Grace couldn't hide her impatience. "What did they say? Do they know anything?"
"Oh, they think they know everything."
Evelyn touched her arm. "Remember, we must try to extract the truth from a whole host of vicious lies. Prepare yourself as it may be rather unpleasant."
"Let us walk out onto the terrace," Leo said. He nodded to the open doors and then followed them outside. "It's a bit breezy, but we won't stay out here too long."
"Well?" Grace asked turning to face him once noting they were alone. "Do not keep any of it from me. Tell me the worst."
"No one seemed to notice Caroline has not been about for a few days. When I mentioned it, someone said she'd probably gone abroad with a lover. Someone said she needs to hide from her creditors. Another said she probably has …" He stopped and cleared his throat. "Said she has syphilis."
Grace gulped. "They are all lies. Every single one of them. Who plans to go abroad and not take a single item with them?"
"I agree with Grace," Evelyn said. "None of it rings true."
Leo brushed his hand through his hair. His warm brown eyes held a hint of compassion. "Elliot asked me to speak to Lady Sudley, but apparently she is ill. Only Lord Sudley is in attendance this evening."
"Are you gossiping about me now, Leo?"
Grace would recognise Elliot's voice anywhere. She looked beyond Leo's shoulder as Elliot and Alexander came to join them.
"Your lemonade." His tone sounded rich and languid as he handed her the glass. He looked so dangerously exquisite in his black coat. Hearing what other's thought of Caroline had affected her mood and she wished they were alone so he could help her forget. Noticing the change in her, he narrowed his gaze. "Is everything alright?"
"We were discussing what I'd heard about Caroline Rosemond," Leo said. "I think we have established it is all lies. The only other conversation I was party to relates to her relationship with Mr. Henshaw."
Elliot straightened. "Lord Henshaw's son?"
Leo nodded. "The youngest one, Mark."
"Mark?" Grace gasped. It was the first credible piece of information they'd had. "Where does he live?"
All three gentlemen looked at her blankly.
"Wherever he lives," Leo began, "you won't find him there now. He's gone off on a grand tour." He shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. "Are you certain your sister didn't decide to follow him and in all the excitement simply neglected to tell you?"
Doubt flared.
"Caroline wouldn't do that to me." Grace's tone lacked the conviction her words implied. Caroline had always been flighty and self-absorbed.
Leo held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying, perhaps she was in love with him. Love has been the cause of many a selfish and scandalous act."
If Caroline was with child, perhaps Mr. Henshaw was the gentleman responsible for her condition. In those circumstances, she could imagine her sister acting thoughtlessly, desperately.
"Well, we can hardly knock on Lord Henshaw's door and ask him," Alexander offered. "Who else would know?"
Elliot's eyes grew wide, and he sucked in a breath. "It has just dawned on me. Mr. Henshaw has a sister. Lady Sudley is just a year older."
"I knew it," Grace cried feeling somewhat smug and was tempted to punch the air in triumph. "The lady knows far more than she led me to believe. But we can't ask her about it now as she's not here."
"You said Lord Sudley is here," Evelyn said. "He may know something. At the very least I'm sure he knows where his wife's brother lives."
Leo sighed. "I thought we had already established Mr. Henshaw is not at home and has gone abroad."
"Yes, but perhaps one of his servants knows something," Evelyn said with some frustration. "The question is which one of us will approach him?"
All heads turned to face Leo.
"Why me?" His hand flew to his chest as he took a step back. "I've done more than my fair share already. If it weren't for me, you'd all be none the wiser."