‘So what do we do next?’ I asked.
‘I am running out of ideas,’ Lucian confessed. ‘Selbourne said he would speak to Arabella’s closest friends. They all support the romance, so he is having no problem convincing them he had nothing to do with her disappearance and that he wants to find her.’
‘If someone took her for ransom, her brother would have heard by now, surely?’ I was thinking out loud and I didn’t want to raise the other motive for kidnap – that she had been taken for sex, or that we were dealing with some perverted murderer. Talking about it would make it all too real. ‘Or would he have been warned by the kidnappers to keep it a secret?’
‘That might be the case. Money could be a motive because he is certainly wealthy. So, come to that, is Arabella. Her money is all in trust of course, but its existence is one reason why Cottingham is convinced it is Selbourne. He has made no secret of the fact that his estate needs investment that goes way beyond what he can afford. Clem could continue as he is now and manage very well in a modest way but, if he wants to fulfil his ambitions, marriage to an heiress would solve all his problems.’
‘Who is her trustee? Her brother?’
‘You are thinking that if he has squandered her money he has a motive to get rid of her?’ James sounded sceptical. ‘There is absolutely no whisper of anything wrong with his own finances. It is very difficult to keep it quiet if a man starts selling his horses, or cutting back on his servants. He certainly hasn’t started gambling heavily.’
‘Then we must start to look for even more sordid motives,’ I said as the carriage came to a halt and Garrick climbed down to open the door.
‘If you can join us after you have taken the carriage round to the mews, we need a council of war, Garrick.’
‘Very good, my lord.’
We went in and trooped through to the drawing room. Lucian made for the decanters and James collapsed in a loose-limbed sprawl in an armchair the moment I sat down. Neither of them looked very positive and I couldn’t find much to smile about either. Arabella Trenton might be cuddled up in a love nest with the man of her heart, but that seemed less likely by the day and the alternatives were… unpleasant.
‘Sherry, Cassie?’ Lucian held up the decanter.
I shook my head. ‘No, thank you. I could kill for a cup of tea. I’ll make some.’
They both looked horrified. ‘What?’ I demanded. ‘I shouldn’t be making tea because I am a lady or Garrick would throw a wobbly if I started messing about in his kitchen?’
‘Both,’ James drawled. ‘I would pay a considerable sum to see Garrick throwing a wobbly though.’
I lobbed a cushion at him. ‘And it will be China tea, won’t it?’ I remembered Mr Grimswade’s Earl Grey at the start of this whole affair.
‘As opposed to what?’ Lucian handed his brother a glass of brandy and took the seat facing me.
‘Indian. And that is another glimpse of the future that you should forget about.’
‘Ah, Garrick, a cup of chocolate for Miss Lawrence and whatever you want for yourself.’
We got settled at last, the men all cradling glasses of brandy, me sipping happily and wondering how people coped in the days before chocolate and prodding at a niggle that I couldn’t quite pin down but which had been stirred into life by the steaming cup I had in my hands.
‘There was no message from Selbourne,’ Lucian said after we had brooded in silence for a few minutes. ‘He promised to let me know if any of Arabella’s friends came up with anything useful.’
After another unproductive pause I said, ‘What are the motives for this if we assume that Arabella did not go willingly and that the person she went to, or with, is not well-intentioned?’
‘Financial gain,’ James said. ‘Either to hold her to ransom or to get control of her inheritance.’
‘Revenge,’ Garrick suggested. ‘Someone who wants to hurt her brother for some reason.’
James and Lucian exchanged looks, then James shook his head. ‘I have never heard of anything – ’
‘And you hear all the gossip,’ Lucian teased.
James narrowed his eyes at him. ‘And very useful it is too. The man is boringly ordinary. No seduced wives, no abandoned mistresses, no tricky dealings at the card table or younger brothers lured into iniquity.’
‘Desire. She is young, beautiful and closely guarded,’ I contributed.
‘Insanity,’ Lucian said. ‘A perverted desire to murder or to – ’ He darted a glance at me. ‘Ravish.’
‘It is complicated,’ James said thoughtfully as he got up, lifted the decanter and walked around re-filling glasses. ‘So much easier to snatch Miss Trenton on the street – why create a mystery at home?’
‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘Or she could have been taken from a shop or when she was walking in the park. Even with a maid and a footman in attendance the shock of surprise could see her bundled into a carriage in seconds. The streets are full of anonymous black carriages – a kidnapper could have her away and lost in the crowd before any sort of rescue could be made.’