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“No. We’ve had the staff looking everywhere in the manor and grounds, but they couldn’t find her,” answered Gregory.

Behind Thomas, the rest of the Kendalls poured into the manor, shaking the water off their coats and cloaks.

“You must be kidding,” Harriet yelped, clasping her hand to her chest as if she feared the Kendalls might take her heart from her if she wasn’t careful.

“We are worried about her too, so no, there is no kidding afoot here,” James explained, somewhat curtly.

“Be courteous, Mother, or you can retire to your chambers for the night.” Thomas turned in slow, useless circles. “Where else could she be? Whereelsecould she be?”

He could feel the awkwardness radiating from the four Kendalls, probably stemming from the fact that he had never stood in front of them alone in such a manner. Sophia had always been there to act as a sort of intermediary.

“Isn’t it obvious that she doesn’t want to be found?” Samuel interjected sourly. “Shehasrun from him—he just doesn’t care to admit it. We all expected it would happen. You hurt her, didn’t you?”

“Son!” Charles blurted out.

Thomas looked at the youngest Kendall with cold, tired eyes.

“Let the boy speak his mind, Charles! We knew what we were doing when we allowed our daughter to marry this… thisduke.” Lydia glared daggers at him.

“What are you insinuating, boy?” Charles asked.

“He clearly did something abhorrent. Caused her to run away. And now, he stands here before us, pretending to be sad and caring. Look at him. Have you ever seen a worse actor in your life?” Samuel pointed a finger at Thomas. “Sophia told us about your disapproving looks, about how you ruined her debut. You think we’d forget?”

“That is… not the case anymore,” said Thomas, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Oh right, bollocks it’s not!” Samuel punctuated his insult with a rude hand gesture. “You expect us to believe that? You are just trying to hold on to the fraying threads of your reputation.”

“That is not true.” Thomas rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest. “Things… things are different now.”

“What could havepossiblychanged so much that you’d expect us to believe it’s not your fault, Your Grace?” Samuel asked, a mocking irony in his voice.

Thomas fell mute. What was he supposed to say? That he had fallen in love with her? That he had broken each and every one of his rules for the sake of this one woman? That the time he’d spent married to her had been the best time of his life?

He took a deep breath and realized no collection of words would satisfy them. There was no point. She could be begging for help in a dark hole somewhere while they wasted time.

Thomas straightened his back. This was beneath him. He needed to take action. He turned and faced Samuel directly, who flinched in response.

“Samuel, I don’t think I could give even a tinker’s penny about whether you believe me or not.” The young man gulped at Thomas’s dry tone. “You may take my brother for a fool and oneto be easily manipulated, but I’m not my brother. I am done listening to you.”

Still wearing his coat, for he hadn’t paused to shed it, he headed towards the door.

“Your Grace? Where are you going?” asked James.

“I need to find my wife, and she’s not here. Staying won’t help, and I don’t intend to rest until I have her at my side again. You can argue amongst yourselves if you like, but if you can’t be useful, stay out of my way.”

Samuel snorted, an annoying sneer on his face. “So what, you’re just going to stumble around in the dark until you run into her or something?”

“That is better than standing here, arguing my innocence for no good reason,” Thomas shot back, wrenching open the door.

He was halfway down the porch when a voice called out, halting him on the slippery marble.

“I believe him,” James declared, appearing in the doorway.

“What?” Samuel protested.

James raised a hand to silence him. “There are two possible outcomes here. One, he’s lying—in which case, Sophia is still outthere, lost and alone or worse, and we, her family, are stuck here debating nonsense, failing her. Or two, he’s telling the truth—in which case, we should be ashamed of ourselves, and Sophia isstillout there, lost and alone or worse.”

He descended the porch steps to join Thomas, the two men exchanging an awkward nod.