Page 33 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife (Cinderellas of Mayfair #1)

Where can I go?

What can I do?

You cannot know

I’m in love with you.

After Hugo left Athene at first light, she went back to sleep for the rest of the morning. By the time she was ready to face the day, it was afternoon.

She hoped her view of the future wouldn’t be quite so bleak after his visit, but nothing had changed.

These last weeks set the pattern for a mistress’s life.

Long periods of boredom, interspersed with short intervals of intense activity.

Largely sexual. The hours when she and Hugo had spoken and snuggled together and rejoiced in each other’s company were a luxury that she’d enjoyed in Putney.

Something told her that such occasions would be a rare occurrence in York.

At the Three Crowns, she’d felt like she established a life with him, even if one that needed to stay secret.

Since moving into this house, she felt like she hovered on the fringes of his existence.

And she hated it.

Athene still felt out of sorts as the afternoon progressed. The day was fine if cold. Perhaps she just needed to get out of the house.

Refusing her maid Franny’s company, she set out for the nearby town center. She probably shouldn’t be alone, but at this hour the streets were safe. It wasn’t as if she had a reputation to protect, and she was desperate to escape.

Now the festive season had passed, it was business as usual in the crowded city. As soon as she left the house, she started to feel better. It wasn’t Hugo’s fault that she was at a loose end. She needed a project. She needed to make some friends.

A rich man’s doxy wasn’t acceptable in good society, but perhaps she could pretend to be a well-to-do widow and volunteer with some charity. She cringed from misrepresenting herself, but another month of sitting around waiting for Hugo to find time for her would drive her insane.

Or perhaps Hugo had some connections who wouldn’t disdain her, just because she shared his bed. She should ask him.

Feeling more cheerful, she turned down Coppergate, intending to find a bookshop and go home with a few of the latest novels.

Her world crashed to ruin around her.

The tall, tawny-haired gentleman striding toward her was preoccupied and staring down at the path. If she’d thought – if she’d been capable of thought – she’d have run in the opposite direction or ducked into one of the nearby shops.

But seeing her brother without warning had Athene stopping dead still in the middle of the footpath. She called out before she could stop herself. “Miles!”

Then as he went just as still as she did and turned disbelieving eyes on her, all her years of shame engulfed her. Through the pounding in her head, she heard him say her name. Blinded, she turned away to blunder onto the road and in front of a curricle and pair.

***

Hugo was doing his best to pretend that he didn’t wish his beloved family to Hades when frantic banging began on the front door. He was in the drawing room talking to his sisters before the insistent rapping interrupted the quiet of the early evening.

Concerned, he excused himself and went out into the hall to find his butler Liddell admitting a filthy, panting Wesley. The footman from the York house shot him a wild glance but had the sense not to blurt out why he’d come.

Dread rose like vomit in Hugo’s throat. Wesley would only be here if something had happened to Athene.

Yet again, Hugo cursed her refusal to marry him. If she was his wife, he could just ask what was wrong. Something clearly was wrong. Beneath his exhaustion, Wesley was in a panic. Somehow Hugo had to remain discreet, while he itched to grab the poor fellow and shake the news out of him.

“Come into the library,” he said, as a presentiment of doom threatened to crush him.

“Hugo, what is it?” Maria, his oldest sister, asked behind him.

“Private business,” he snapped, knowing that would only multiply her questions. He should apologize for his tone, but he was too desperate to hear Wesley’s news.

He grabbed the footman by the arm and hauled him away. Once he’d shut the door, he released a jagged breath. “What is it, lad? Has something happened to Miss de Smith?”

Silly question. Why else would Wesley arrive in such a lather?

“She’s disappeared, sir.”

Darkness descended on Hugo’s mind. So thick that he missed the next part of Wesley’s news.

Fuck it all, had she left him? When he saw her last night, he’d known that she was unhappy and he’d hated it. He’d hoped that once he had the family off his hands, he and Athene could sort out a more satisfactory way to go on.

But to leave without a word?

He beat back the clamor of panic and told himself to think. She wouldn’t go without telling him. Hell, if he was right about what she felt for him, she wouldn’t go at all.

But if she hadn’t fled back to London, something had happened to her.

Which was worse.

“I’m sorry, Wesley. Tell me again.” He crossed to the sideboard and poured two glasses of brandy, one to steady his own jangling nerves and one for the footman. “Drink that first.”

The liquor helped to clear Hugo’s head. He signaled for Wesley to sit. The young man was near done in, proof of the urgency of his errand.

“Thank you, Sir Hugo.” Wesley’s color was better after the brandy. “Miss de Smith went out around two this afternoon and hasn’t returned. The household went looking for her when she didn’t come back within the hour. But I – we – thought we should let you know.”

Around two? It was past six now.

“Went out? To see someone?” She’d grown up in Yorkshire. Had she decided to look up an old acquaintance? He doubted it. As far as he knew, she hadn’t contacted anyone from her old life during her time in London.

“I don’t think so.”

“Did she take anything?”

“No. I reckon she didn’t mean to be long. She told Franny that she didn’t need an escort.”

No maid and no luggage. It seemed less likely than ever that she’d scarpered. So what had happened? Every possibility was fraught with disaster.

The brandy created a sickly soup in his gut. Dear God, don’t let her have come to harm.

She could have been abducted. She could have had an accident. She couldn’t have lost her way. York wasn’t large, and they’d explored it together when they first arrived. They’d been happy then. Lost in a sensual Eden and reveling in each other’s company.

Hugo rang the bell and when Liddell appeared, he waved toward Wesley. “Get Wesley something to eat and some hot water. And send Fogg to me as a matter of urgency.”

“Very good, Sir Hugo.” Liddell hid his curiosity well, but Hugo knew that the butler was as agog to know what was wrong as his sisters were.

Wesley stood and bowed. “Thank you, Sir Hugo.”

“Stay and rest while I ride to York. Follow when you’re up to it.”

The man lifted his chin. “Begging your pardon, sir, but I’ll come back with you, if you don’t mind. All the servants are devoted to Miss…” He cast a glance at Liddell. “…the lady. We want to see her safe.”

Hugo was touched to hear that the servants loved Athene.

She tried so hard to pretend she was flint-hearted and independent, but the act wasn’t very convincing.

He summoned up a smile. “If that’s what you want.

Thank you. I’ll be ready to go in the next ten minutes.

Grab something from the kitchen and we’ll be off. ”

Wesley bowed and went out with the butler.

While he waited for Fogg, Hugo racked his brains for where Athene might have gone. The most obvious answer was that she’d sought out her family. But he’d believed her when she said that they’d broken with her forever.

Liddell must have taken Hugo’s request for haste seriously. Within minutes, Fogg appeared. “Sir Hugo, you wanted to see me?”

“Miss de Smith has gone missing in York. I want you to come with me and help look for her.” Fogg knew every groom and coachman in Yorkshire.

He had access to information beyond Hugo’s reach.

And he was a friend as well as a servant.

Hugo had an ominous feeling that he’d need a friend before this matter reached its end.

“Saddle our four fastest horses. I’ll meet you in front of the house in five minutes. ”

“Four horses, Sir Hugo?”

“Yes. You, me, Wesley, and Paul. He knows what Miss de Smith looks like and he knows how to keep his mouth shut.”

Fogg didn’t bother asking any more questions. He bowed and marched off with a swift purpose that went some way toward bolstering Hugo’s failing courage.

Hugo had changed into his traveling clothes and was running down the stairs when he saw his sisters and their husbands gathered in the hall.

“Hugo, what on earth is going on?” Maria asked. As the eldest child, Maria was the usual spokesperson for his many relatives. A role she relished. “Where are you going?”

“I have confidential business in York. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Maria, devil take her, wasn’t to be fobbed off with that. “York again? You went yesterday and arrived back altogether done in. Surely you don’t need to make another trip so soon.”

“Maria, I can’t explain now.” Or ever. But he’d have to come up with a story sometime.

After he knew that Athene was safe. He prayed that he’d arrive in York and find her waiting for him with some reasonable explanation for her absence.

But the weight of foreboding in his gut told him that was unlikely.

“That’s not good enough.” His sister was on her high horse, he regretted to see.

“No, it’s not, Hugo,” Julia, his second sister, said.

She’d made a lifelong career of backing up the more forceful Maria.

“You haven’t been yourself this Christmas.

It’s as if you’re not even here with us.

Given we’ve all traveled so far to visit you, it’s not fair.

Tell whoever wants you that they can see you tomorrow.

Or even better, next week when you’re not playing host to your entire family. ”

Hell, he didn’t have time for this. It was a good two hours’ ride to York. Who knew what could happen to Athene before he got there?

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything, but I have to go.

” Amidst a storm of protest, he pushed through the crowd.

Liddell, bless him, had the door open already.

Hugo hurtled down the exterior steps to find Wesley, Paul and Fogg already mounted.

He flung himself onto his horse’s broad back and the four of them galloped along the avenue to the gates, even as his family rushed outside after him.