Chapter 14
“Where?” Michael asked, his entire body coming into attention, ready for whatever might await.
“He awaits us at his carriage near the garden gate,” Colin replied, motioning with his chin for them to follow him.
He led them all out toward the veranda just beyond the ballroom doors. Colin and Michael had been taking turns standing watch for the coachman since their arrival. It had been a long and anxious wait.
“Did you speak with him?” Michael asked as he joined his cousin, matching his stride.
Colin shook his head. “No, I thought it best to do so together as we planned.”
“Thank you, Louisa, for acting as chaperone,” Michael overheard Emmeline murmur as the ladies scurried after the men’s longer strides. “I pray that I have not placed you in any danger by asking you to join us.”
“I would not miss this for anything,” Louisa reassured her. “My life has not held such excitement since my beloved’s passing. You know that I will do all in my power to aid you in your search for Rebecca.”
Emmeline reached out and took her friend’s hand, giving it a squeeze in appreciation. “Let us pray that all of this leads us to her and is not a foolish flight of fancy.”
Michael silently agreed. As their small group approached the coachman, he straightened up from his position leaning against the wheel of his carriage.
“I see that you are a man of your word,” Michael noted, having previously been chosen as the spokesperson of the group.
“My lord.” The coachman nodded in respect of Michael’s position. “I thank you for your patience.”
“My patience is swiftly declining,” Michael’s tone held a warning. “What can you tell us about the laundress, Martha Gouldman, and her connection with Miss Rebecca Frampton?”
The man nodded, shuffling his feet as he worried his hat in his hands.
“Martha met Miss Rebecca at the Shepherd Market. Miss Rebecca was there shopping with her lady’s maid for a gift when Martha saw her.
Miss Rebecca had such fine clothes and was looking at some of the more costly goods within the market.
We do not often see ladies as fine as that.
Martha was struck by her beauty and poise.
She thought, she hoped, that Miss Rebecca might be able to help her. ”
“Help her with what?” Michael demanded to know, feeling Emmeline’s body tense beside him at finally getting some information.
“Martha’s family was suffering. Her father had been fired from the Woolery Mill and could not provide for his family. Martha had become determined to take on work doing the laundry of those within the higher classes of society.
She simply needed a reference, someone who would give her the opportunity to prove herself capable.
I thought that Miss Rebecca would refuse Martha and send her away, but instead she sat down with her and asked her about her life.
” Here, the coachman paused, his eyes meeting Emmeline’s.
“Miss Rebecca is a kind soul. I am sorry that she has been taken.”
Tears sprang to Emmeline’s eyes. “Do you know who took her?”
The coachman shook his head. “I wish that I did. Martha has disappeared as well, and I have not been able to find either of them.”
Colin’s patience was running thin, and he interrupted at this juncture. “How do you know so much about how they met?”
“I was there,” the coachman admitted.
“Miss Rebecca and Martha became friends over the months that followed. Miss Rebecca would slip away from home with one excuse or another for her mother to visit the market. Over time, she began to sneak out of the house after her mother went to sleep, disguised as one of us common folk. She was not very convincing as her manners and way of speaking were too refined for anyone to truly believe that she was one of us.”
“Why would she do such a thing? Why would she risk herself and her reputation?” Emmeline demanded to know.
“She had begun to provide charity relief to those who were suffering after the Woolery Mill fire. You may frown on her seemingly reckless behavior, but her intentions were noble.”
“Good, God, man! Why did you not stop her?” Colin ground out, barely constraining himself from beating the man senseless.
The coachman ignored Colin and gave Emmeline an apologetic look. “I did try to convince her to cease risking herself, but she would not listen.”
Emmeline sighed, nodding in understanding. “Once my sister has set her heart and mind upon something, there is no convincing her otherwise.” She closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. She swayed and moaned softly in distress.
“Are you well, my lady?” the coachman asked, uncertainty in his voice.
Michael reached out and took her elbow in an effort to support her weight should she faint. “Emmeline?” his heart held genuine concern as he broke with social protocol, using her given name in mixed company.
Emmeline opened her eyes, more tears slipping from her lashes to spill down her cheeks.
“I should have been there. I should have paid more attention to her sudden interest in the plight of the working men and women of London. I had noticed a turn in her letters to me, but I dismissed it. If I had read the true meaning behind her words, perhaps she would be with us now.”
“You cannot blame yourself,” Michael murmured, moving closer to her. In that moment, he wanted more than anything in the world to draw her into his arms, but he stopped just shy of doing so.
“I blame myself for not seeing the signs that something was wrong sooner,” the coachman admitted, wringing his hat in his hands with such anxiety that Michael did not believe that it could be salvaged for use again.
“I had heard rumors that Martha was associating with a disreputable businessman, but I did not believe it. I should have known that something was wrong when she started behaving strangely.” He shook his head forlornly. “I should have done something.”
“Why?” Colin demanded to know. “What responsibility do you have for either woman?”
The man turned his eyes to Colins, pain and sorrow etched into his features. “I love Martha.”
Michael and Colin exchanged a look. As men who knew what it was to love a woman and have her disappear, they could not help but feel sympathy for the man. “What is your name, coachman?” Michael asked more gently.
“Timothy Duncan, my lord.” He pulled a forelock of brown hair on his forehead in respect, his honest brown eyes imploring them to help him find the woman that he loved.
Michael studied the man’s stocky build and muscular work-worn hands. “We may have need of you in the coming days. Are you willing to fight if it comes to that to save your Martha and Miss Rebecca?”
“I am.” The man nodded in confirmation.
“Good. We may send word for you in the future,” Michael informed him.
“If you call, I will come,” the man promised. “Upon that, you have my word.”
In an uncharacteristic gesture for a man of his station, Michael reached out his hand to shake the coachman’s. “If you hear of anything new that might be of help in finding Martha and Miss Rebecca, send word to the townhouse of the Earl of Ravenshollow. Do you know where that is?”
The coachman nodded. “I do, and I will.”
“Good man,” Michael said, releasing his grip.
Just as they were all about to part ways, a rustling of leaves behind them alerted them to another’s presence.
“Who is there?” Michael demanded to know, readying himself to defend Emmeline and Louisa.
To his surprise, Theodocia Frampton stepped out of the shadows, her eyes pinning her eldest daughter to the ground upon which they stood.
“You risk much, Daughter, meeting in a dark garden with men who are not your husband,” Theodocia warned in disapproval. Her eyes took in the group with a mix of disdain and imbittered stoicism.
“Whatever you are planning, you clearly do not wish others to know about it, or you would not be meeting in secret. I will not ask you of your intentions, but I will simply warn you that you are not as hidden as you think. There are others in this garden who can see you.”
She gestured toward the dim light of the veranda and a group of men that had gathered there to smoke and argue politics. “You may not care anything for your own reputations, but you should think carefully before you cause any further damage to Rebecca’s.”
“We are only trying to help her,” Emmeline explained, her posture stiff, her face nearly devoid of emotion as it always was when communicating with her mother.
Michael recognized the absence of expression all too well. As children, Emmeline had always been closer with her father than her mother. She had never felt as if she could be her true self around Theodocia and had acted accordingly.
Michael had always resented Theodocia for it. Now all that he could think about while watching both women exchange words was the cold-hearted way in which they had broken his.
“You should leave the investigating to the magistrate and his Runners. It is not appropriate for a lady of your station to be running about London making inquiries. Leave that to the men,” Theodocia advised stiffly.
“The Runners are not making any progress,” Emmeline argued. “Rebecca needs our help.”
“I do not wish to lose both of my daughters to criminals,” Theodosia bit out, showing more emotion than was usual for her usually stolid countenance. “Or to sullied reputations,” she bit out in an attempt to hide her true feelings.
Michael’s bitterness toward the older woman receded somewhat at the reminder that she had indeed lost a daughter.
“I will make inquiries upon the morrow to see if any progress has been made in the case. I will share with them what we have learned this evening. If no further progress is made, I intend to continue my own investigation. If it would bring you peace of mind, I can have a word with my father’s friend, who is a magistrate, about the matter.
It would not harm anything to have more than one magistrate leading an investigation. ”
Theodosia gave him an awkward nod, not meeting his eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured.
If Michael did not know better, he would have thought that she felt guilt over what she had done all of those years ago, taking Emmeline from him and giving her to another man. Having had her say, Theodosia turned on her heel and glided back through the garden to rejoin the ball.
Michael stepped beside Emmeline and looked down into her eyes. “Are you well enough to continue on? If not, I can carry on the investigation without you. I do not wish to cause a rift between you and your family.” Leaning down, he offered her a handkerchief.
Emmeline shook her head. “I will continue on with or without her support.” She sighed and looked up into Michael’s eyes. “She may seem cold, but she speaks only out of fear for her daughters.” The feel of her breath on his skin as she spoke caused a shiver of longing to pass along his spine.
Michael stood back up, putting some space between them. “I shall inform you of my findings once I have spoken with the magistrate.”
“Thank you,” Emmeline whispered softly, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She moved to hand him back the handkerchief, but Michael shook his head.
“Keep it. You have more need of it than I.”
Louisa stepped forward, threading her arm through Emmeline’s.
“We should return to the ball before anyone else notices that we are here. We do not need to draw more attention to this situation than already exists. Your mother’s words may have been cold in their delivery, but she is not wrong.
The longer we stand out here, the more at risk our reputations are. ”
Nodding in agreement, Michael and Colin watched as the ladies followed after Theodosia back toward the glittering ballroom and the gossiping ton.
“You still love her,” Colin observed.
It was not a question, and Michael did not answer.