Joshua grinned. “My pleasure.” With a jaunty salute, he strode off.
Ecton was frowning and testing his bonds. “I say, Cynster! That’s not the way we play this game!”
“Ecton,” Gregory said, his tone one of utter contempt, “this is no game. And even if there was a game, none of us are willing to play any game of any sort with the likes of you.”
With that, he pushed away from the door frame, unfolded his arms, turned on his heel, and left.
Hamish pulled back, and Rory swung the door closed and dropped the bar back into place.
Gregory took in the gathering at the bottom of the cellar stairs. Everyone was looking to him to lead. He nodded up the stairs. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.” He glanced back at the storeroom, indicating that he didn’t want Ecton to overhear what was said.
They trooped up and congregated in the empty space in which a central bench should have stood.
Rory was the last one up the stairs. He shut the cellar door, then said to Gregory, “Henry and I checked. That storeroom door’s sound, and there’s no other way out. He won’t escape.”
Gregory nodded and turned to address the group. “It’s already well into the afternoon. I’ll have to wait for Lord Loxton and explain matters to him and, I hope, hand Ecton into his keeping. However, we need to search the immediate surroundings. We know Caitlin isn’t in the house, but Ecton was already here, in the drawing room, waiting for us when we arrived. He didn’t have time to go far to hide her. She has to be somewhere close.”
A murmur of agreement rose from the group.
“So,” Gregory concluded, “we need to search all the outbuildings and anywhere else the blackguard could have hidden her.”
Henry and Jenkins exchanged a look, then both stepped forward. “We know the place as well as anyone here,” Henry said.
Jenkins nodded. “We’ll organize a search and see it done.”
Gregory exhaled. “Thank you. I’ll leave it to all of you. I’ll be in the drawing room.” He turned toward the front hall and arched a brow at Patrick.
The older man grumped, “I’ll wait with you. I want to hear what this Lord Loxton says.”
Gregory inclined his head and led the way back to the drawing room.
He and Patrick settled in the dusty chairs by the fireplace. A few minutes later, Rory, Hamish, and Daniel joined them.
Hamish waved toward the kitchen. “They don’t need us. Apparently, this is a pretty small holding.”
Gregory nodded, and after hunting about the room, the three found chairs they could trust and brought them over.
Once they’d sat, Patrick—who was plainly chafing with worry for his niece—glowered at them. “This would never have happened—our Caitlin would never have been in any danger at all—if you lot hadn’t let her scarper off.” Patrick’s eyes narrowed on his sons. “Or should I sayhelpedher scarper off?”
Rory, Hamish, and Daniel stared at their father, then exchanged a long, three-way glance.
Finally, Rory looked back at Patrick. “As you’ve realized, we actively helped her leave, and if you’d spent any time down here with her—as we three have—you’d have seen how she’s blossomed and bloomed. Much as it might pain you to admit it, she needed the space, aye, and the role and the encouragement to fill it, that she found here. She’s…becoming all she could be here.” He shook his head with certainty. “She would never have managed that at Benbeoch, and not just because you’re there, always ready to do everything that needs doing. You and those who, like you, still view her as a child were set on keeping her wrapped in wool padding, safely tucked away from life.”
“And then”—with his arms folded across his chest, Hamish took up the baton—“you tried to ram marriage to one of us down her throat. After that, of course we helped her leave. And for much the same reason, we followed her. And that, all of that, wasyourdoing, Da. You and no one else. So don’t blame us for what happened after and for where things stand right now.”
Gregory expected an explosion from Patrick, but instead, the elder Fergusson grumbled incoherently and continued to glower…but he didn’t contradict what his sons had said.
Interesting.
The resulting heavy, brooding silence lengthened and intensified.
Eventually, Gregory observed, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the recent months of dealing with the menagerie that is Bellamy Hall, it’s that there never is any value in apportioning blame for past mistakes. What is useful is to focus on rectifying any problems or issues regardless of how they arose and steadily moving forward on a path that benefits everyone involved.” He doubted he’d ever spoken truer words. He straightened in the chair. “At present, that means finding Caitlin. At this time, that is our paramount and, indeed, singular goal.”
Daniel stirred. “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.” He met Gregory’s eyes. “You pointed out that Ecton hadn’t had much time to hide Caitlin away. I’ve been trying to estimate how much time he actually had. He was in that curricle of his, and once he’d driven off with Caitlin, we know Hattie found William straightaway, and William came running as fast as he could—and he is a fast runner. If you think of how long it took us to realize it was Ecton, get on the horses, and ride over here…it really wasn’t all that long.”
Frowning, Gregory suggested, “Twenty minutes?”
Rory huffed. “Certainly not more than half an hour.”
