“Joanna, where is she?” Phoebe demanded to know, struggling to keep her voice even.
Joanna gave a casual shrug. “As I told Auntie Matilda, I do not know. She said she was thirsty, she went off in search of punch, and last I saw of her, she was drinking said punch over there with those other ladies.”
“Which ladies?” Phoebe scoured the ballroom, hoping she would spot Ellen.
Joanna gestured vaguely. “Over there by the vase of roses.”
Phoebe found the vase of roses, but there were no ladies standing nearby, and no sign of Ellen. “Joanna, if you know something of her whereabouts, you must tell me, even if you have been sworn to secrecy. I shall not tell her that you have told me, but I must know that she is safe.”
“She is somewhere around here,” Joanna insisted, folding her arms across her chest. “If she had gone somewhere, she would have told me. And if I thought she was in danger, I would have told you. But, I swear, I saw her over there by the roses not five minutes ago. Goodness, what is the matter with you all?”
After nine-and-ten years of knowing her sisters, and learning their every idiosyncrasy and habits, Phoebe knew Joanna well enough to know when the younger woman was lying or not being entirely honest. Right now, Joanna was telling the truth. It was obvious in the irritated flare of her nostrils. And that furtive look that Matilda had spoken of was not deceit, but boredom.
She will be here somewhere,Phoebe told herself, relaxing slightly.
“We ought to split up,” she said to Anna and Matilda, ignoring Daniel. She could not risk thinking about him right now. “I am certain she is well, and merely sought some peace somewhere, but I would like to make sure.”
Joanna groaned. “If you just wait here and stop being ridiculous, she will undoubtedly return. Meanwhile, if you go wandering off, you will likely keep missing one another.”
“If she does come back here, you will keep her here until we return,” Phoebe instructed.
“But why are you so concerned?” Joanna asked, rolling her eyes. “This is a house she now knows very well, and she is among people she likes. There could be no safer place, and if you go seeking her out, you will only annoy her. She will think you do not trust her.”
Phoebe frowned at her sister, gauging her tone. Once more, she heard and saw only irritation, not deceit. It soothed Phoebe somewhat, for she had seen Joanna lie often enough to sniff out the fibs. Perhaps Phoebewasoverreacting, but she could not explain to her sister, not again, that she just needed to know that everyone was safe. It was not a desire to tighten the reins, but merely to check that the figurative horse was still attached.
“I do trust her,” Phoebe insisted. “But she knows better than to wander unchaperoned. People may gossip, and I do not want that for her or you, by association.”
Joanna seemed to relent, likely considering how it might affect her, too. “I had not thought of that. Very well, I shall stand guard here, having no fun whatsoever, until Ellen returns… which she will, with a very reasonable explanation that will makeyoufeel very foolish, indeed. It would not surprise me if she has simply visited the powder room, considering all the punch she has been drinking.”
“The powder room!” Matilda declared, startling an elderly gentleman who happened to be walking by. He shot her an appalled look and walked on, muttering something about spinsters under his breath. “I shall search there first.”
Anna nodded. “I shall search the refreshments room, then the dining room, then the tea room.”
“I shall search the upper floors, in case she retired to her chambers,” Phoebe said, realizing that she probablywasbeing somewhat ridiculous.
But if she was going to muster the courage to ruin one of her sister’s prospects with Daniel, she was not going to ruin the prospects of the other by allowing her to become a subject of gossip.
Daniel raised a shy hand. “Might I be of service?”
Phoebe wanted to refuse his offer but found herself agreeing before she could stop herself. “If you could ask Olivia and Leah if they have seen her, that would be of great help. Indeed, ask everyone, if you have the time.”
“Of course,” Daniel replied, his eyes pinching slightly as they looked at one another a moment longer than appropriate. It was as if she had struck him.
I cannot think of you now. Once Ellen is found, I will… consider what I am to do next.
She snapped out of her trance.
“Everyone, meet back here in an hour,” Phoebe said.
The others nodded and set off in their respective directions, while Joanna muttered under her breath, “She will be back in five minutes, for goodness’ sake. I swear, everyone has gone quite mad.”
And maybe she was right, but Phoebe realized that she needed the distraction. She needed to buy herself time to figure out what to do, before potentially making the biggest mistake of her life.
In an hour’s time, with Ellen undoubtedly safe and sound and back where she belonged at her twin’s side, Phoebe vowed to have made up her mind, one way or the other, about Daniel.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
In the distance, church bells tolled midnight, signaling that Phoebe’s hour of searching and deciding had come to a close. The trouble was, in taking her search outside into the gardens, she had somehow gotten lost in the hedge maze that sat at the very rear of the expansive grounds.
