Chapter 1 #3
“No, her maid finally confided that she tended to her last night and then found that she was not in her bed this morning.” Douglas reached up and gripped the back of his neck.
“She took very little. A few day gowns. A couple of books. Perhaps this is some temporary stunt so that I’m forced to call off the wed—”
“Good. Call it off,” Atlas barked. “Kelmscott and whatever funds he intended to give you should be the least of your concerns.”
“I can’t call anything off. I won’t. Not until we know what’s happened to Philippa.”
Atlas looked at the man he’d known for nearly two decades in shock and not a small measure of disgust. “Is it not obvious that the match you’ve made is why she’s fled?”
“We don’t know that.” Douglas knocked his shoulders back. “He’s already given me a sum of money that I would be unable to easily repay.”
Atlas choked out a bitter laugh. “I see. So he’s already paid for her.”
“Don’t be crass. You know what I’ve done to rebuild my family’s finances.”
Atlas did know. He’d struggled as well. His estate produced very little in terms of rents or income, and yet the cost to maintain it was staggering.
“So will you go and find her and bring her back or not?” Douglas had flicked back the tails of his suit coat and planted a hand on each hip.
“I? Go and find her?” Something fluttered in the middle of Atlas’s chest. A knot formed in his throat. “Why would I go?” It shocked him how unopposed he truly was to the idea. He’d known her since she was a girl; it was natural to want to know she was safe.
Douglas said nothing, merely tipped his head and shot him an arched brow look. “You and my sister have a…rapport that I believe would induce her to listen to you. If I go, or send one of my retainers after her, she won’t listen. Philippa can be strong-willed, as you may know.”
Atlas did know. It was, in his opinion, one of her finest qualities. And based on what he’d heard from his cousin, she’d been unusually biddable of late. He’d worried that it had something to do with—
“I do know about that night,” Douglas said softly.
Atlas squared his gaze on his friend’s. “What night?”
Douglas flicked a hand his way. “You needn’t look so guilty. Lord Crenshaw saw you two together in the garden, but I demanded his word that he would speak of it to no one else.”
The back of Atlas’s neck heated, and he felt warmth spill into his cheeks. Douglas couldn’t know about everything that happened that night. If he did, he’d have called him out or, at the very least, ended their friendship months ago.
“We needn’t speak of it,” Douglas said, “but I know she will listen to you far more than she ever would to me. Will you find her and bring her back?”
Atlas couldn’t quite meet his friend’s eyes and stared at the blotter on his desk. He didn’t know if Philippa would listen to him, and it was because of that night in the garden behind his townhouse. But he did want to find her, not for Douglas’s sake, but to assure himself of her well-being.
“I’ll go and speak to Lizzie,” he told Douglas and shifted, meaning to head out immediately. The longer they waited, the farther Philippa might get.
“Thank you, my friend,” Douglas said, his voice gruff and earnest.
A thought struck and Atlas stilled his movements. “When I find her, I trust that I can tell her the engagement with Kelmscott is off.”
At the shocked look on Douglas’s face, Atlas had the unbearable urge to throttle him.
“That’s why she left,” Atlas he bit out. “You said so yourself. Now you want me to go and convince her to return to marry that old codger?”
“I didn’t know you had such strong opinions on the matter.
” Douglas had crossed his arms and looked far too smug for a man who was standing across from someone who wanted to wrap their hands around his throat.
He glanced down at the chair that Halford had vacated minutes ago.
“And you, Stone? Are you not marrying for the very reason I negotiated the match with Kelmscott?”
He couldn’t deny it. Miss Caulfield’s main appeal was the funds her dowry would bring to bolster his family’s finances, and he realized now that it wasn’t what he wanted. Not that what he did want was any more appropriate or attainable.
“I want your word that if Philippa refuses the match, you will end it.”
“Stone, he’s already given me—”
“Whatever he’s given you, I will repay you, if it comes to that.”
Douglas drew in a sharp breath, then narrowed his eyes. “I can trust you with my sister, can’t I?”
The question was so offensive, Atlas took a step towards him. “You dare ask me that, after telling me I must go and find her for you?”
“You’re right. Forgive me.” Douglas shook his head, then strode forward, clapping Atlas on the shoulder. “Thank you for helping me. Please bring her back safely. I don’t even know what to tell my sisters, but Sophie and Lilah will be worried when they hear she’s gone without a word.”
Atlas gave him one nod, then moved past him toward the threshold.
All he wanted was to find Philippa and know that she’d not come to any danger, but a warning bell sounded in his mind too. Seeing her again would be the first time they’d spoken since that night.
Perhaps he was the one in danger.