“Fine, Your Grace.” Cordelia waved while giving a high-pitched, near-hysterical laugh. Her hand waving wildly in the air. “Join the party. Make merry.”
“Cordelia.” Minnie reached for her cousin’s hand. “You’re a terrible liar. What’s happened?”
Cordelia squeezed her fingers with one hand while pushing up her glasses with the other. “It’s…it’s Jack and Emily.”
“You mean Lord Effington?” her mother chastised. “You children are far too familiar.”
Minnie looked up at the sky for a moment, before she focused on Cordelia again. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that Lord Effington,” Cordelia said, emphasizing the name as she looked over at her aunt, “and Emily are gone.”
“Gone?” Minnie squeaked.
“Gone?” Tag rumbled as he stared at both of them.
Cordelia let out a small huff. “That’s what I said. Gone.”
Bloody Christ, Tag swore to himself as he raked both his hands through his hair. This had better be a mistake. Perhaps the couple had just slipped into the bushes for a bit of privacy or a room upstairs. Embarrassing certainly but not detrimental. Unless… “Who else knows?”
“Just my sister and mother. And Ada of course.”
He nodded. “Good. Don’t tell anyone else. Let’s pair off and search for them.” If Jack had run away then he was leaving a giant mess to clean up. What if her parents refused to acknowledge the match now that they’d eloped? What if her sister retaliated by shouting their secret club to the world?
What if Minnie never spoke to him again, somehow blaming him for his friend’s ridiculous actions? He swallowed down a lump that had risen in his throat. The thought of never seeing his spitfire again made him ache deep in the pit of his stomach. What a grey world his would be without her fire warming him.
“Good idea.” Cordelia nodded eagerly. “Let’s meet up with the rest of my family and we can break the property into sections.”
“How do you know they’re gone?” Minnie asked as they started across the party.
“No one has seen them for…” her voice dropped, “two hours at least.” Then Cordelia licked her lips.
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Minnie said as she walked just ahead of him. He was listening, but his eyes kept dropping to her behind. It was rounded in the most perfect way. He wanted to cup both cheeks with his hands. He forced himself to concentrate as she spoke again. “Their wedding is only a month away. Why would they leave now? They only need to wait a few weeks.” Minnie looked back at him, those green eyes capturing his as they sparkled in the sun.
“I haven’t a clue.” But a thought began to niggle through the rest. After what had happened, the couple had been on uncertain terms. Was leaving now their attempt to right their tilting ship?
But an hour of searching the property had yielded no results. Tag had quickly left to ride to Jack’s. He could only hope they were there.
Knocking on Jack’s door, the butler, Reeves, had answered. Surprise made the man’s eyes go wide. “Your Grace. I’m surprised to see you.”
“Why?” Tag asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The man blinked. “Lord Effington has left on a trip. I assumed you would be aware.”
“I’m not,” Tag answered, clenching and unclenching his fingers. “Where did my friend go?”
Reeves swallowed. “It’s not my place to say.”
Tag leaned against the doorframe, giving the man a hard stare. “And is it your place to clean up the mess that Lord Effington has made?”
“Your Grace,” the man croaked.
Tag gave a heavy sigh. It wasn’t Reeves’ fault. “Reeves, please tell me that Lady Emily was with him so that I at least know she is safe.”
Reeves had given an almost imperceptible nod. Tag’s shoulders had drooped but he’d turned and left again, debating whether he returned home or to Lord and Lady Winthrop’s house. He didn’t have any definite news for them and what he did know wasn’t good.
Then again, at least he could tell her parents with some definite assurances that their daughter was safe. Climbing onto his mount, he set off for the Bancroft residence.
He was going to kill Jack, he decided as pulled at the lapel of his coat. To be the bearer of such news…he groaned inwardly.