“She’s gone? Whatthe bloody hell do you mean she is gone? Where did she go?” Blake demanded. He had spent the better part of four hours locked in the late duke’s old study, heart pounding, fist clenching, and curses flying about his head, ashamed of how he had treated the woman who had been nothing but kind to him. He hadn’t known how to face her.
He had sent her to Stagbourne.
He told himself it was for her own good.
And his.
He just hadn’t expected to feel thisempty.
And no matter how much he argued with himself, he couldn’t get to the bottom of this gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t win against himself, neither could he lose. But while his head and his heart were at war, Stagbourne had been in his home speaking to—courting—Rosilee. Though apparently he’d left soon after. And now Rosilee was gone too.
He glared at the four people that had piled in the room with him.
“Unfortunately, we do not know that, Your Grace,” Mrs. Prune answered.
“And Stagbourne? You said he didn’t stay long? Are you certain they didn’t leave together?”
Mrs. Prune nodded. “She sent the earl away without even ordering tea.”
Mr. Wiggins nodded. “I saw him leave alone, too. He was smiling when he arrived, but he wasn’t smiling when he left.”
Ben raised his hand. “I saw her ladyship go upstairs to her room, and not again after that.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Prune said. “I presumed she was resting.”
“And what about you?” Blake demanded from Bishop.
The man shrugged. “I saw and heard nothing except your sour face.”
Damn it. Where could she have gone?
“She might have left for good,” Bishop said.
“What do you mean?” Blake snapped. “Why would she leave? Especially when Stagbourne is courting her.” Where would she even go?
“You are a blind fool, Blake. That woman loves you. Do you think she would marry Stagbourne just because you sent her his way?”
“If not him, who else?” Damnation! “Baston is out there looking for her. Why would she run off now of all times?’
Bishop snorted. “You would know the answer to that better than anyone.”
“Now, now, dears,” Mrs. Prune said calmly. “No need to argue. We will find her.”
Find her? What if Baston had already captured her?
He would kill the man.
Damnation. Would she have stayed if he had been gentler with her? If he hadn’t acted the beast? Hadn’t cut off her hopes so ruthlessly.
“She would make a good duchess for you,” Mr. Wiggins said with a cough behind his hand.
“I can’t marry her.”
Bishop’s voice suddenly hardened. “And if you don’t marry her, what then? You think that makes her any less a part of your world? You’ve already tied her to you—emotionally,physically.”
Blake flinched. How did Bishop know?
“It’s written all over your face, and hers,” Bishop said, as if reading his mind. “I never took you for a man that wouldn’t take responsibility, Your Grace.” The man dragged an agitated hand through his hair. “What happens now is your choice. But don’tthink for a moment you can walk away without causing her even more pain.”
