She kept telling herself t
hat during the entire drive back to the boardinghouse, no matter that she couldn’t make herself believe it for a single moment.
As soon as they entered, however, Lily was jarred from her emotional turmoil.
Something was wrong, she realized as Ellen came rushing up to her in agitation. Apparently the chambermaid had been watching for her arrival.
“Oh, Miss Loring, Miss Delee wants to see you right away!”
“What is the matter, Ellen?” Lily asked, somewhat alarmed.
“I don’t know exactly, but I think it has to do with Miss Irwin.”
“Where is Miss Delee?”
“In her sitting room upstairs.”
“I will go to her at once,” Lily said, turning away quickly.
She hurried up the stairs with Basil hard on her heels. When she reached the sitting room, she found Chantel wringing her hands and Fleur pacing the floor. Another distraught woman was seated on the sofa, her face splotched with tears.
Fanny’s dresser, Joan Tait, Lily realized as she entered.
“Thank God you are here, Lily!” Chantel exclaimed, while Fleur’s head snapped up.
“Where is Lord Claybourne, Lily?” Fleur demanded urgently. “We need him at once!”
“Why?” Lily asked in bewilderment, looking from Fleur to Chantel and back again. “What has happened?”
“That dastardly O’Rourke took Fanny, and we need Claybourne to rescue her!”
Chapter Eighteen
For a nobleman Lord Claybourne is exceedingly fearless and daring, even heroic.
– Lily to Fanny
“He took Fanny?” Lily repeated, her stomach clenching with dread.
“Yes,” Chantel replied hoarsely. “That devil abducted her in broad daylight. Tait saw it all.”
Trying to control her alarm, Lily turned to Fanny’s dresser. “Tell me exactly what happened. You saw Miss Irwin being abducted?”
Gulping back tears, Joan Tait nodded vigorously. “Yes. Just as Miss Irwin returned from the wedding a short while ago. Mr. O’Rourke’s carriage was waiting on the street in front of the house-I saw him from an upstairs window when his coach door opened. Then two hulking footmen jumped out and pushed Miss Irwin inside, and the coach drove off right before my very eyes.”
“She didn’t go willingly?” Lily asked, wanting to be certain.
“No, Miss Loring. I heard her cry out for help.”
Basil clenched his fists in fury. “That bastard. If he has harmed her, I swear I will kill him.”
Lily felt a similar sentiment. Fear and fury warred inside her as she imagined what Mick O’Rourke might be doing to Fanny this very moment. “How long ago was this, Tait?”
“Perhaps twenty minutes. I came directly here-I didn’t know where else to turn.”
When the dresser started weeping again, Chantel patted her shoulder comfortingly. “You did exactly right. Lord Claybourne will help.”
“I am not waiting for Claybourne,” Basil declared, spinning on his heel and heading for the door.