I were riding.”
“Oh,” she whispered. A slow blush crept across her cheeks.
“Did I hear you say something about Lady Jennette gone missing?” Somerton asked.
“Um, yes.”
“Then we need to search for her,” Matthew said. “She might have taken a fall.” He looked over at Somerton. “Find Selby.”
Lady Aston spoke up. “He and Lady Selby rode into town for a few items.”
Damn. Having Selby with them would have been for the best. He glanced over at Lady Aston as his hands fisted tight. He had no doubt that she had planned the scheme and most likely locked them both in the room.
Lady Aston looked down at her hands. “Perhaps we should search the dowager house first. I asked her to look over the place and make recommendations on refurbishing it.”
“Of course,” Somerton replied with a twitch to his lips. “Will you be joining us?”
Lady Aston straightened in her seat. “I shall at that. I will change into my riding habit and join you at the stables.”
“We will be eagerly awaiting your presence,” Matthew said.
As the minutes ticked by, Jennette wondered when someone would arrive to set her free. The long afternoon rays of the sun were shortening quickly. Soon it would be dark and the thought of staying here all night made her tremble. With no fireplace to warm the room and no candles to light it, the hours until dawn would seem endless.
She should have insisted that Matthew take her with him. They could have contrived some story that people would believe. Standing, she rubbed her behind. The hard-wood chair she’d been sitting in for the past hour had made her sore. She glanced out the window and saw a group of riders heading toward the dowager house.
“Thank God!”
To make the scene even more realistic, she opened the window and yelled out, “Help! I’m locked in the attic!”
She watched as Matthew and Somerton reined in their horses and pointed to her position at the window. Lady Aston looked up and her mouth gaped.
“We’re coming, Lady Jennette,” Somerton shouted in return.
Listening closely, she heard the group dismount and enter the first floor. She couldn’t leave anything to chance. This scene had to be believed.
“I’m up in the attic,” she yelled again from the door.
“Upstairs,” she heard Matthew say.
“I believe there is a key in the bedroom,” Lady Aston said.
Of course, the bitch knew the exact location of the key. Finally, the lock clicked and the door rattled open. Matthew, Somerton, Lady Aston, and another woman crowded into the room. Jennette backed up the stairs, as Lady Aston glared at her.
“Who is here with you?” she demanded.
“What do you mean? There is no one here. I came up here to sketch the attic rooms and I heard someone lock the door. I banged on the door and then looked out the window but I have no idea who it might have been.” Jennette walked up the steps into the attic room to retrieve her pad and lead.
Lady Aston followed her. With eyes like a hawk, she scanned the room, looked under the bed and even in the small linen-press. Thankfully, Jennette had aired out the room of the musky scent of their lovemaking and remade the bed.
“What is she doing?” Jennette asked in an innocent tone. “She is the one who asked me to come here.”
“Exactly,” Matthew replied. “So it begs the question, why would she assume a man would be here with you?”
Lady Aston shot him a quelling glare. “I rode by earlier and there were two horses out in front.”
“Yes, my lady.” Jennette hoped her cheeks appeared red as if in embarrassment. “Before the door locked on me, I was up here and another couple went to one of the bedrooms downstairs and…well…I don’t believe they knew I was up here.”
Lady Aston pursed her lips. “And exactly who was down there?”