Page 84 of The Devil's Accidental Duchess
He whirled around and headed for the door, but not before throwing back one parting warning. “Don’tyouthink about fleeing. I want you to stay here until she is found, and if she isnotfound, I suggest you start talking about anything you have left out.”
If Mary was attempting to buy Selina time, or to buyherselftime, she would not succeed. Philip would not rest until Selina was at his side again, hearinghisside of the truth.
There were no gentlemen left in their beds. All had been rudely awoken and summoned out into the rain to search for the missing bride. Selina’s brother, Reuben, had set himself to the task without complaint, while her father had been rather more reluctant.
“If this is a ruse, Ashbrook, I will not be fooled,”the older man had said, before donning his greatcoat and heading out into the downpour.
Lizzy and Melody had been awoken by the ruckus, and once they had heard what was going on, they had tried to insist on joining the search. Philip, however, had relegated them to the drawing room, where they were to wait for news.
“If you know anything and you think you are being loyal by saying nothing, I would urge you to reconsider,”Philip had told them before departing to join the search party.
However, the two young ladies had looked genuinely stricken upon hearing that Selina was missing. Stricken that she was gone and stricken that they had known nothing about her absence. It worried Philip, for in the back of his mind, he had hoped that they at least would have an idea of where she was.
Would she really leave without telling her best friends where she was going?
The answer disturbed him more than he cared to admit. Having seen how close the three women were, the same response kept echoing in his head:No. No, she wouldn’t.
Soaked to the bone and running out of patience and hope, Philip trudged back to the manor from the lake with a dimming lantern in his hand.
He had searched the gardens and the woodland. He had asked at the stables if Selina had taken a horse or a carriage. He had checked the boathouse, the outbuildings, the pavilion, every possible place of shelter that he could think of.
To no avail.
Judging by the somewhat funereal return of the other gentlemen, moving slowly back to the manor with lanterns and dark coats, they too had had no success.
“Any luck?” Lizzy appeared at the open terrace door, her face pale.
While the gentlemen had been searching, the waiting party of two had grown to five: Lizzy, Melody, the Duchess of Barlow, his grandmother… and Mary. The maid looked rather uncomfortable, twisting her body away from his questioning eyes.
“She is nowhere,” Philip replied, then glanced back at the other gentlemen. “Any sign of her?”
The gentlemen grumbled their gloomy responses.
“What have you done to her, eh?” John stepped forward, smearing water from his eyes. “My daughter would not simply abandon her family in the middle of the night. So, where is she? Why have you got us performing this search, when I have no doubt you already know her whereabouts?”
Philip glowered at the man. “It is no performance, Barlow. Sheismissing, and I have no notion of where she is.”
“Was this the plan all along? Pretend to want to marry her, then do away with her before the wedding?” John snapped back, his hand reaching for something beneath his coat.
A pistol gleamed slickly, the barrel pointed at Philip.
“Would you put that away, you old fool!” Philip barked as the other gentlemen backed away. “I have done nothing to your daughter! Iwantto marry her. I adore her more than I can express in words. So, if you want to shoot me, just shoot me, but it will help nothing whatsoever!”
John wavered, and Reuben stepped in, putting himself between the barrel of the pistol and Philip. “I believe him, Father. I do not think he has any part in this.”
“Get out of the way!” John snarled.
“No, Father, I won’t.” Reuben sighed. “If Ashbrook was responsible for my sister’s disappearance, he would not have woken everyone. He would have waited until morning.”
The pistol lowered slightly.
“However, I must ask this,” Reuben continued, his gaze skimming across the search party. “Where is Lord Ramsbury? I would have thought he would be one of the first to help.”
Philip froze. He, too, looked across the gathered gentlemen, who were all, in turn, looking at one another to see if it was true.
Lord Ramsbury was not among them.
“He took a horse,” the stablemaster called from the rear of the group. “Hours ago. Said he was heading home.”
