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Nic gasped for air as his mind tried to absorb what Tristan had just confessed. Glancing at the others around the room, Nic realized this information was true. All of them nodded as they met his gaze.

“She’s your sister?” he asked his friend.

“She is.” Trey moved from his spot beside Judith and stood beside his brother. “Believe it or not, we are very happy to finally have a sister. In fact, we had arranged a story that would welcome her into our family, but Tabitha was the one who needed more time to deal with everything.”

Tristan nodded. “We had planned to tell everyone that she was Father’s recently acquired ward, and that she had come to us to launch into Society. By telling Society that story, we knew they’d accept her without questions asked.”

Nic remained silent for a few awkward minutes as he tried to grasp the shocking information.

This was the reason her status had changed from being a maid to having a maid beside her.

This was the reason Tabitha’s wardrobe looked more expensive.

He was certain his kind and benevolent friends would have given their sister a yearly allowance.

And…this explained why he always felt he’d known her—that she looked familiar.

Yet it didn’t explain why Tabitha still thought of herself as a maid.

She kept repeating how a marquess and a maid could never love each other the right way.

So what was really keeping her from following her heart?

Was there something about him she didn’t approve of?

Could it be possible that she still hasn’t forgiven him from when he accused her of murder?

He shook that thought out of his head. That couldn’t be it.

She did have feelings for him! Her body had responded to him like a woman who was attracted to a man.

Her passionate kisses had told him how much she desired being in his arms, and even her tears had told him how heart-broken she was over the thought of a marquess and maid not being able to love each other.

So why had she ended it with him? Unless…

He held his breath. Perhaps she wasn’t as worried about being a maid as being an illegitimate child from a duke. She was probably extremely embarrassed.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “The puzzle pieces are starting to come together now. Tabitha is a secretive woman and would never tell me why she came to North Devon looking like a true lady with a maid by her side. She even held herself a little straighter than she had as a maid. Of course, her charming sense of humor and attitude didn’t change much from when I’d first met her. ”

“Lord Hawthorne,” Diana said, coming to stand by her husband, “I’m still very apprehensive about your feelings for Tabitha.

” She laid her hand on Nic’s forearm. “She was treated badly while working for Lord Elliot, which I’m sure you’re aware of, but she has a very tender heart, nonetheless.

She doesn’t need it to be broken again. Please understand. ”

He smiled at her. “Actually, I do understand. However, she was the one who ended everything. Yesterday, in fact. She doesn’t want to see me again, I’m afraid.

She wants to find a man to marry that’s closer to her station in life.

She made it perfectly clear that I wasn’t going to be that man.

” He threw up his hands in surrender. “So you see, your worry and your trip, was wasted, because nothing will ever become of my feelings for Tabitha. Ever.”

Diana gave him a pathetic smile and squeezed his arm. “No, Lord Hawthorne, our trip was not wasted. It’s good to see you again, and having the Worthington brothers visit with you is what they’ve wanted to do for quite some time.”

The tenseness in the room seemed to disappear as the brothers all started talking at once, and to each other.

Laughing, they each put blame at the other for the reasons they had to come see Nic.

He, however, didn’t believe a word of it.

Obviously, they were very content with being married and having happy homes filled with children, so why should they worry about Dominic Lawrence at all?

He laughed and participated in the banter going around the room, but deep in his heart, he felt lost and lonely. Seeing his friends and their wives again reminded Nic of what he’d wanted—what he’d been thinking about having with Tabitha lately. And how he was never going to get that with her.

A knock came upon the front door, and he excused himself and went to see who had come. When he opened the door and peered into the frightened eyes of Miss McFadden, his heart dropped. Why would she seek out the clergyman at his home instead of waiting for Sunday to speak with him?

“Good morning, Miss McFadden. What a surprise to see you.”

“Yes, I suppose it’s wrong of me to come to your home, but I really needed to see you.” She glanced over her shoulder at the coaches. “I fear I’ve come at a bad time, too.” She moved her stare back to him and continued, “But it can’t be helped. We really need to talk.”

He didn’t want to walk all the way to the church, so hopefully because he had guests here, it would be proper to take her into Frederick’s study and speak privately with her there. “Of course. Please come in.”

Once she stepped inside and he closed the door, he turned and led her to the study.

As he passed the sitting room, his guests looked his way with curious eyes.

He paused at the doorway and told them, “Please excuse me for a moment. Something important has just come up and I need to speak with this lady.” He looked at the girl.

“Come, my child. Let’s adjourn to my study. ”

Murmurs from the brothers echoed in the room.

Nic took a peek inside once more before walking away.

He noticed how hard it was for his friends to keep a straight face.

Trey and Tristan held grins behind their hands, and the women had turned their heads so their snickers were not noticed.

He tried not to grin, himself. If the roles were reversed, he’d have been cackling with laughter and rolling on the floor by now.

He hurried the girl into the study before she noticed his friends’ reaction and commented on it. Once inside the room with the door closed, he sighed and folded his arms. “Now tell me, what has you in such a worried state?”

“My family has decided to send me to my aunt’s place in North Yorkshire until after the baby is born, which is the right thing to do.”

He nodded. “Yes, that is very good.”

“But as I have pondered this and everything else that has happened with David, I realized something that might be important. That’s why I knew I must tell you. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning for my aunt’s, and that’s why I’m here now.”

“Go on.” He steepled his hands against his chin.

“While I was having problems with David, I confided in another woman…one that I knew would hold my secret. This morning when I went to tell her about me leaving for North Yorkshire, she said something that made me very curious.” She rubbed her arms. “Thinking about it even now makes my skin crawl.”

“What did this other woman say?”

“She reassured me that none of this was my fault…that going to North Yorkshire was the best thing to do to have my baby. When I made a comment about missing David, even though I know he’d wronged me, she told me that David was Satan’s spawn and that David deserved dying in such an unnatural way.

She believed it was her duty in life to weed out men like David and make them pay for their sins. ”

Nic could now understand why Miss McFadden’s skin had crawled after hearing this, because his was doing the same thing. He tried shaking off the feeling. “Indeed, that isn’t natural for someone to say. Will you tell me who this woman is? Perhaps this information should be given to the constable.”

Her head bobbed quickly, making her ringlets bounce in rhythm. “Yes, that’s what I thought as well. It was Miss Talbot who I had confided in; who had said those most disturbing things to me.”

“Miss…Mildred Talbot? The spinster sister of Mrs. Smythe?”

“Yes of course. Is there another Miss Talbot you know?”

“Actually, there isn’t.” Slowly, he shook his head. “That does surprise me that she’d said such things about David.”

“Apparently, many years ago when Miss Talbot was younger, a man had broken her heart, as well.”

“Yes, I did hear about that.” This tale was becoming very interesting now, and he was eager to find out more. “Well, I do appreciate you coming to me first. Please don’t say anything to anyone right now. I’ll take this up with the constable and let him see if it needs further investigating.”

“I thank you, Mr. Woodland.” She stood and walked to the door.

“Miss McFadden,” he stopped her from opening the door. “Please remember that God does love you, and your sins can be forgiven.”

Tears collected in her eyes. “Yes, I know.”

He nodded. “I’ll pray for you while you’re gone.”

He walked her through the house and to the front door.

As he opened it, Sally stood on the other side, her hand raised and ready to knock.

She hitched a breath but didn’t say anything.

Miss McFadden mumbled something and hurried off the porch and down the drive.

Sally watched the other girl leave and didn’t turn back to look at Nic until Miss McFadden was gone.

“Sally? What do you need?” he wondered.

“Oh, Lord Hawthorne. We are most distressed. Tabitha is still missing,” she cried out before placing a hand to her mouth.

Quick footsteps from the other room came toward the entrance. Nic glanced over his shoulder to see Tristan and Diana ahead of the others.

“Sally?” Diana exclaimed and rushed to her, taking her shaking hands. “What is this about Tabitha?”

“She’s gone, my lady. She disappeared and nobody knows where she went.”

Tightness enclosed around Nic’s heart. “She never returned last night?” he asked the maid.

She looked at him with watery eyes and shook her head.

“No, she didn’t. Today we all asked around town to see if anyone had seen her.

Nobody had seen her since yesterday. The only person who confessed to being with Tabitha after the luncheon was Miss Talbot.

She said she noticed Tabitha strolling alongside the ocean, but that’s the last time she saw her. ”

His head throbbed with panic. Miss Talbot? Could the woman be as insane as Miss McFadden made her out to be? He prayed the girl was wrong about the spinster, because if she was correct then Tabitha might be in grave danger.