Chapter Thirty-Four
Lisbeth and Thomas walked to the door of the townhouse, laughing. The event for the epic had been a spectacular success. She was still grinning because they’d been given a spot in the Crystal Palace.
They would need to design a new exhibit for the space.
She and the other board members had already started planning.
As they reached the front door, it was yanked open.
Morrison looked at her, a worried and terrified expression on his face.
Fear clutched her heart. She and Thomas glanced at each other, alarmed.
“What is it, Morrison?” she asked.
He shook his head frantically. “The children are missing. I sent a footman to fetch you. He must have missed you.”
Lisbeth shook her head in shock. This couldn’t be. Why would the children be gone? “Perhaps they are hiding?”
Thomas ushered her inside and asked, “What happened?”
Benson sat in a chair in the foyer with blood dripping down his collar. Miss Ashby sat next to him with a bruise on her cheek. Lisbeth shook her head. “Tell us.”
Hoarsely Benson said, “I was in the garden walking the perimeter when I was hit in the back of the head with what felt like the butt of a pistol. When I woke, Miss Ashby was tied up, and the children were gone. I’m so sorry, Mrs. Easton.”
Miss Ashby wiped at her tears. “A woman, who I think has been here before, smacked me and then tied me up. I tried to fight her. I swear. She said she was keeping them until you spoke to her about her husband.”
Lisbeth stumbled slightly, and Thomas grasped her arm, giving her support. It had to be the admirer C. She looked at him frantically. “How are we supposed to find them? We couldn’t even trace her letters.”
“Mrs. Easton, it was someone who’d been her before looking for your husband.”
She didn’t understand. A teenage girl had done all of this. “She was one of the young ladies here previously?”
Miss Ashby frowned. “It wasn’t a girl. It was their chaperone.”
Thomas’s eyes widened. “Miss Sanders. She visited with Lady Chloe.”
“Morrison, do you know who Lady Chloe’s father is?”
Morrison opened the visitor book they kept by the door. “Lady Chloe is the daughter of Lord Towson.”
Lisbeth knew the family. “They only lived a few townhouses down.”
She rushed to the door with Thomas, Benson, and Miss Ashby following her. Benson winced, and she said, “Perhaps you should stay.”
He shook his head. “I will not leave you.”
Lisbeth continued to the townhouse that was only a five-minute walk from her own. She couldn’t believe that such danger lurked close by. She glanced at Thomas, whose face was filled with remorse. “I’m so sorry, Lisbeth. If I hadn’t returned—”
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare say that. You are not the cause of this. This woman is not stable.”
Fear clawed at her, but she didn’t blame Thomas. The door was thrown open by another frantic butler. Thomas demanded, “We need to see Miss Sanders right away.”
The butler looked at them frantically and said, “She isn’t here. Good day.”
The man attempted to shut the door, but Thomas stuck his boot in the opening. “You will let us in and tell Lord Towson and Lady Chloe we must speak with them at once. Am I clear?
The butler gulped. “Yes, sir.”
They entered, and he led them to an empty drawing room. Lisbeth hoped that Alice and Jeremy were here. They sat and waited. Minutes ticked by, and Thomas paced, becoming angrier and angrier. Benson and Miss Ashby sat silently. A sense of dread hung in the room.
Thomas cursed. “I will go find the man myself.”
Lisbeth nodded. They needed to speak with someone right away. He started to storm towards the door when it was yanked open by an older man, followed by Lady Chloe, who was crying. Towson stated, “I’m sorry it took me so long. We were looking for my niece Georgina. She is missing.”
Lisbeth added, “She has taken my children.”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I’m not sure how this happened,” he said, and they glanced at Thomas. “Are you Thomas Easton?”
A servant carried multiple journals and sketchpads into the room. Towson handed one to Lisbeth and one to Thomas. Lisbeth opened hers to find sketches of Thomas, the children, Miss Sanders, and then a drawing of her, knocked out at the foot of Sinclair’s stairs. So, she had been pushed.
She stumbled backwards, and Thomas insisted, “Please get my wife a chair.”
Lisbeth took a deep breath. She needed to pull herself together. It wouldn’t do Alice and Jeremy any good if she fell apart. “We need to know what is going on and where she might have taken my children.
Lady Chloe sniffled. “This isn’t her first infatuation, but after she came back from the asylum, she seemed so much better.”
“What do you mean this isn’t her first infatuation?” Thomas demanded.
Lord Towson explained. “My niece was locked up for stabbing a boy.”
Lisbeth didn’t faint but allowed herself to fall into the chair a servant had brought. Her children were with someone unwell and dangerous. Her heart pounded.
“Explain it all to us,” Thomas bit out.
*
Thomas couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Fury and frustration surged through him. A mad woman had Alice and Jeremy.
Lord Towson said, “Seven years ago, my niece Georgina—she went by her middle name then, Cadence—developed a tendré for a young man who didn’t reciprocate her feelings.
We assumed she would eventually move on, but she started writing him angry letters about marriage.
One night, she snuck into his house and stabbed him.
Thank goodness, the young man lived, but we promised his family we would get her the help she needed. ”
“Why did you let her leave the asylum?”
“All the doctors said she was completely cured.”
They’d been wrong, Thomas thought.
“My brother died shortly after she was sent there. He made me promise to look after Georgina. I didn’t want to let him down. Everything seemed fine until recently. She’d always loved your serials, Mr. Easton, but she started talking as if the two of you knew each other.”
Lady Chloe sniffled. “She was the one who wanted us to seek you out.”
Lisbeth couldn’t believe what was happening. She couldn’t bear the thought of Alice and Jeremy being harmed. “Why do you think she took my children?”
Lady Chloe quietly said, “She told me today that we had to collect them. That you’d asked us to, but I knew that was a lie.
I’d already told Papa that I suspected something was wrong with Georgina.
I went to fetch a parasol, and she locked me in my room.
By the time the staff heard me, she was gone. ”
Towson said, “We were searching the gardens when you arrived. Georgina has always had a very vivid imagination. I hoped to find her out there, playing make-believe.”
“Do you think she will harm my children?”
“I don’t, but I’m not sure why she kidnapped them,” Towson provided.
Lady Chloe said, “Recently, she kept saying that Her Grace should be focusing on her children, not Mr. Easton.”
Lisbeth shook her head, still in shock about the woman’s actions.
Thomas said, “I’ve never even written to her and only spoke to her once at Lisbeth’s home.”
Lady Chloe explained, “It doesn’t matter what you’ve actually done. In her mind, she has built a whole fantasy. It is what she did before.”
Benson asked, “Do you know where she might have taken them?”
Towson shook his head, but Lady Chloe said, “There is a wooded area in Hyde Park with some ruins that Georgina likes to spend time at. Maybe there?”
They all looked to the front door as Morrison burst through it. He rushed to Thomas. “Sir, this was on the desk in the study.”
It was a floral envelope with the same strong perfume smell. Thomas ripped it open and read aloud.
Your Grace,
I insist you speak with me! Meet me at the ruins in the trees west of the Serpentine.
C
Lady Chloe nodded. “That is the area. Georgina likes to pretend she is some grand lady there.”
Towson looked gutted. “I’m sorry. I thought she was better. We assumed the letters she wrote to you, Mr. Easton, were questions about antiquities.”
Thomas wanted to scream that the man should have watched his niece closer, but he wasn’t sure if it mattered. Truly, all that mattered right now was making sure Alice and Jeremy were safe.
Lisbeth spoke first. “We can’t dwell on that. We must go to Hyde Park now. I need to find my children.”
They rushed out, and two carriages were already prepared. Lisbeth climbed into the carriage with Thomas, Benson, and Miss Ashby. The carriage quickly made its way over the cobblestone streets. To reach that side of Hyde Park, it was a twenty-minute ride.
Thomas squeezed her hand. “We will find them and bring them back safely.”
Her eyes watered. “You don’t know that for sure.”
“We will bring them home,” he said firmly again.
Lisbeth didn’t respond. She appeared devastated. Thomas had hope, and it would be enough for both of them. He would not lose his family, now that he’d just found them. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel. Thomas refused to believe that.
The carriage began to slow down. Benson said, “We are going to walk the rest of the way in. Miss Sanders is only expecting Mrs. Easton. We don’t want to alarm her. Hopefully, she will release the children without any issues. Then Towson can collect her and make sure she obtains the help she needs.”
Concern flared in Thomas. “You want Lisbeth to go to her alone.”
Benson shook his head. “We will be in the perimeter to step in at any time.”
“I’m going,” Lisbeth said, her eyes blazing with protectiveness for Alice and Jeremy.
Thomas nodded, knowing that her mind was made up. “I will be with Benson. Please be careful, Lisbeth.”
She looked at him frantically. “I just need them away from Miss Sanders.”
Fear clawed at him that she might do something dangerous to ensure Alice and Jeremy could escape, but there was no other solution. Lisbeth had to go.
He kissed her. Benson frowned at her. “Be careful.”
She nodded and took a lantern from him. Lisbeth walked towards the tree line, revealing only a hint of the ruins. Night was quickly approaching. He hated this.