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Twenty-four

A COUPLE OF HUMILIATING HEARTBEATS LATER

The duchess’s sympathetic smile caused dual streaks of heat to skate up Beatrice’s cheeks.

Was she so obvious?

Pining for a man who didn’t want her?

“Oh, I merely wanted to th-thank Mr. Westbrook for caring for m-my injury,” she fibbed. “And the others t-too, of course.”

Blast her stutter.

It gave her away as plainly as if she’d declared, “Yes, I want to see Cassius. I adore him.”

A compassionate smile framing her mouth, Siobhan came around the bed and cautiously sat on the edge opposite the duchess.

“I’m afraid that will have to wait,” her grace said, kindly. “The men have all gone to search for my eldest son, Layton.”

Beatrice snapped her head up. “What has happened? Cassius vowed something awful must have occurred to keep Captain Westbrook from returning with help for us.”

The women exchanged cautious glances.

“Cassius told us how Layton came to your aid.” A tightness entered the duchess’s features.

“Y-yes.” Guilt speared Beatrice, and she could barely form a coherent sentence. “Cassius and I encountered h-him at an inn on a back road from B-Brighton.”

Curses. Stop stuttering.

Concentrating on each word, Beatrice spoke slowly but clearly. “He joined us on our journey to Hefferwickshire House, but I became too ill to travel. After spending the night in a hunting lodge, Cassius and Captain Westbrook decided Captain Westbrook should go for help.”

The Duchess, her daughters-in-law, and the dowager traded another round of knowing glances.

Because staying with two men unchaperoned, utterly compromised Beatrice?

Or because they blamed her for Captain Westbrook’s disappearance?

She plucked at the coverlet.

“He never returned,” Beatrice said in a small voice. “Cassius was frantic with worry.”

“Layton was abducted.” The epitome of regal self-control, the duchess swallowed. She couldn’t hide the fear shining in her green eyes, though. “We received a ransom note.”

Sitting up, Beatrice gasped as much from shock as from the sudden movement.

“That’s horrible.” They all must be terrified for him. “I’m so sorry.”

Surely her uncle’s hoodlums weren’t involved in the abduction.

It must be a coincidence, though it was unusual to abscond with a noble’s adult child. Most aristocratic kidnappings involved children. She couldn’t imagine Layton was giving his abductors an easy time of it, either, which might prove more dangerous for him.

Her empty stomach took that inopportune moment to growl with the ferocity of a starving African lion, and mortification swept over her as she laid a hand over her rebellious belly.

“Get the girl something to eat.” The dowager duchess banged her cane on the undeserving floor. “She sounds hollow to her spine. How can she heal if she’s starving?”

The marchioness stood, and Siobhan rose as well.

“I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare a tray,” the future duchess said.