Barbara Metzger Read online

  Instead of going to her bedroom, Alissa decided to peek in on Billy, just to be sure. The maid was in tears, the chamber pot was in pieces, and Billy was in his altogether, dancing on top of the bed.

  “Stop that this instant!” Alissa yelled, stamping her foot for emphasis. “You will not act like a barbarian in my house, and that is final, do you hear? I have had enough. The servants have had enough. More than enough. I have given up my sleep, deprived my children of my attention and my husband of my— Never mind, but you, sir, are a spoiled, impossible little brat. And that will stop.”

  “My papa won’t let you send me away.”

  “Your father would be the first to pack your bags! Why, in any other household you would be birched for such behavior. If your father knew anything of young boys he would have seen to the matter, instead of letting you run all of us ragged. If Mr. Canover were not such a mild gentleman, I would ask him to spank you soundly.”

  That got Billy’s attention. “You wouldn’t ask Jake, would you? He’s got arms like tree trunks.”

  “I will think about it. Meantime, you will clean up this mess. And you will entertain yourself for the morning. Heaven knows you have books and toys aplenty. No one is going to come in here until midday, no one at all, no puppy, no Aunt Eleanor to encourage your naughtiness, no one. So you can cry and throw things to your heart’s content, but you shall not rule this house. No more. If you carry on, if you refuse your nuncheon, refuse your medicine or your bath, then you shall have no more stories, no more games with your father, no more special treats from the kitchen. You will sit here alone until kingdom come, or Jake. Do you understand?”

  “Huzzah, madam,” the maid cheered, until Alissa glared her out of the room.

  “Do you understand?” she repeated.

  Billy nodded, tears in his eyes. Alissa had to harden her heart to keep from scooping him into her arms. He would never learn that way. “Good. I shall see you this afternoon, dressed and fed and rested, ready to join us downstairs for tea if you have no fever.”

  “Will my monkey be there?”

  *

  Alissa went to her room, satisfied that Billy would be a better man, and that she would survive his boyhood. She thought she would rest for an hour or two, then join her own sons at their riding lesson and perhaps take them to Gunter’s. The poor boys had been left in the care of Mr. Canover long enough. As soon as her head hit the pillow, however, she fell into a deep, long sleep.

  Mr. Canover, when he returned from seeing his brother off, could not find his charges. Claymore said the earl had gone riding, so the tutor assumed Lord Rockford had taken the Henning boys along with him. He sought out Miss Bourke for a pleasant conversation in the schoolroom, during which very few words were spoken.

  Finding Billy’s door locked, with the footman on duty outside refusing entrance, Lady Eleanor happily took herself off to the shops. She was accompanied by Aunt Reggie, who was restored to good health by the thought of matchmaking again.

  Lord Rockford came back from his ride invigorated and ready to take on his younger son. When he heard about Alissa’s edict, he was relieved enough to take on his elder son at chess again. He won, but not easily.

  Alissa was still sleeping, and the boys must be at lessons, he assumed, so he stayed to have his midday meal with Hugo. Then he took a well-deserved nap while Hugo dozed off.

  They both awakened feeling more the thing, and hungry. “Tea in the drawing room, my boy,” Rockford announced, carefully watching Hugo on the stairs lest his steps were unsteady. He sent a footman up to the nursery to fetch the Henning boys.

  Mr. Canover came down. “I thought the boys were with you, my lord, out riding. I have not seen them since after breakfast.”

  “Damn, they must have gone into the countess’s room after all, when I specifically told them not to bother her.”

  Aminta said no one had answered at the countess’s chamber when she knocked.

  Rockford went up and stepped through the adjoining door, only to find Alissa sprawled on her bed, in her gown, fast asleep.

  He backed out and tried Billy’s room, but his youngest son was also sleeping. So were the puppies, in the nursery. He sent footmen to the stable mews, to the garden, to the park across the street. Lady Eleanor and Aunt Reggie returned, without the boys. Claymore shook his head, and Aminta started crying.

  There was nothing for the earl to do but awaken Alissa and ask where her boys had gone.

  “Gone?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “You’ve lost my children?”

  “I did not lose them. I never had them. I thought they were here in the schoolroom, or with you.”

  “After you barked at them to leave me alone? They would not dare.” Alissa was hurriedly pinning up her hair again, after splashing her face with the cool water from the jug on her nightstand. “And they are good boys, anyway.”

  “Unlike my son, you mean? At least he never ran off.”

  “Hah. How do you think I acquired him?”

  “By marrying me, that is how. Now stop acting like a fishwife and tell me where they would go, so I can fetch them back before it grows dark.”

  Alissa ran to the window. The autumn sun was already lowering. “But I don’t know. Do you think Sir George has them?”

  “What would Ganyon want with your sons?”

  “To hold them for ransom? Or for revenge? I don’t know. You said yourself that he was deranged.”

  Rockford had already sent a message to Bow Street, but he did not want to worry Alissa worse. “Someone would have seen him. No one noticed the boys talking to anyone or getting into a carriage.”

  “Not even Claymore? He always knows where everyone is.”

  “Claymore was, ah, replenishing the wine supplies from the cellar.”

  “You mean he was drunk, while my babies were being abducted?”

  “They were not abducted! Stop working yourself into a frenzy. They must have gone visiting or something.”

  “Are the dogs here?”

  He hated to say it, but he had to tell her that yes, the puppies were all accounted for. The boys were not merely out walking their pets, forgetting the time. Their ponies were in their stalls, and Jake had not seen the Henning boys since before breakfast.

  “Then they have been kidnapped. I knew I should never have brought them to this evil place!”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed them, staring into the depths of her worried green eyes. “Alissa, please do not do this. We will find the boys.” Then he would have them shipped to the antipodes. “I promise.”

  She rested her cheek briefly on his chest, borrowing his strength. “But you promised Billy a monkey too.”

  Lud, he regretted that ridiculous vow, almost as much as he regretted snapping at the Henning boys this morning. They had only wished to spend time with their mother, and he could not fault them for that. Heaven knew he wanted to lock the bedroom door and listen to her calling his name at the height of her passion for the next twenty-four hours. Or the next twenty-four days. Twenty-four years might satisfy the craving he felt for this woman he had married so conveniently.

  He had to put such thoughts out of his mind, or as far away as they would go, with her in his arms. “Come, we will check the cellars and attics and gardens again. We’ll go ask all the servants and the neighbors, the stables and the crossing sweeps. They cannot simply have disappeared off the face of the earth. This is London, where nothing goes unnoticed. Someone is bound to have an idea where they could have gone.”

  When the search proved futile, the family gathered again in the morning room. Blame flew like arrows in a Robin Hood tale.

  Claymore was ready to retire. He was too old for his position, he claimed. His eyesight was too poor if he could miss the boys leaving the house.

  “The old fool wouldn’t miss half of what went on if he stopped looking at the bottom of the glass,” Rockford muttered while Alissa reassured the butler that
he was not responsible, that he was, in fact, invaluable.

  “I could have been more helpful, I suppose,” Lady Eleanor admitted. “I never thought they would like to go to Bond Street with me.”

  Silent in the air was the notion that she could have gone elsewhere for once, somewhere young boys might enjoy, but Rockford’s scowl said enough.

  “I did not notice you offering to take them riding with you this morning,” Lady Eleanor answered her brother’s frown with scorn of her own. She saw no reason why she should bear the entire brunt of the guilt by neglect.

  Lady Winchwood clutched her glass of restorative in both shaking hands. “I shouldn’t have taken their last pennies. Then they might have kept playing cards with me, and not been so restless.”

  “You stole their allowance money?” Rockford poured himself a glass of wine, and one for Alissa. Dash it, how far could the boys get with no money? Kendall was too intelligent and thoughtful a lad to go off without fares or money for food. Which meant they might have been abducted after all. He set the glass down, deciding that he needed all of his senses unimpaired, and said, “Aunt Reggie, they are small boys. You should find yourself a new husband if you want to cheat someone.”

  “This is no time for sarcasm, my boy,” she answered, taking up his discarded glass. It was the perfect time, it seemed, for getting castaway.

  “Don’t blame Aunt Reggie,” Aminta wailed. “I should have been watching them. That’s all you’ve ever asked of me, Lissie, and you have given me so much.”

  Mr. Canover handed Miss Bourke his handkerchief. “No, it was my job to supervise the children.” He stood and addressed Lord Rockford. “I shall hand in my resignation in the morning, my lord. I will understand if you do not feel you can supply references, for I have failed in my duties.”

  He had, and he was lucky Rockford was not a vindictive man or Canover would be out on the street before he could tender that resignation. The earl was about to nod his acceptance of the tutor’s departure when Aminta wailed louder.

  “You cannot let him leave, Lissie. Don’t let Rockford make Lucius go. He is the only man I will ever love.”

  Claymore dropped the plate of biscuits he was handing around. Alissa was speechless, while Lady Winchwood set down her wineglass—Rockford’s wineglass—long enough to clap her hands.

  “You love the tutor?” Rockford drew out his quizzing glass to inspect his sons’ teacher, for perhaps the first time. He could not remember noticing the fellow much before, except the time Canover had patently admired Alissa’s bosom, or was that the randy younger brother? Now he saw a slight young man with a weak chin, not quite compensated for by heavy eyeglasses and hair that was longer than fashion dictated. His coat was of quality fabric, but frayed at the cuffs, and his cravat was neatly if inelegantly tied. His complexion was pasty, as if he did not see the light of day too often—or he had something to feel guilty about. Rockford did not think that something was merely dereliction of his duties, not the way sweet, innocent Amy was blushing. Good grief, the tutor could end up being his brother-in-law!

  Alissa had the same thought, and was not well pleased. Lucius Canover was an unassuming, intelligent, pleasant man, but she had wanted something more for her sister than a poor scholar, and Amy had not yet begun to test the waters of the matrimonial sea. “We shall speak of that later, and of Mr. Canover’s resignation. Now we have to consider the children. Mr. Canover, do you think they might have gone off with your brother?”

  “Why would they do such a thing? And why would Lawrence allow it? He was going to stay with some friends instead of the dormitory.” He gave a guilty look toward Lord Rockford, for letting him think Lawrence was going back to his studies, which were so close to the end of the term his attendance was useless. “The boys would have been decidedly de trop.”

  Rockford could well imagine what the young Romeo had in mind, which was why he had written to the headmaster of his school, to be on the watch for young Canover.

  The tutor was going on, lest anyone think his brother might have resorted to holding the boys for ransom, rather than return to his studies. “Furthermore, I placed the hamper of food from the kitchen in the coach myself. I certainly would have noticed the lads then.” He shook his head. “No one was inside but my brother.”

  “I was not doubting your sibling, Mr. Canover. It was just a thought,” Alissa said. Now she had no others.

  Lady Eleanor did. She jumped up and said, “I know where they could have gone. I’d be willing to wager they went to Henning House to see the duke.”

  “How much would you bet?” Aunt Reggie wanted to know.

  But Rockford asked, “Why would you think that?”

  Alissa added, “You know he refused to acknowledge them.”

  Eleanor was not quite sure why the boys might have gone there, but it seemed a reasonable assumption to her anyway. Hysmith was such a calm, capable fellow, she thought he could help. His sons were grown, so he had ample knowledge of boyish pranks. And it was a good excuse to call on him.

  “Come, Aunt Reggie,” she said, dragging her aunt out of the room before anyone could stop her. “We will go ask if his grace knows anything about the boys.”

  Alissa was thinking. “I did tell them that I wished they could meet their father’s brother. Perhaps they did go there.”

  Rockford doubted it. They had been gone too long. “Hysmith would have sent them home with a flea in their ear. He would not have kept them, not without sending word to us. No one could be that cruel.”

  “But where else could they be?”

  Rockford did not know. He was ready to fly off into the night, as soon as he knew which direction to take. His horse was saddled, his pistol was packed, but he could do nothing until one of his messengers came back saying the children had been sighted somewhere. He had never known such frustration.

  Alissa was weeping, besides, blaming herself for ignoring her sons’ needs. Her muffled cries tore at Rockford’s heart until he wanted to rip it out and hand it to her. The blasted thing was doing him no good, anyway. Neither would it have brought her sons back, though. Damn, it was all his fault.

  Hugo thought it was his, for being such a bother and a weakling and a bad brother to the Hennings, requiring so much of their mother’s time. They couldn’t go places because of him, had not seen half the sights, waiting for him to recover. He could understand their boredom and their upset, but he had no idea where they would have gone.

  “Unless they went back to Rock Hill,” he suggested. “They liked it there, knowing all the villagers and the tenants and the children,” he added with a wistful tone that did not go unheard by his father.

  “We will return there soon. You’ll get to make friends in the neighborhood too.” Rockford sent another rider to Rock Hill, although he doubted the boys would have set out for there without funds. He would have someone check the toll roads heading in that direction, anyway, in case a drayman or a delivery driver picked them up. In fact, Rockford decided, he would go himself, rather than spend the rest of the night sitting at home doing nothing but worrying.

  “Here,” Alissa said, handing him her locket, opened to show facing miniature portraits of her sons. “You can show this to people, to ask if they have seen Kendall or Willy.”

  “Excellent.” And better that it was not a picture of her dead husband that she wore constantly next to her heart. “I’ll stop off at Bow Street first to show the picture, but I’ll leave the rest of my route with Jake, so you can find me if they come home before I do, or if Eleanor learns anything at the duke’s. Otherwise, I will return as soon as I have news. Try not to worry, my dear. I know that is easier said than done, but we will have them back soon.”

  Alissa did not want him to go. How could she get through the night without his comfort, his confidence? She knew she had to stay behind, but her sons were out in the dark, in an unfamiliar city. And her sister was crying in the tutor’s arms. “Aminta, please go to check the attics again. Mr. C
anover, you and Claymore can search the cellars. Perhaps they found an old priest’s hole or something and are trapped behind the walls. They have to be here.” Or else she would lose her mind. “I’ll wait here until Lady Eleanor returns, making more sketches of the boys to show around tomorrow.” Her voice caught on a sob. “In case they are not found before.”

  She had time for a lot of portraits before her sister-in-law came home. In fact, she was so impatient she began to wonder if the Duke of Hysmith was swallowing up her family, person by person. If Lady Eleanor did not return soon, Alissa decided, she would send Mr. Canover. If he disappeared… Well, a sister could hope.

  *

  “Deuce take it, woman, do you never have a care for your reputation?” The duke hauled Eleanor into his book room before any of the servants saw her. His disapproving butler had let her in, of course, but the man valued his position too highly to carry tales. “Coming alone to an unmarried man’s home at night is tantamount to declaring your lack of morals, if not your lack of sense.”

  Eleanor was looking around. She particularly admired the painting hanging over Hysmith’s desk of him on a dark horse. Rockford’s masterpieces were all well and good, but here was art a person could truly enjoy. The horse looked good too.

  When his grace finished his ranting, she made little of his concerns. “My recently acquired good name is safe,” she said, “because Aunt Reggie is outside in the coach. She had a shade too much restorative, I assume, although what she hoped to restore by downing half a decanter of Rockford’s best brandy I cannot imagine. That is not to the point. Your fusty old rules do not apply in the face of such an emergency. Your nephews have gone missing.”

  “And so have your wits. My brother’s sons are in Yorkshire, precisely where they belong. I had a letter yesterday.”

  “My wits gone begging? You must have lost your understanding when your hair fell out. Do not be obtuse. You know I mean your brother William’s children. They are not at home. Have you seen them?”

  The duke reached a hand up to make sure the long strands of hair still covered his bald spot before he said, “I believe I saw your stepnephews in the park once with a pack of dogs. Mongrels.”