Page 33 of Mr Winterbourne's Christmas

Adam looked briefly uncertain, his gaze darting to Perry then back to Lysander. “Do you want me to?”

“Of course I do,” Lysander said firmly, his heart beating a little faster when Adam’s mouth quirked with a pleased little smile.

“All right,” he said. “Lead on.”

Lysander headed down the narrow steps that led from the terrace to the main gardens. There was a good inch of snow on the ground and by the time they’d skirted round the Abbey and were turning the corner to the main entrance, Lysander’s thin satin evening slippers were soaked through.

“Ugh, my feet are wet,” Perry complained as they climbed the steps, mirroring Lysander’s own thoughts.

Lysander rapped loudly on the big oak doors and after a minute, a confused-looking footman answered, poking his head out, then opening the door widely when he saw who it was.

“Ah...good evening, sir.”

“Did you think I was a mysterious new arrival, Beckett?” Lysander asked with a smile as he passed through the open door, Adam and Perry in his wake. “Nothing so exciting I’m afraid, we were just strolling in the gardens and thought we’d come back in this way. Could you fetch us a candle to see our way upstairs?”

“Of course, sir,” the servant said ducking away. He returned moments later with a small tallow candle in a brass holder which he handed to Lysander.

“Thank you,” Lysander said and headed up the west staircase, holding the candle high to cast as much light as he could for his companions. The occasional wall sconce was lit too, but even so, it was gloomy at this time of night in the Abbey.

The library was situated in the west wing. Lysander led the other two men onto the main corridor and past several doors, including the door to the earl’s private study where he was supposed to meet with his steward to discuss estate business. In truth, it was not a room that saw much use.

When they finally reached the door to the library, it didn’t even occur to Lysander to knock—he just opened it and walked in.

“Oh!” someone immediately gasped.

Lysander stopped in his tracks, swivelling in the direction of the voice that had uttered that exclamation.

It was his sister Gwen. She’d been sitting in the window seat and was now hastily rising. She appeared somewhat dishevelled, her hair out of its pins and tumbling about her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Gwen, did we interrupt you?” Lysander said. “Were you reading?”

It was only as the question left his lips that he realised how silly it was. The library was quite dark—his candle was the only illumination other than the banked glow of the fire in the grate.

“Oh, no—that is, we were—we were just talking.”

Behind her, another shape moved, and Lysander realised there was someone else in the window seat, someone whose body had been obscured by a half-closed drape. Damn, had they interrupted something they ought not to have? To his relief, though, when the figure moved out from behind the curtain and rose to stand beside Gwen, it turned out not to be a gentleman, but Anne Greenhill.

Anne’s hair was down too, almost to her waist. She had surprisingly thick, abundant hair and looked very different with it loose like this—much prettier, at least until she smiled tightly, and he realised she must be self-conscious, being seen like this by three gentlemen. He was about to start uttering apologies when Perry broke the silence.

“We’re looking for Bella,” he blurted, his voice giving away his anxiety. “She’s not in her bedchamber. Do you know where she is?”

“We’ve not seen her since she retired for the night,” Gwen said, frowning. “Might she have gone for a stroll in the garden? Oh, but, her ankle...” She glanced at Anne. “What do you think?”

Anne appeared thoughtful. “Have you tried the nursery?”

“The nursery?” Adam said. “It’s a long way up there and her ankle was hurting quite badly.”

Anne didn’t say anything to that, but the sceptical expression on her face made Lysander remember that moment earlier, when he thought he’d caught Bella favouring the wrong foot.

“It’s at least worth a try,” Lysander said. He glanced at Gwen, “Do you suppose you could come with us? It might be helpful to have a lady present.”

Gwen glanced at Anne, then nodded. “We’ll both come.”

As they left the library, Lysander glanced at Perry. His usually cheerful countenance was pinched with worry.

“Are you all right?” Lysander murmured.

“I’ll be fine as soon as we find the chit,” Perry said tightly. “I just hope she hasn’t got herself into some sort of scrape.”