The Duchess Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page A

be
anywhere.”
    Theo gave a low whistle as Sarah handed
him and Mark their tea. “Thank you, Sarah. Right. Well, then, it’s just us. But
Luke won’t be happy we met without him.”
    Simon arched a brow at his youngest
brother. “He should either visit his lodgings once in a while or let us know
where he is located in the world if he wishes to be privy to important family
news.”
    Theo raised his cup. “True.” He took a sip
before setting the cup and saucer down on the oblong carved teak table that
squatted low in front of the sofa.
    Simon lowered himself into the
Egyptian-styled bronze and silk-damask empire chair across from Theo and Mark.
He looked at his sister and gestured to the identical chair beside him. “Please
sit, Esme.”
    As Esme approached, Sarah set down the
teapot and turned to leave the room.
    “Sarah, you will stay.” His tone was
clipped and brooked no argument. He glanced at his brothers. No one reacted to
the out-of-place command, which meant they understood exactly why he wanted
Sarah in the room with them.
    This was a family affair, and while most
might dismiss a maid after she’d finished with the tea, this particular maid
had embedded herself so deeply into life at Ironwood Park that she sometimes
knew things that occurred here that none of the rest of them did. His brothers
understood as well as he did that her presence might prove valuable.
    Plus… well, damn it, he just liked having
her close. His brothers didn’t need to know that.
    “Yes, Your Grace.” Her answer was
automatic, as was her bobbed curtsy. She stayed where she was, standing behind
the silver tea service, attentive but silent.
    When he had everyone’s full attention,
Simon turned to his sister.
    “Tell us what happened, Esme. We must hear
every detail. From the beginning.”
    She nodded. Fixing her gaze on the teak
table and clutching the carved arms of her chair in her hands, she began. “I
don’t see Mama every day anymore – not since she moved into the dower house. So
I don’t know when it happened, but… but… I should have been paying closer
attention. She is my mother. I should have been visiting every day, making sure
she was all right…”
    “When was the last time you saw her?”
Sam’s voice, as always, was cool and detached.
    Esme’s eyes filled with tears. “A week
ago.”
    Simon nodded. “Go on.”
    “Well, the day before yesterday I realized
I hadn’t seen her in a few days, so I went to the dower house for a visit. And…”
    “And?” Theo prompted, leaning forward, his
elbows on his knees, his eyes narrowing on their sister.
    She turned her focus to Theo. “There was
no one at home. Binnie and James weren’t there, and Mama wasn’t there. All
three of them had simply vanished.”
    Simon frowned. Binnie and James were the
two servants his mother had taken with her when she’d moved to the dower house.
He hadn’t known they’d also disappeared.
    “I knocked and knocked. I tried the door,
but it was locked, and you know Mama rarely ever locks her door. I ran back to
the house and asked Mrs. Hope for the key. Sarah came with me, and we went
inside, but no one was there.”
    “Why didn’t you go straight to the
constable?” Mark asked, his brow creased in a rare frown.
    “I… I…” Esme broke off, and sent a
helpless glance in Sarah’s direction.
    “We thought it best to send His Grace a
message before we involved anyone outside the family,” Sarah explained.
“Because once we contact the authorities, everyone will begin to speculate. We
thought it would be more prudent to allow His Grace to decide whether to
involve them.”
    “You made the right decision,” Simon told
her. And he wouldn’t involve the authorities at all in this matter, if he could
help it. Sarah knew him well enough to understand that he preferred to keep
private family matters private, because when it came to the Hawkinses, the
gossipmongers tended to take facts and embellish them to the point