Page 71 of The Earl and the Reluctant Lady
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fletcher made his way over to Agnes’s friends as he still had been unable to locate her. “Where is she?” he asked as he approached.
They both frowned at him.
“What?”
“She saw you,” Matilda said.
Confusion weighed on him. “Saw me where?”
“With your redheaded lady,” Justine said.
Fletcher swore. “That was not what it looked like.”
Justine folded her arms across her chest. “Explain.”
“That woman…” He shook his head. “She kissed me, and Agnes must have walked off before she saw me push her away.” He frowned. “Where is she?”
“She left here. She was very upset,” Matilda said.
“She was crying.”
Damnation! He’d never hit a woman before and he never would, but damned if he wasn’t tempted to strike Celeste for this.
“Oh no!” Matilda said. “We shouldn’t have let her leave alone, not after the most recent note.”
“What note?” Fletcher asked. He did his best to ignore the ratcheting of his heart as it pounded in his chest.
“Her admirer,” Justine said, her tone revealing her disgust at using that word. “He threatened you. It’s why she broke off the engagement.”
“I have to find her,” he said. He didn’t bother saying anything else, merely made his way to the entrance of the house as quickly as he could. But the ladies were close on his heels.
“We want to help,” Justine said.
“What can we do?” Matilda asked.
“You know the list of men, go through this entire bloody party and try to find them. I’m going to run to her house and see if she’s there. If not, I’ll be back and I’ll find you.”
Matilda’s hand went to her mouth.
“I won’t let anything happen to her.” He nodded once, then left the house.
Half an hour later he found himself back at the ball having discovered that Agnes had not yet returned home. He hoped that her friends had discovered her hiding in an empty room or playing darts. He sent up a silent prayer that she be safe and unharmed and that he could find her before something happened.
It took an additional quarter of an hour for him to locate Matilda. “Anything?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Agnes wasn’t home?”
“No.” He forced himself to take a steadying breath. “Any of the men?”
“There are two on our list that aren’t here. Lord Travers and also Lord Barrow’s son,” Matilda said.
“Where is Justine?” he asked.
“She had to leave. But we looked everywhere before she left.” She bit down on her lip. “You know it could simply be that those two gentlemen weren’t invited or didn’t attend tonight. Agnes, for all her pragmatic nature, she can be reckless. And tonight…”
“Tonight, what?”
