Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

“ H as Sophia returned?” Thomas burst through the front doors of his manor before he could see if there was anyone to answer him.

His uncle was standing in the entrance hall with his mother, their faces pale with worry.

“No. We’ve had the staff looking everywhere in the manor and grounds, but they couldn’t find her,” answered Gregory.

Behind Thomas, the rest of the Kendalls poured into the manor, shaking the water off their coats and cloaks.

“You must be kidding,” Harriet yelped, clasping her hand to her chest as if she feared the Kendalls might take her heart from her if she wasn’t careful.

“We are worried about her too, so no, there is no kidding afoot here,” James explained, somewhat curtly.

“Be courteous, Mother, or you can retire to your chambers for the night.” Thomas turned in slow, useless circles. “Where else could she be? Where else could she be?”

He could feel the awkwardness radiating from the four Kendalls, probably stemming from the fact that he had never stood in front of them alone in such a manner. Sophia had always been there to act as a sort of intermediary.

“Isn’t it obvious that she doesn’t want to be found?” Samuel interjected sourly. “She has run from him—he just doesn’t care to admit it. We all expected it would happen. You hurt her, didn’t you?”

“Son!” Charles blurted out.

Thomas looked at the youngest Kendall with cold, tired eyes.

“Let the boy speak his mind, Charles! We knew what we were doing when we allowed our daughter to marry this… this duke .” Lydia glared daggers at him.

“What are you insinuating, boy?” Charles asked.

“He clearly did something abhorrent. Caused her to run away. And now, he stands here before us, pretending to be sad and caring. Look at him. Have you ever seen a worse actor in your life?” Samuel pointed a finger at Thomas. “Sophia told us about your disapproving looks, about how you ruined her debut. You think we’d forget?”

“That is… not the case anymore,” said Thomas, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Oh right, bollocks it’s not!” Samuel punctuated his insult with a rude hand gesture. “You expect us to believe that? You are just trying to hold on to the fraying threads of your reputation.”

“That is not true.” Thomas rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest. “Things… things are different now.”

“What could have possibly changed so much that you’d expect us to believe it’s not your fault, Your Grace?” Samuel asked, a mocking irony in his voice.

Thomas fell mute. What was he supposed to say? That he had fallen in love with her? That he had broken each and every one of his rules for the sake of this one woman? That the time he’d spent married to her had been the best time of his life?

He took a deep breath and realized no collection of words would satisfy them. There was no point. She could be begging for help in a dark hole somewhere while they wasted time.

Thomas straightened his back. This was beneath him. He needed to take action. He turned and faced Samuel directly, who flinched in response.

“Samuel, I don’t think I could give even a tinker’s penny about whether you believe me or not.” The young man gulped at Thomas’s dry tone. “You may take my brother for a fool and one to be easily manipulated, but I’m not my brother. I am done listening to you.”

Still wearing his coat, for he hadn’t paused to shed it, he headed towards the door.

“Your Grace? Where are you going?” asked James.

“I need to find my wife, and she’s not here. Staying won’t help, and I don’t intend to rest until I have her at my side again. You can argue amongst yourselves if you like, but if you can’t be useful, stay out of my way.”

Samuel snorted, an annoying sneer on his face. “So what, you’re just going to stumble around in the dark until you run into her or something?”

“That is better than standing here, arguing my innocence for no good reason,” Thomas shot back, wrenching open the door.

He was halfway down the porch when a voice called out, halting him on the slippery marble.

“I believe him,” James declared, appearing in the doorway.

“What?” Samuel protested.

James raised a hand to silence him. “There are two possible outcomes here. One, he’s lying—in which case, Sophia is still out there, lost and alone or worse, and we, her family, are stuck here debating nonsense, failing her. Or two, he’s telling the truth—in which case, we should be ashamed of ourselves, and Sophia is still out there, lost and alone or worse.”

He descended the porch steps to join Thomas, the two men exchanging an awkward nod.

“I will accompany you, Your Grace,” James said, clearing his throat. “I won’t rest until she is found.”

Thomas breathed slowly as he stared at James. Sophia had talked about her brothers at length and often, but she had especially said kind words about James—respect, trust, love, admiration. Thomas could see it now. James was a man of quality, and it warmed him a little to feel that he had gained some respect from the man in return.

“Thank you,” Thomas said quietly.

James cracked a small smile. “Don’t thank me yet.”

At that moment, William came hurtling around the side of the manor, running full-pelt towards the entrance.

“I just—” He caught himself when he noticed that the Kendalls were also congregating on the porch steps, or just inside the house. All of them. All of them.

Unwilling to let anything else disrupt his progress, or lack thereof, Thomas asked, “What have you found, William?”

“Violetta is still missing… although she wouldn’t return here if she was lost, would she? Surely, she would try to reach our cousin’s residence instead?” William was clearly making an effort not to look at Samuel.

“Perhaps Sophia has ridden farther than she had to in order to escape something,” Charles chimed in. “No one could catch up to her on a fast horse unless she let them.”

“And Violetta is a very fast horse,” added William.

“She was fast enough to beat Lucille,” agreed Thomas. “And if someone had used violence to stop her, wouldn’t we have found something on the road? Signs of a fight? Blood, perhaps? But there was nothing in any feasible direction.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” It was Samuel again, intruding with his usual sarcastic demeanor. Everyone turned to look at him, though not with as much patience as before. “There wasn’t a fight.”

Charles humored him. “What are you implying, Son?”

“That Sophia must have stopped willingly. That she thought she was talking to a friend.” Samuel took a few casual steps forward and gestured to the Pratt family members, all of whom were now outside. “It must have been one of you.”

“Son, please don’t—” Lydia tried to intervene, but Samuel wasn’t having it.

“Oh, pish posh, Mother. You know their ilk. They all pretended to accept her into their house. They all pretended to like her?—”

“We do like her!” William snapped. “I was apprehensive at first, it’s true, but she grew on us. She’s a good and decent lady, even if she is a little brash. And she adores horses. Why wouldn’t we like her?”

The confession heartened Thomas, though he could not savor his brother’s acceptance of his wife. Not until she was back in his arms, safe and sound.

“I hate to admit it, but I think the young Kendall might be right.”

Everyone whirled around to stare at Harriet, who had stayed mostly silent so far. She had voiced her opinion with a furrowed brow and clasped hands, looking very uneasy, indeed.

Thomas narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you mean, Mother?”

“Are you absolutely certain you didn’t find any signs of a scuffle or a fight?”

“It would have been hard to miss a wounded or dead horse, that is certain,” Gregory pointed out.

Thomas nodded. “I didn’t miss anything, Mother. It was mostly daylight while I searched, and I am certain I didn’t miss something so significant.”

A long pause filled the atmosphere. Overhead, a couple of grumbles of thunder broke the silence, as if God himself was invested in this conversation.

Suddenly, Samuel seemed to have an idea and looked around himself, seemingly searching for something.

Lydia approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “What’s the problem, darling?”

“Mother… I…” Samuel looked genuinely distressed. “Oh no… Oh goodness, no.”

That last expression drew Thomas’s attention, as well as James’s, both men exchanging looks before moving closer to the youngest Kendall.

“What do you know, Samuel?” Thomas asked in a carefully strict voice. He recognized some of Sophia’s demeanor and mannerisms in her brother’s attitude.

“I… I just realized. We… we haven’t seen my uncle in a while.”

“When was the last time anyone saw him? I need everyone to think carefully.” Thomas’s face had returned to that stone mask, refusing to crack for anyone but Sophia.

Charles raised a shaky hand. “I… I remember him leaving the house earlier today. Not long after Sophia left. He… he said he was going hunting.”

“Hunting? He hasn’t gone hunting in years,” proclaimed Lydia, and suddenly, everyone’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Are you sure about this, Lord Alderley?” asked Thomas, and he could see the older man’s face drop. “Lord Alderley?”

“He… he didn’t seem very open to the idea of making peace between our families… of Sophia revealing the contents of the diary,” Charles said hesitantly, scratching his chin.

Thomas looked at him, confused. “Diary? What diary?”

“Sophia didn’t tell you?”

Thomas shook his head. “Is it important?”

“Perhaps.” Charles swallowed loudly. “The diary, according to Sophia, is… proof that we have all been mistaken, all these years. Frederick said that he would be silent on the matter, but… now that I think about it, it was uncharacteristic of him. He lives and breathes the feud. He… wouldn’t hold his tongue so easily.”

Panic caught Thomas under the ribs. “Where would he be if he went ‘hunting’?”

“His lodge,” Charles answered shakily. “It’s about twelve miles northeast of here.”

Thomas stormed off towards the stables, hoping the stablemaster had not yet unsaddled Lucille, and it appeared he had something of an entourage. His mother hurried after him, pleading with him to come inside and rethink, considering the hour. Gregory was trying to pull Harriet back to the house, while it was the other way around with Charles and Lydia. Samuel and William were the only ones left behind, but, for once, Thomas wasn’t worried about them killing each other. Not after the revelation that had just been made.

James, however, walked with him.

“Before you say anything,” he began. “You don’t know the way there like I do, Your Grace. Respectfully, you also don’t know my uncle like I do. I am joining you, whether you want me to or not.”

Thomas realized the situation was way too dire to not accept help simply out of pride, so he relented.

After a hasty resaddling at the stables, the two men charged off into the night, the rain pelting their coats and faces.

Thomas would normally feel cold—the rain would feel like small daggers, pricking little needles on his face—but there was a fire inside him, a raging blaze that kept him wide awake and fully enraged.

If it’s his fault, if he is the one who abducted her…

Several thoughts ran through his head—accompanied by the war-drum-like percussion of the horses’ hooves—and all of them were violent.