Page 10 of The Duke’s Replacement Bride (The Wild Brides #6)

P ut it from your mind. Put him from your mind.

Caroline couldn’t. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way Levi had confronted her last night, the way he had stepped so boldly into her space.

If the encounter had been described to her, or if she had read about it in a book, she would have interpreted his actions as cruel and threatening.

She would have imagined that she’d be frightened.

But she hadn’t been. He hadn’t been threatening her.

It was powerful, yes. Controlling. But there was no danger in him.

At least, she didn’t think there was.

She hadn’t walked away from the incident feeling fearful; that was certainly true.

Instead, she found herself wanting to provoke him again, to speak sharply to him once more to see what would happen.

It was as if she’d touched a flame, and instead of being burned, had experienced something deeply strange and intriguing.

In spite of the fact that she knew better, she now yearned to put her hand in the fire once more.

She sat at the breakfast table, watching him, waiting to see whether there would be any acknowledgement of what had happened.

He didn’t so much as look in her direction. He spread butter dispassionately on his bread and said nothing, almost as if she wasn’t there at all.

Caroline was desperate to know what he was thinking and had nearly summoned the courage to ask him outright when a servant came into the room with a folded piece of paper that bore her father’s seal. “Your Grace,” he said, holding it out to her.

Caroline took the letter, noticing as she did so that Levi had at last deigned to give her his attention. She suspected he wanted to see what was in the letter. But it had come for her, not for him, and he couldn’t only pay attention to her when he wanted something. She rose to her feet.

“Where are you going?” he asked—the first words he’d spoken to her all morning.

“I’m finished with my breakfast,” she said. And after all, there had been no requirement in this marriage that they breakfast together—he couldn’t insist upon it now. He seemed to realize that, and though he scowled slightly, he didn’t try to call her back or prevent her from leaving.

Caroline hurried up to her bedchamber and locked herself in before opening the letter.

She hadn’t been particularly concerned with secrecy—she was keeping it from Levi mostly because she knew he wished to read it, and she was in no mood to give him what he wanted right now.

But once she had begun to read, she found herself immensely grateful for her solitude.

Caroline -

It seems fitting to inform you that we were incorrect about Prudence’s whereabouts.

We assumed her continued absence meant she had found her way to Beatrice’s home and was taking refuge there.

But a letter has just come from Beatrice letting us know that she has seen nothing of Prudence these past few weeks. Prudence is not there and never was.

Caroline’s breath caught in her throat. The letter went on—pleas from her parents to come to them, to let them know if she heard anything at all from Prudence, guesses that Prudence might come to her home—but Caroline could hardly read the words.

Of course, Prudence wasn’t coming here. She would have done so already.

She was somewhere else altogether, and the idea horrified Caroline and made her feel as if her blood had frozen in her veins.

All this time, we just assumed. We didn’t send out search parties. We didn’t look for her. And now it might be too late. The trail will have almost certainly gone cold, and anything might have happened in the meantime. She could be anywhere. With anyone. She could even be ? —

Caroline forced her thoughts to a halt. She wouldn’t allow that dreadful idea to enter her imagination. Prudence had simply run off somewhere unpredictable, done something irresponsible—but she hadn’t come to any harm. She couldn’t have. Caroline simply wouldn’t accept that idea.

She pondered the letter, wondering what she ought to do about it.

There was always the possibility of going to Levi—but what could he do?

He hardly knew Prudence. And while it was his fault she’d run away—an uncharitable thought, but one Caroline couldn’t suppress—his lack of knowing her would hamper any search attempt, and he would no doubt insist that Caroline remain in the house where she would be safe .

That was one thing Caroline didn’t think she could stand—to be confined right now, when all she wanted was to be active.

She had wasted weeks on the assumption that her sister was safe with Aunt Beatrice.

To discover now that that had never been true was horrifying.

She should have been searching all this time.

She wouldn’t let one more minute go by without doing all she could to find Prudence.

And she knew where to start.

Half of her hoped she was wrong as she changed into the young servant man’s clothes she’d brought from her father’s house.

She hadn’t known, as she was packing, why she was bringing them, only that something had compelled her to wrap them up and stuff them in the bottom of one of her trunks.

Now she was desperately grateful that she had done that.

But please—let me be wrong about this. Let her not have been haunting gambling halls and gentlemen’s clubs all this time, trying to fit in amongst men and gain her freedom that way. I can’t bear to think of it.

She knew Levi would stop her if he saw what she was doing, so she slipped out of the house through the servants’ door and scurried furtively across the grounds to the stables.

There she availed herself of a horse and mounted quickly, thankful that she was a strong rider and confident in her ability to ride without a saddle.

Her head was so foggy and muddled that she was downtown before she knew it, and she dismounted and tied the horse up to wait for her return.

She would begin by searching several nearby establishments, even though it was still early in the day.

Her sister might not be in any of these places, but maybe someone would have seen her, at least. Maybe someone would be able to tell her something about Prudence, and that would do for a start.

She decided to start with a small pub, the Hare and Hound, simply because it looked less intimidating than some of the other places.

There were windows facing the street, and the clientele could be seen from outside.

They weren’t raucous or wild, nor were there very many of them.

She took a deep breath, then let herself in and went up to the barkeep.

He was a grizzled man, likely in his sixties, with a thick beard and a neutral expression.

He looked her up and down as she approached, and Caroline had to remind herself that he wouldn’t be seeing a woman.

“What do you want, boy?” he asked. “You’re a bit young to be in my establishment, are you not? ”

“I’m of age,” Caroline said, deliberately pitching her voice lower than normal. She sounded ludicrous to her own ears, but she held out hope that the bartender wouldn’t make much of it. After all, he didn’t know her normal voice. “I won’t linger, sir. I’m here looking for someone.”

“And who might that be? I’m not in the habit of telling tales on my clientele.”

“I’m not asking you to,” she said. “I’m merely searching for…” She paused, almost asking for her sister before remembering that Prudence would have been in disguise. “For my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“My younger brother. A few years younger than myself.” She didn’t know how to estimate how old she looked, dressed as a boy.

She knew it made her look younger, probably closer to Prudence’s true age, and that therefore Prudence would likely look younger still.

“Brown hair the color of mine, and the same hazel eyes as well.” She gritted her teeth, knowing that by offering this description she was inviting the bartender to look at her more closely.

What would happen if he realized she was simply masquerading as a boy?

But he didn’t seem to. “No one like that in here lately,” he said.

“We don’t see a lot of boys that young in this place.

If one came in, he’d stand out, I think.

” He paused for a moment, mulling it over.

“I Could keep an eye out for you,” he said.

“If he comes in, I could take him aside and keep him until you have the chance to come back for him. Put him to work, maybe. Could use some extra hands.”

Caroline frowned. “I don’t think that will be necessary. If you do see him, please just let him know that his family is looking for him. And please know that if any harm should befall him, my family would go to great lengths for retribution against the person responsible.”

She couldn’t say for certain whether the man believed her, but something in his face went hard, and Caroline decided to get out of the pub. She didn’t breathe easier once back on the street, though. This was only the first place she had looked, and already things were going badly.

Maybe I should have told Levi what I was doing. Maybe I should have asked him for help.

But he wouldn’t have helped. Or rather, he wouldn’t have permitted her to help. Had she told him, she’d be cooped up in her bedroom right now, waiting for news. That might be safer, but it would be unbearable.

She turned toward the gentlemen’s club across the road, squared her shoulders, and marched over, determined to see to it that she discovered something worthwhile today.

Even if the only thing she learned was that Prudence hadn’t been to any of these places—at least that would rule something out.

At least it would give her a place to start her search in earnest.

Entering the gentlemen’s club was more intimidating than going into the pub had been. Even if no one else was aware, Caroline herself knew she wasn’t supposed to be there, and that was enough to turn her stomach. At any moment, she might be found out.

There was also no bartender to approach.

Men at tables looked up at the sight of her moving by them, but they didn’t speak to her.

She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She was going to have to go up to someone, to ask them if they had heard anything about Prudence.

She might have to sit down at one of these tables and join a group of men, find out what they had to say about the matter, try to blend in?—

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The voice was both reassuringly familiar and filled with an ire that sent a chill down Caroline’s spine. She knew what she would see—who she would see—before she turned around, so it was not a surprise.

But the rage on his face was.

In all the weeks they had spent together, Levi had never looked at her like that before. He seemed as though his eyes might catch fire with anger. He took her by the arm, his grip just barely firm enough to shock her, and she let out a gasp of shock at his roughness.

His face shifted. Perhaps he realized he had startled her. His grip loosened. But he did not let her go.

“You have a fair bit of explaining to do, he told her darkly, and Caroline felt the words like a shiver of ice in her veins.