And there were hundreds of guests on the ground floor.
And Lord Haselby—surely he would not consent to such a scheme.
There were at least a dozen reasons her uncle would not succeed in this.
A dozen. Twelve. Maybe more. And she needed only one—just one to foil his plot.
But this was of little comfort when he stopped and yanked a blindfold over her eyes.
And even less when he threw her into a room and tied her up.
“I will be back,” he bit off, leaving her on her bottom in a corner, bound hand and foot.
She heard his footsteps move across the room, and then it burst from her lips—a single word, the only word that mattered—
“Why?”
His footsteps stopped.
“Why, Uncle Robert?”
This couldn’t be just about the family honor. Hadn’t she already proved herself on that score? Shouldn’t he trust her for that?
“Why?” she asked again, praying he had a conscience. Surely he couldn’t have looked after her and Richard for so many years without some sense of right and wrong.
“You know why,” he finally said, but she knew that he was lying. He had waited far too long before answering.
“Go, then,” she said bitterly. There was no point in stalling him. It would be far better if Gregory found her alone.
But he didn’t move. And even through her blindfold she could feel his suspicion.
“What are you waiting for?” she cried out.
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly. And then she heard him turn.
His footsteps drew closer.
Slowly.
Slowly . . .
And then—
“Where is she?” Hermione gasped.
Gregory strode into the small room, his eyes taking in everything—the cut bindings, the overturned chamber pot. “Someone took her,” he said grimly.
“Her uncle?”
“Or Davenport. They are the only two with reason to—” He shook his head. “No, they cannot do her harm. They need the marriage to be legal and binding. And long-standing. Davenport wants an heir off Lucy.”
Hermione nodded.
Gregory turned to her. “You know the house. Where could she be?”
Hermione was shaking her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know. If it’s her uncle—”
“Assume it’s her uncle,” Gregory ordered. He wasn’t sure that Davenport was agile enough to abduct Lucy, and besides that, if what Haselby had said about his father was true, then Robert Abernathy was the man with secrets.