Page 13 of The Missing Book (Bluestocking Book Club #3)
The mystery of it all loomed up before Amelia, though she was a good deal more concerned with Lady Anna. “Should you like to sit down? Is your other brother with you also?”
Lady Anna took a moment, closing her eyes and then breathing in deeply. “Yes, he is,” she said, slowly. “I do not know where. He was displeased with the way I spoke to him and strode away from me.”
“Then I shall go and find him,” Amelia said, at once. “Look, there is a chair here. Sit down and I will return just as quickly as I can.”
Much to her relief, Lady Anna made no protest. Instead, she sank down into the chair and closed her eyes, releasing Amelia’s hand. Amelia turned, ready to go through the downstairs of the Temple in search of Lord Broughton, only to almost walk directly into Lady Gwendoline.
“Oh, thank goodness you have found her! I lost her in the commotion! My maid is somewhere, as is my mother and I do not know where either of them have gone!”
Amelia took the lady’s arm gently, leading her to Lady Anna. “You are quite all right, I hope?” She took in the coat that Lady Gwendoline carried. “You have Lord Melford’s coat, I see.”
Lady Gwendoline nodded but clutched it to herself a little more tightly.
“He threw it to Lady Anna before rushing out after those two gentlemen. There was some sort of argument before he did so, I believe that he saw them doing something and tried to convince them to stop… though he did not succeed.”
“I am just now going to find Lord Broughton,” Amelia told her, as they came to stand beside Lady Anna again. “Might you stay with Lady Anna? I will not be long.”
The commotion in the establishment grew louder with every moment that passed.
Amelia could not quite make out what anyone was saying, her own heart beating furiously as she tried to find a familiar face.
She knew Lord Broughton’s face well enough but not Lady Gwendoline’s mother.
Surely there would be someone here that she recognized?
“Excuse me,” she said, grasping the arm of a young man who turned to face her at once, a shock of red hair matching the color in his cheeks. “Might you tell me what has happened?”
“Two gentlemen picked up some books and ran from this place, that is what happened,” the young man told her, darkly. “I work here, you see.”
“Good gracious!” Amelia exclaimed, horrified that someone would think to steal books when there were so many priced so low. “Why would they do such a thing?”
“Because there is value in them,” the young man told her, frowning. “I think they stole some of the most valuable books the Temple of Muses possesses. I only hope that other gentleman, the one who is chasing them, manages to return some of what has been taken.”
Amelia nodded and was about to say more, only for Lord Broughton to come into view. With a murmur of thanks, she stepped away and approached him quickly, seeing the wide-eyed look on his face and understanding it to be concern.
“Lord Broughton, I have Lady Anna,” she said, barely giving him opportunity to see who she was before she turned back the way she had come, leading him towards his sister.
“Is she quite all right?” Lord Broughton asked, as Amelia pushed her way through the crowd. “She is not injured? There has been such a disturbance here, I have not known what to do!”
“She is well. A little shaken but well,” Amelia said, glancing back at him over her shoulder. “I believe your brother is in pursuit of the thieves.”
“Thieves?”
Amelia said nothing more, knowing that now was not the moment for any further explanation.
Seeing Lady Anna come into view, she directed Lord Broughton towards her and then, with a nod to the lady, walked away.
Lord Broughton could look after his sister from now on, she was sure and given the tension between them she had no desire to linger in his company.
Besides which, Amelia considered, this was already a dire situation and not one in which she needed to linger. Making her way out of the Temple, she caught her breath as Lord Melford came into view, three books in his arms.
“Lord Melford! You have retrieved them.”
The gentleman was breathing heavily, sweat breaking out across his forehead as he came towards her. His eyes were dark, his jaw set tight as he shook his head.
“Alas, I did not,” he answered, looking down at her.
“I retrieved some but the first gentleman ran too fast for me to catch him. I did not even catch the second gentleman either, for once he realized I was soon to overtake him, he threw the books aside.” He scowled and ran one hand over his face, the other clutching the three books to himself.
“Would that I had caught one of them, at least. I could see what they were intending to do by the way they whispered to each other, and by the way they glanced around as they picked them up. If I had acted more quickly, then I might have prevented the theft entirely!”
Amelia smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging manner. “You did more than enough, I am sure. Mr. Lackington, the present owner of this establishment, will be very grateful to you.”
This did not appear to make Lord Melford happy in any way for his scowl remained, reminding her a little more of Lord Broughton.
“I should go inside now,” he said, gesturing to the door. “Good day, Lady Amelia.”
“Good day,” she murmured, stepping aside and watching him pass.
She hoped that he would find some sort of contentment in what he had managed to achieve by finding some of the books that had been taken.
It was more than anyone else had been able to do and Amelia was certain there would be many expressing gratitude towards him for that.
With a frown, she turned away and walked back towards her carriage, hoping that her maid had had the good sense to retreat there already. It had been a most astonishing afternoon and Amelia’s thoughts ran over and over all she had witnessed and experienced.
I do wonder who stole the books, she thought to herself, as the carriage door was opened to her. And why did they take them?