She raised her eyes, aware that they were full of fury. “Uncle, I will take the letter. I will resolve this. What is the name of the person you took the loan from?”
He shrunk back at the fury in her voice.
“I do not know. They are people I deal with at times. I spoke to the usual man who assists me, and he arranged for the loan. I have no names. They are... Phantoms, you might say. Men without names. Well, without any real names. If you ask them, they’ll tell you their names are Jim or Will or some such… I am so ashamed, Winnie. So very ashamed. I know I should stop gambling; I know it. I intend to. I never meant to cause you harm.”
He stepped toward her in an ill-advised attempt to embrace her, but Winnie raised a hand to stop him.
“I must go. I will let you know what I find out, if anything. And when this is all said and done, I know Leo will want a word with you.”
“What are you going to do, Winnie?”
She had already reached the hallway and looked over her shoulder at her uncle, who looked even smaller.
“I do not know. But at least now I have a lead.”
“I would have paid the ransom if I could. But I can’t. Perhaps you can use some of the business money, if you have access to it. That might be the only way.”
Winnie said nothing further. She made her way down the hall and stepped out into the late morning air. The moment the door to her uncle’s house closed behind her, Seth jumped out of the carriage. Their eyes met across the busy road. She could not keep the despair from showing on her face.
As she made her way across the street toward him, she realized that they did not need words. He could tell from the look on her face that their worst fear was becoming a reality.
Chapter 12
Winnie stumbled out of the house and rushed across the street while Seth waited with bated breath. He opened the carriage door and was about to have her enter when she shook her head.
“I must… I have… We must travel together but I cannot risk being seeing without a chaperone. It is too risky and we cannot have another scandal. Please, wait for me. My carriage is just over yonder, I shall fetch Mary.”
She was entirely out of breath and Seth felt the fear and shock vibrating in her voice. He watched as Winnie rushed down the street and stopped at her own carriage. After a short conversation, she and Mary came back down the street, Mary climbed atop the box seat, and Bradford assisted Winnie into the carriage. Her reputation properly protected by the presence of a chaperone, he directed Bradford toward home.
Out of breath, she sat beside him—an unusual choice as the lady generally traveled facing traffic, not with her back to it.
“Have you read it? You must. It is… It changes everything.”
He swallowed hard, alarmed at the insistent tone. He unfolded the letter while Winnie gave him a full report of the exchange with her uncle. Then, as the carriage barreled down the street, Seth sat with the letter in his hand. It was the same handwriting as the previous letter.
He looked up, his mouth agape. “How can this be? Why would they have taken Rose because your uncle owes them money? Why would they not have only kidnapped Leo? Your uncle made a few bad bets and owed money to some shady characters, so they took his nephew, who is well known to be wealthy, to get back their money through kidnapping. But Rose? Rose has no connection whatsoever to your uncle.”
“I know it. They are only connected through your business. But would gangs in St. Giles know that Leo had a business partner who also had a sister who just happened to have a secret that could be used to blackmail her over? I should think not.”
She looked out of the window, and Seth could not help but notice how beautiful she looked when she was deep in thought. She pressed her red lips together as her nose slightly twitched. It wasn’t the first time that he noticed the slide upturn on the tip of her nose. He always found it uniquely charming.
“We must’ve missed something. Something that connects Rose to all of this. For there has to be something.” She sighed deeply. “I cannot believe it. Could this be due to my uncle and his reckless behavior? If it is, I do not know how we can ever make it up to you. Especially after what you told me yesterday. The torment you must be going through….”
Seth placed his hand on top of hers before he knew what he was doing and gently caressed it. Over the years, he had often wondered what her skin would feel like, what her mouth might taste like, but he had never allowed his thoughts to go very far. They were too dangerous, for the road they led down was full of potential pain, pain he would not be able to recover from. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, hoping his tone was soothing, as he could tell she was very upset.
“Do not feel bad; it is not your fault. We all know your uncle is reckless. Butthisreckless? I am stumped.”
Winnifred said nothing. Her eyes lingered on his hand placed on top of hers, and he quickly withdrew it. The palm of his hand tingled where his hand had rested on her smooth skin.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest so that he would not be tempted to do such a thing again.
“Let us return to my house. I will ask the butler once more to see if there was any correspondence that might help us. If Rose was kidnapped by the same people who took Leo, which it stands to reason she was, there ought to be a ransom demand. The letter to your uncle does not mention her. Did he say anything at all about Rose?”
Winnifred shook her head and tucked one strand of hair behind her ear. “He did not. But I did not mention it to him, either. I felt it best that he didn’t know. He was so distraught already over the thought that his actions might have caused Leo to fall victim to such criminals, I cannot imagine what he would say or do if he knew that a young lady was also involved. He would be devastated.”
“It sounds as though you are correct. What do you propose we do?”
It is rather curious that I am asking her what she wishes to do. Not twenty-four hours ago, I was adamantly averse to her having anything to do at all with my investigation. And now here we are. She is the only one who has produced any results. I figured that she would be a distraction, and yet thus far, she has found all the clues. She has been nothing but a comfort to me. What a fool I was.
