CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Thank you for coming so quickly, my lord,” said Mr. Danvers, Audsley’s man of business. After a restless night, Audsley had finally given up on getting any sleep and had arisen early. When the urgent message had arrived, he’d left the house to travel to Danvers’s office before Emma had come down for breakfast.
“I know you well enough to recognize that urgent means urgent.”
Danvers nodded, as he pulled a collection of papers from a folder. He was extremely efficient and had been handling estate matters since Audsley’s father had been the earl. “As you know, I have been trying to locate Mr. and Mrs. Moore. There are obstacles to communicating in China, which have resulted in countless delays. But I believe I now have some information on their whereabouts.”
“Have you found them?”
“Not as such.”
Damn it. Audsley knew how much Emma longed to have information about her parents and he was determined to find them and bring them home. At this point, he had a feeling they were unable to return to England for some reason. Even they couldn’t be selfish enough to prolong their trip for this long. “Pray continue.”
“I believe they left China more than a year ago and are now on the continent.”
“Asia?’
“Europe. I believe they may be near Paris.”
Audsley frowned. “That cannot be right. If they were that close, why wouldn’t they have returned to England? After all, they’d only intended being gone two years at the most, and it has now been almost four times that long.”
“Their circumstances are as yet unclear, though I believe they may not have had a choice in the matter. They were arrested soon after arriving in Peking and spent most of five years there as prisoners of the Emperor, though from all reports were treated rather well. They lived on the grounds of one of the palaces and were charged with teaching English. Their release was secured by a rich merchant from the west and they are said to have travelled back with him a little more than a year ago. But we don’t know who the merchant is or if they took a circuitous route home.”
“But they’re free to return to England, aren’t they?” If the Moores were spending an extra year on the continent as some type of holiday instead of returning to their loving daughters, Audsley would strangle them. As it was, he would have a hard time forgiving them for undertaking a harebrained scheme like travelling to a part of the world where something just like this could happen. Or worse.
“It is unclear. The merchant likely had to pay a considerable amount to secure their release. Mr. and Mrs. Moore might be expected to work it off before they are free to return home. I take it they have no assets they could use to pay off the debt?”
“None.” But Audsley had plenty of money to do so. “Why do you believe they are near Paris?”
“It is said a wealthy French merchant was the one who’d freed them. I can only guess he came from Paris, though he could be from Marseilles or some other part of the country. It may take a while to learn his identity, but I am getting closer each day. Now, there is another possible reason they have not returned.” Danvers looked a bit uncomfortable. “One or both might have died on the way home. Sea voyages are still dangerous. Between the storms, the pirates and various diseases, many people don’t survive a journey halfway around the world.”
Audsley couldn’t bear to think about how heartbroken Emma and Grace would be if their parents had died on their journey.
“I will say a prayer for them,” said Danvers quietly.
“Thank you. In the meantime, please continue your efforts to find answers. Money is no object. Good day, Danvers. Please let me know as soon as you have word.”
Audsley left the office even more troubled than he’d been when he’d awakened that day. He’d move heaven and earth to bring the Moores home if it was still possible. In the meantime, he didn’t want to worry his wife or get her hopes up. He’d already told Deakins not to tell Emma about Danvers’s letter. Audsley wanted to keep everything quiet until he had more answers.
* * *
Emma was worried. Though she and Audsley had made love the previous night, they’d talked very little afterward. Well, Emma had to admit that was partly because she’d fallen asleep soon after. But he’d tossed and turned and had seemed very upset about something. While he hadn’t said what was bothering him, she had a very good idea it had been her behavior at the ball.
She also couldn’t get the picture of him with Lady Embry out of her mind. If he’d never really gotten Lady Embry out of his heart, how long would he stay out of her bed?
Emma shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. She’d been a sensible woman for most of her life – save for two interludes in one maze. She wouldn’t begin seeing problems without reason. As a matter of fact, she was determined to clear the air that very morning at the breakfast table. She would ask for the room to be cleared of servants then ask her husband outright if he intended seeing Lady Embry again. She just wasn’t sure what she’d say if he said yes.
“Good morning, Deakins,” she said, as she entered the breakfast room and surveyed the sideboard. Audsley wasn’t there, which wasn’t too surprising since he spent most mornings in his library. “Do you believe Lord Audsley will join me soon?” She hadn’t had the courage to seek him out in the library.
“His lordship has already eaten and left the house, my lady.”
That was disappointing. “Do you know where he was going or when he’ll return?”
Now the unflappable butler, the most professional of men, looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know where he went or when he will return.”
The way he said it made Emma think he knew the answer to at least one of those things. Deakins knew where Audsley had gone but didn’t want to tell her. And there was only one place her husband, and subsequently his butler, would wish to keep secret: an assignation with Lady Embry.
Emma felt the blood rush to her face, even as she broke out into a cold sweat.
“Would you like me to fix you a plate from the sideboard, my lady?” asked Deakins.
Just the thought of food made her unwell. She couldn’t sit at the table knowing her husband was elsewhere. She just wanted to get to her bedchamber where she could be alone, where she could…
Suddenly, Emma was overwhelmed with a wave of nausea. She wasn’t going to make it to her bedchamber. She frantically looked around for a basin but couldn’t see one. Then she did the most humiliating thing of all. She was sick on the floor of the elegant dining room, in front of their very proper butler and at least two footmen who were bringing dishes in from the kitchen.
There was no doubt about it. Emma was the worst Countess of Audsley ever.