Robert waved a hand at her. Helena waited, watching as Christopher turned his eyes toward her again. The moment their gazes met, she flinched for a second time.
Benjamin stood slowly at her side, his eyes never leaving her. Feeling watched like a hawk, she broke that gaze with Christopher and looked down with her hands still fidgeting around the note that she had found.
“You know I cannot explain it,” Christopher said calmly. “For I do not understand it myself.”
“My Lords, Your Grace.” Benjamin cut into their conversation. His tone was so somber that Christopher and Lord Sheylough looked toward him at once. Lord Robert turned around much slower, plainly reluctant. “Where have you been?”
“We have talked to your staff, Your Grace, endeavoring to discover if any of them saw anything.” Christopher took command of the conversation.
“And?” Benjamin seemed not to mind that the Moores had talked to his staff without his consent. There was only concern as he met Christopher’s gaze.
“They saw little.” Christopher shrugged helplessly. “One footman said he saw a dark carriage, small with black curtains, pull up by the servant’s entrance. He didn’t recognize the driver and when pressed, he confessed he’d… Well, he’d —”
“He’d been sneaking some of the champagne, so his memory of the carriage was addled,” Lord Robert explained in a rush.
“Wonderful.” Benjamin was wry as he turned away and rubbed his face, looking to the doorway of the parlor where Anna and Kitty stood.
Helena looked around, realizing there was someone unaccounted for in this space. Her brother had been missing ever since the two families had argued that afternoon. She didn’t even know if he had been told that Julia was missing.
“Did the staff say anything else?” Benjamin asked, turning back once again.
“Only one other thing,” Christopher continued on. “Another of the carriage drivers saw the same black carriage speeding away from him, going so fast they thought it in danger of tipping over. He didn’t see who was inside, but the carriage certainly did not belong to one of your guests. It is our best bet for our Julia was taken away from here.”
“Then… she is not on the estate?” Anna’s voice from the parlor doorway made Helena stiffen. She watched as her mother crumpled completely, falling into Kitty’s arms who held her tightly. “My poor girl, my poor daughter. Today was supposed to be a good occasion. A happy one!”
“Few of us could manage to see that before, could we?” Helena asked in a deadpan tone. No one answered her though she felt many eyes of the room upon her. The only gaze she dared to return was Christopher’s.
Part of her wanted to hate him. After all, he was the head of the family, and the Moores had to be responsible for Julia’s disappearance. No one else had the motivation to stop the wedding. Yet each time she looked at Christopher, she found it harder and harder to despise him.
I both love and cannot stand him. How is that possible?
“I cannot stay here. I’m going to look for her.” Lord Robert moved toward the door.
