Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A few days had passed since Henry had sent Isabelle the letter. He wondered how she had taken his words since he had never heard back from her.

A small part of him wondered if he had done the right thing, but he also realized that he couldn’t have provided for her in the same way that James Church could have done as her husband.

He may have had the means to treat her properly, but Lord James would offer her a higher position in society.

“Lord Ashford, I was wondering when I would see you in here again.” Mr Charleston greeted him brightly with a warm smile, leaning slightly over the counter in his enthusiasm.

“I’m afraid that the packing has been keeping me quite busy. There isn’t much time in a day when one has to pack up their entire life,” he explained. It was common knowledge amongst the ton that he was planning on leaving, yet he hadn’t confirmed it publicly until just then.

“I see.” Mr Charleston’s eyes suddenly grew sad as if he understood exactly what Henry was saying.

So, the rumours have spread.

Mr Charleston’s lack of surprise all but confirmed Henry’s suspicions. Lord and Lady Fitzgibbon would have told more than half the ton that he was leaving by now. It would have only served their narrative to do just that.

“Has the book I ordered come in yet? I would like to finish reading it before I leave for the country.” His chest clenched after admitting out loud once again that he was indeed leaving his old life behind.

Pursing his lips in understanding, Mr Charleston gave a sad nod before disappearing behind the counter.

I’m going to miss this place.

Henry looked around the shop with its sparse decorations and rows of ledgers. The Evergreen had been such a source of joy for him that he could hardly believe it was more than likely the last time he was looking at it.

I will never bump into Miss Sutton in this place or anywhere else.

Something about the unwanted thought made the pit of his stomach churn with discomfort. Trying to distract himself, he focused on a pair of voices at the back of the shop. The speakers were hidden from view, yet he could clearly distinguish what they were saying.

“Can you believe that anyone would do such a thing?” a woman’s voice said loudly, defeating the purpose of her poor attempts at a whisper.

“Completely scandalous if you ask me. If I were a member of her family, I would insist that she be locked up in an asylum.” A second woman whose voice seemed to travel down the aisle answered the first.

Rolling his eyes at the snippets of conversation, Henry turned back towards the counter. It wasn’t often that women entering the shop stopped to gossip, but whenever they did, he always made sure to busy himself with his own affairs. If anything would reassure him that he was making the right choice by leaving, it was listening to the gossip mill spinning its ever-tiresome wheels.

“I agree with you. Any woman who chooses to climb from her bedroom window on the night before her wedding must not have been in her right mind,” the first voice agreed with a heavy tone of judgement.

The night before her wedding. It can’t be.

His ears pricked up as he did a small calculation in his mind. It had been roughly five days since Isabelle had written to tell him that her wedding was going ahead.

It can’t be.

He shook off the thought and attempted to focus his mind back on the matter at hand. He needed the book he had ordered to finish packing in peace and leave London behind for good. Whatever Isabelle was or wasn’t doing at present, wasn’t any concern of his.

“I hear that Lord James Church is less than thrilled with the development. He’s threatening to sue her and her family for breach of promise. Can you imagine throwing over the second son of a wealthy marquess? Miss Isabelle Sutton must have gone tarty if you ask me.”

Isabelle!

Henry’s heart began to race uncontrollably at the mention of her name. It was one thing to wonder what she was doing, but to know that she had climbed out of her bedroom window in desperation was another matter entirely. Where had she gone? He sidled a little closer to the shelves in an attempt to gather more information.

The ladies came into view just as he peeked around a corner.

“Has anyone heard from her since she climbed from the window? Surely, she couldn’t have got that far on her own. Her family has no money, not to mention that there was no mention of any relatives she could have turned to,” the second voice, now proved to belong to a plump, blonde lady of roughly forty, answered her friend.

The first lady, whose hair matched the dull wooden planks of the worn brown floor, spoke up. “Not that I have heard; nobody has seen or heard from her in almost a week. If I were Lord James, I would simply leave her to her own fate and carry on with my life. She can’t be very well off wherever she is. Besides, I wouldn’t want to be her if Lord James does find her; he was practically fuming with rage the last time I saw him.”

She’s in danger.

A cold chill crept down Henry’s spine as the words echoed across his mind. What would James Church do to her if he found her first? The scene from the ball flashed across his mind as he recalled the way that James had gripped her wrist. Would he harm her? The thought made him spring into action as he bolted for the door.

“Lord Ashford, you forgot your book!” Mr Charleston called after him, but it was already too late.

Henry was making his way down the busy street, frantic to find Miss Isabelle Sutton before anyone else.

Where do I start?

His lungs began to burn as he picked up the pace on his way to every possible location he could think of. He swore to himself that he would overturn every stone and pebble in London, even if it meant he’d never sleep until she was found.

***

It’s been almost two weeks.

Henry paced tirelessly in front of the parlour window, waiting for word from the Bow Street Runners. He had tried searching for her for days, wondering where she had got to. Out of desperation, he had gone to the only people known for tracking down criminals and thieves. Not that Isabelle was either; he only wanted to know she was safe.

He reassured himself over and over again that she would be found in due course and brought back to him before anyone else.

“My Lord, there is a visitor to see you,” the butler announced from the doorway, causing Henry to look up.

Hope sprung in his chest as he stopped dead in his tracks. “Well, send them in at once,” he demanded without any care for the man’s feelings. Things had already got so bad between him and the butler that he didn’t care what the man thought of him now.

Leaving the room, the butler returned after a few minutes with the guest in tow.

Henry’s heart was torn between confusion and hope for news when he saw who it was.

“I hope I am not interrupting anything.” Lady Alice Sinclair greeted him with a sorrowful look.

“Has she been found?” Henry demanded immediately, no longer caring what anyone thought of him. There was no time for manners and propriety when so much was happening.

Lady Sinclair’s expression filled with concern rather than scorn. “I was hoping that you would be able to tell me where she has gone.”

Panic set in again when he realized Isabelle hadn’t returned home.

“I do not know where Isabelle is, Lady Sinclair. If I did know, I wouldn’t be utilizing half of London to try and find her.” His shoulders slumped in defeat as he approached a chair and sat, gesturing for his guest to do the same.

Eyeing him in suspicion, Isabelle’s aunt accepted his invitation and chose a chaise longue opposite his chair. “I came here to plead with you to tell us where she is. I know that you only want to protect her. I do not doubt that, but you can’t possibly think that you will be able to make her happy. Please write to our Isabelle at once and tell her to come home. It’s time that this whole ordeal comes to an end,” she demanded firmly.

Lifting his head in disbelief, Henry stared at her with his mouth slightly agape.

“I do not wish to fight with you, Lord Ashford. I simply want my niece to return to the life destined for her. You are not a suitable match for her, even if you have to concede to that. You were never able to make poor Edith happy, so how will you make someone like Isabelle happy? She is far younger and more stubborn than your late wife ever was.” Lady Sinclair looked him in the eyes without pulling any punches.

Jumping to his feet, Henry lost his temper. “It was not my fault that Edith was not happy. I tried to love her as best I could. It was she who rejected me and my affections. I cannot be held responsible for that failure of a marriage for the rest of my life! I deserve to live in happiness as much as she deserves to rest in peace!” He thrust his thumb into his chest.

Lady Sinclar seemed shocked as she raised her hand to her throat. “Don’t tell me that you intend on marrying Isabelle? What will everyone say if they hear that a renowned widower stole the bride of a wealthy young man?” Her eyes searched his face as if waiting for him to refute her claims.

Her words caught him off guard as he considered them. “I am willing to save her from a family who cannot see how desperately unhappy she is with their decisions. I do not care what you or the rest of the bloody ton thinks about that!” Heat rose on the back of his neck as he stared at her.

Doesn’t she care about anything other than that blasted marriage?

It dawned on him just how much Isabelle had needed him to be on her side. All her family and the rest of the ton ever cared about was the appearance of things. Nobody had ever stopped to ask themselves if she would be safe under Lord James’s care.

Lady Sinclair continued to stare at him in stunned silence with her hand raised to her throat.

“It strikes me as odd, Lady Sinclair, that you would prize the opinions of the ton above the well-being of your own family. I have never taken you for a fool, but have you truly never noticed what a wretched man Lord James Church can be? He has treated Isabelle with nothing but disrespect since the day I met her. Have you no shame in throwing her to the wolves for the sake of family honour? I do not know what he has promised your family, but sacrificing such a wonderful young woman should never have been an option.” Henry felt more exasperated than he’d ever felt in his life.

Why can they not see what they are asking of her?

He felt even more disappointed in himself to know that he had left her to the mercy of her family that only seemed to care for their reputations. He should have dropped what he was doing and gone after her the moment he had received her letter.

Images of her flushed cheeks flashed through his mind, conjuring the memory of her face when he’d save her from burning herself with hot tea.

She was relying on me to save her again.

His chest clenched with disappointment when he realized just how badly he had let her down. There was something more than just trust behind her eyes on that day. Hope had coloured the streaks of brown in her eyes.

“Well, I can see that we won’t be getting anywhere here. I will return to my nephew and let him know that you have offered little to no help on the matter.” She placed her hand on the tip of her cane and pushed herself up before heading towards the door.

Henry stopped her just before she reached the threshold, standing in her way before she could pass. “On the contrary, Lady Sinclair, you may tell your nephew that I am doing everything in my power to locate his sister. If I knew where she was, I would not be so cruel as to keep the information to myself, yet you can rest assured that I will protect her if I find her first. Lord James Church is a dangerous man; the sooner you all realize that, the better it will be for Isabelle.”

He almost grew angry again when he recalled the amount of control Lord James had attempted to exercise over Isabelle on the night of the ball.

Isabelle’s aunt swallowed hard, running her tongue over her lips before heading out the door.

I will find her, Henry reassured himself as he watched the baroness leave. He needed to find Isabelle before James reached her and ruined her reputation, or worse, beat her into submission before forcing her to marry him.