And then there was the kiss! She still couldn’t believe that he’d kissed her. That she’d wanted him to kiss her! She’d initiated the intimacy between them with the kiss of gratitude she’d placed on his cheek, so what was he supposed to think?
She pressed her fingertips to her lips and sank into a chair in front of the fireplace, getting lost for a moment in the memory of the moment they’d shared.
That kiss had certainly not been anything like her husband’s!
The earl had not really seen the need to bother with kissing her very often, and she’d been glad of it. His teeth had been rotten, his breath rancid with alcohol and cigars. The few times he’d pressed his mouth to hers had been very unpleasant. She’d had to fight not to gag and pull away.
But Inspector Ness... Sebastian... His kiss had been a pure joy. He’d made her finally see that perhaps what had happened between her and her husband had been an aberration. What had her father been thinking, to marry her to someone that old?
He was thinking that an earl like himself was the best I could possibly do. He wanted his grandson to have a title and a fortune of his own.
She glanced over at her son, who was sleeping peacefully on the sofa. She could never regret her marriage because it had given her Oliver. But nothing she was currently in possession of was truly hers. When Oliver grew up, she’d be at his mercy, the way she’d been at the mercy of her father and then her husband.
It had been a miracle that her husband had left her as Oliver’s guardian, instead of naming some man to do it instead. She could very easily have gone from the control of one man straight to the control of another. But Albert had hated his younger brother, had been certain that if Matthew were to get ahold of Oliver’s inheritance while he was a child, he’d spend it before her son reached his majority. So he’d stipulated that Jocelyn and a retinue of solicitors were to be in charge until Oliver became a man.
Her husband’s death had granted her more freedom than nearly any woman she knew.
Still, if she was being honest, she had to admit that none of this had been what she wanted. She’d cried for days after her father had told her what he’d planned.
Abbie entered the room, her gaze on her sleeping charge. “Would you like me to take him up to the nursery, my lady?”
“No, let him sleep here,” Jocelyn said softly. “He’s helping to take my mind off things.”
The nanny cleared her throat. “Have you heard anything from Lady Evelyn?”
Jocelyn shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not.”
Abbie held out a scrap of paper. “There’s a meeting tonight. Here’s the address. I don’t think she’ll be there, but maybe someone there might know something?”
“Oh, thank you!” Jocelyn took the piece of paper gratefully. “The inspector is supposed to come back later. Maybe he’ll go with me.”
“They won’t like a man there, but maybe when they hear that Evelyn’s gone missing, they’ll allow it,” Abbie said, shifting nervously. “I just don’t know what could have happened! This is so unlike her!”
“I know,” Jocelyn murmured, somewhat relieved that there was someone else who understood that her sister would never needlessly cause them worry. It had now been almost twenty-four hours since Evelyn had left the house. If she’d been able to send word, she certainly would have.
The thought that something was preventing her from doing so seemed more and more likely.
Abbie sighed. “If you don’t mind, I’d like permission to go out looking for her this afternoon. I just can’t sit here and do nothing. I’m going out of my mind with worry.”
“Of course,” Jocelyn told her. “Just try and be back by six or so. I’d like to go to the meeting with Inspector Ness.”
“I will, ma’am. Thank you.” Abbie left quickly, and Jocelyn prayed that her sister’s friend had better luck than she’d had.
* * *
WHEN SEBASTIAN RETURNED to tell Lady Aston that he still hadn’t found her sister, he was surprised to find her waiting on the front steps of her townhome. Before he could even disembark from the hired hack, she strode up to meet him, her lovely face set in determined lines.
“My sister’s friend told me there is a meeting tonight at this address.” She thrust a scrap of paper toward him. “I’d like to go and see if she’s there or if anyone there might know where she is. Will you accompany me?”
He’d planned to head home after speaking to her, but how could he possibly refuse the entreaty in those green eyes? Especially when he’d been unable to dig up a single thing that would help him find Lady Evelyn himself.
“Certainly.” Jumping down from the hack, he handed the paper to the driver along with instructions to take them there, then handed her inside, settling across from her. He wondered if she’d ever ridden in a hired hack in her entire pampered life, but if it bothered her, she gave no indication.
“This day has been interminable,” she muttered, as the hack jolted into motion. She looked absolutely exhausted. “Evelyn’s friend, Abbie Morton, my son’s nanny who you briefly met, went out searching for her for a while. I was hopeful that she might discover something, but she returned about half an hour ago without finding a trace of her. I am losing my mind with worry. I couldn’t stay there any longer.”
“Well, I spoke to your friend Blackstone at Scotland Yard,” he tried to soothe her. “There should be a small army of constables out looking for her now.”
“Oh! I forgot that Drake was the assistant police commissioner,” she said, her eyes widening.