“They most certainly do not. Just because my sister is in the habit of taking things that aren’t hers and wearing them as if they are, doesn’t mean that they belong to her. The gown is mine, as is the shawl. So, where is it?”
“Over yonder.” Mary said and pointed toward the small dresser in the corner underneath the French windows.
Vicky spun on her heels and rushed towards the indicated furniture and at once threw open the top drawer.
“Not that one, Miss Victoria.”
Mary’s voice still echoed through the room when Victoria spotted something in the drawer that was much more intriguing than her shawl. It was a piece of paper in scrawny handwriting she had never seen before. She read the words, and immediately, her blood ran cold. She grabbed it, but her hands shook so violently, she had to force herself to close her fingers around the paper and lift it.
“What are you doing? That belongs to your sister.”
Victoria turned her head and stared at the maid. “Do you know what this is? Have you any idea? I know you maids are not well educated, but even you must understand… I am sure Winnie has told you…”
She looked at the note in her hand. It was a ransom demand. Addressed to her brother, it demanded his presence at a specific address in St. Giles; just seeing the words St. Giles written made her shudder. That part of town was home to one of the worst of the rookeries. Full of gamblers, thieves, and courtesans, it was a place someone of her brother’s standing would never venture voluntarily.
“It belongs to Miss Keating,” the maid insisted. There was no denying it, her tone made it clear—Mary knew exactly what this note meant.
Of course she knows. Winnifred tells that woman everything, I cannot believe she would tell the maid and not me when it is my brother who is missing.
Her nostrils flared as she attempted to control her anger.
“Where did my sister get this? I know you recognized it, I can see it written all over your face. Where did my sister find this?”
The maid took a step back from her. “You ought to ask your sister, Miss Victoria.”
“I would if she ever came home. I haven’t seen her in days. It is as if I am an only child for all the time I spend alone. Now, you know something. Tell me.”
“I do not answer to you, Miss Victoria.”
This enraged Vicky more than she could ever put into words. She stamped one foot and balled her hands into fists, crumpling the note as she did.
“You are maid to the Keating family. You answer to me just as much as to my brother and my sister. You will tell me what this note means. He is my brother, too. Just because you and my sister are close doesn’t mean you have any right to cast me aside when it comes to his disappearance. Do you think just because he and I are not as close as he and Winnie, I do not care? I am at sixes and sevens, and this is my first clue. You will tell me what you know.”
Her voice rose with every single word until it became so shrill she thought that it might just burst out the windows.
Mary shrunk before her and took another step back until she banged with her back into the wall. Victoria hadn’t meant to scare her, but she was genuinely overcome with a wave of anxiety and fear.
“Your sister found it in your brother’s chamber. She searched it yesterday. She’s been with His Grace, the Duke of Cambarton, who is assisting her.”
“Seth is helping her? I thought he was in Devon. I called on him a few days ago.”
“He has returned. His sister, Lady Rose, is also missing.”
Vicky could not contain her horror at this news. She slumped against the windowsill as the color and strength drained out of her. Mary was by her side in a moment and pulled a chair from the writing desk and assisted her in sitting down.
“They’ve been taken… They must have been. Don’t you think so, Mary?”
“It certainly looks that way, Miss Victoria. But do not fear. Your sister has already engaged the help of a private investigator. A Mr. Markham in Camden. Very well-known fellow. I’m sure he will find both Lord Drayton as well as Lady Rose in no time at all.”
“That is not good enough,” Victoria replied, “not good enough at all. And for Winnifred to keep this from me… It is an outrage. A maid knows more than a family member. Where is my sister now? At Lester House?”
“As far as I know. She called on your uncle earlier this morning. I accompanied her as a chaperone. But after she spoke to your uncle, she and His Grace reconvened at Lester House, and I departed.”
“She spoke to my uncle? I wonder what else she’s keeping from me.” Victoria got up. Her legs still swayed beneath her, but she stood with a power of sheer determination.
“Have the carriage ready. I am going to Lester House myself. I will find out what else has been kept from me. Please walk Pugsley. I don’t want him to have another accident in the drawing room.”
“Nobody does…” Mary said under her breath. Victoria fired an icy glare in her direction but let the impertinence go.
