Chapter 25 #2
He pulled out a chair for her, and she sat. Gabriel remained standing for a moment before taking the place beside her.
“We know Julian was deeply in debt,” he said. “We know Sophie’s inheritance would have solved those debts. We know he began pressing for control of her estate after your husband’s death, and we now know he was willing to manufacture evidence against you to obtain it.”
Eleanor’s stomach tightened. “Carter disappeared after the hunting accident, and the saddle was tampered with… How could I have missed it?”
“You were grieving. You had Sophie to protect, and everyone around you seemed convinced that you had killed your own husband.”
Eleanor traced the edge of the paper with one finger. “I believe he had the motive, but that does not yet tell us what happened.”
“Carter might, if we find him.”
Eleanor lifted her eyes to his.
“And if he confirms it,” he continued, “then Julian’s involvement becomes much harder to deny.”
The room fell quiet. Eleanor thought of Sophie asleep upstairs, safe beneath the roof of Ravenscourt, and felt a chill move through her despite the warmth of the fire.
“Then we must find Carter.”
“We will.”
Gabriel reached across the desk and covered her hand with his. The gesture was simple, familiar, and Eleanor turned her hand beneath his until their fingers intertwined.
“I thought the trial would make me feel safe,” she admitted, “but it was never going to.”
“You will soon.”
She looked down at their joined hands.
“I have you. That makes me feel safer than the trial ever could have.”
Gabriel’s thumb moved gently across her knuckles.
She looked at him then, and for a moment the old fear receded.
They had come so far in such a short time that she sometimes struggled to believe it.
There had been years when she had imagined Gabriel as a memory she would carry quietly for the rest of her life, but he sat beside her, holding her hand as though he had no intention of letting it go.
“We will find out what happened,” he said.
Eleanor nodded.
“Together.”
They remained there a while longer, speaking in low voices about Carter, the hunting party, and the men who had been present that day. By the time Eleanor finally went upstairs, the house had fallen completely silent.
How good it felt to have a husband who protected her.
She checked on Sophie before retiring. Her daughter slept peacefully, one small hand curled beneath her cheek. Eleanor stood beside the bed for several minutes, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breathing before bending to kiss her forehead.
“Goodnight, darling.”
Sophie stirred but did not wake. Eleanor closed the door gently and returned to her own room with the image of her daughter’s sleeping face still in her mind.
She fell asleep quickly, but something woke her before dawn.
Eleanor opened her eyes to darkness. For several seconds she remained still, listening.
The house was utterly silent. There was no movement from the corridor, no faint footsteps from a servant beginning the morning’s work, and no murmur from the nursery.
She had often faulted her intuition, and no longer knew when to follow it, but in that moment there was no denying the feeling in her stomach. She had to go to her daughter.
She pushed back the covers and crossed the room, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders before stepping into the corridor. The floorboards were cold beneath her feet as she made her way toward the nursery.
The door stood open.
Eleanor stopped. She had left it closed, she knew she had.
“Sophie?” she called softly.
There was no answer, and so she entered the room.
The blankets lay twisted across the mattress, and Sophie was nowhere to be seen.
Eleanor stared at the empty bed, unable to make sense of it, but then she saw the window. It stood open, and the curtain moved gently in the cold air, brushing against the wall.
“No.”
She rushed toward it and leaned out, searching the darkness below, but the garden revealed nothing. The dawn had not yet broken, and the grounds were swallowed in shadow.
“Sophie!”
Her voice broke. She turned and ran into the corridor.
“Gabriel!”
No answer came. She hurried toward his room, her heart pounding so violently that she could barely breathe.
“Gabriel!”
His door opened almost immediately, but it felt like hours had passed.
“What has happened?”
“Sophie. She is gone.”
He stared at her. “What?”
“The nursery. Her bed is empty.”
He followed her without another question. When he reached the nursery, he went directly to the open window. He examined the latch, then looked down toward the ground.
Eleanor stood behind him, shaking.
“Someone took her.”
Gabriel turned. Unlike her, he was utterly still, prepared for whatever was to come. She could see in his eyes that he was frightened too, but he seemed to know instinctively that he had to keep his composure.
“We will find her.”
“They took her from this house. How did they get past the guards?”
“I do not know.”
Eleanor pressed a hand against her mouth as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Gabriel, my daughter—”
“We will find her, Eleanor.”
His voice was low and controlled, but she could feel the fury beneath it.
“Wake every man on the estate,” he called out loudly as he went to the corridor. “Send riders to every road. Lock the gates and search the grounds.”
The house erupted into movement. Doors opened and footsteps thundered along the corridors. Voices rose as servants were roused from their beds.
The relief of the trial was gone, and this time, there was no uncertainty left to hide behind. Eleanor ran through the house, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she thought her body might give in entirely.
Someone had come into Ravenscourt during the night and taken her child.