The door opened an instant later. “What?” He looked at her, looked past her. He’d just shrugged on a fresh shirt; the halves framed his chest.
She fixed her gaze on his face. “We have a problem.”
He waved her inside. She sat in a chair and told him all she knew while he buttoned the shirt, tucked it in, and quickly tied his cravat.
“And no one knows who this man is?” He shrugged on his coat.
“Apparently not.” She met his gaze. “It doesn’t sound good, does it? Why would Mary suddenly go missing just now?”
“Don’t extrapolate too far, too fast.” Charles glanced at the window, checking the light. “The first thing we need do is confer with Nicholas and set up a search. If someone’s seen her about with a man, maybe there’s some other, less dire explanation.”
They found Nicholas in the library with Norris; he looked stunned. “Have you heard?” he asked.
Penny nodded. She sat and let Charles take charge; he’d always been good at that sort of thing.
Nicholas, a civil servant to his toes, responded to the voice of command; within minutes, Charles had him writing to Lord Culver, informing him of the missing maid and that they were instituting a search immediately.
Charles turned to Norris. “Send to the stables, the home farm, and the workers’ cottages—round up as many men as you can, but we’ll need to leave yourself and a handful of others here to hold the fort.”
Norris nodded, glanced at Nicholas, saw him absorbed in composition, bowed to her, and hurried out.
Charles reached over Nicholas and tugged a fresh sheet of paper free. Pulling a chair to the desk, he sat and picked up Nicholas’s other pen and checked the nib. When Nicholas looked at him, he said, “I’m going to send to Essington Manor for more men. The Abbey’s too far, at least for tonight—it’ll be dark soon. We need to do all we can while there’s still light enough to see.”
Penny hesitated, then said, “What about the estuary?”
Charles looked at her, then nodded. “I’ll get the Gallants and the others out, too. They can search the shallows.”
She sat for a moment, listening to the scratch of nibs on paper, then rose. “I’ll go and change.”
She returned downstairs just as the Essingtons and the males of their household arrived. Both David and his brother Hubert had come, mounted and ready to search; they’d always been good neighbors and had understood the need—they’d come with all speed.
Millie and Julia had driven themselves over in the gig to keep her company. “So horrible to have to sit and wait alone,” Millie said.
Charles greeted the Essington ladies with heartfelt approval; Penny had changed out of her riding habit, but from the look on her face, she’d been planning to drive herself about in the gig, supposedly assisting the search, but not assisting him in the slightest.
He didn’t want her in any way involved. He had a very bad feeling over what they were going to find. In this part of the country, maids did not walk out and not come back. Not unless they couldn’t come back.
While Millie and Julia claimed Penny’s attention, he conferred with the Essington brothers; they quickly agreed on the area they’d each scour. He and the Wallingham staff would search the north hemisphere, David the southwest quadrant, and Hubert the southeast, including the estuary banks. “I’ve sent word to the Gallants—they’ll take the estuary.”
“Right.” David pulled on his gloves, exchanged a glance with his brother. “We’ll be off, then.”
While they farewelled their ladies, Charles murmured to Penny, “I’ll have a word to Nicholas before I go.”
She looked at him. “Isn’t he going with you?”
He met her gaze. “I’d rather he remained here.”
Penny read his eyes, then nodded and rose. “He’s in the library—I’ll come with you.”
Excusing herself to Millie and Julia, she accompanied him to the library. Nicholas was looking out of the window and pulling on his gloves; he patently intended riding out, too.
He turned as Charles shut the door. “Are we ready to go?”
Stepping past her, Charles halted in the middle of the room. “I am, but you need to remain here.”
“Oh?” All the antagonism between them resurfaced; Nicholas eyed him with incipient dislike. “Why?”
Holding Nicholas’s gaze, Charles evenly stated, “Because we must have someone with authority here to direct the search. If any information comes in, there has to be someone here who can analyze it and act on it—by that I mean give orders. You are the most appropriate in that role—this is your house or as near as makes no difference. On top of that, I grew up here, and so did the others. We know this ground like the backs of our hands. And time is limited. Night’s not far off—we need to be quick and certain of the ground we’re covering.”