Chapter Five
Jocelyn let Sebastian help her down from the hired hack, grateful for his solid presence beside her. He exuded strength and authority, and she had no doubt he’d know exactly what to do and say once they went inside.
Rose’s Apothecary was in a neighborhood that seemed neither bad nor especially good. She would have been nervous about having to come here alone, yet Evelyn had apparently come here alone all the time. It made her extremely uncomfortable that her sister had a whole side that Jocelyn had never really gotten to know.
Once they found her sister safe and sound, Jocelyn promised herself she’d take more of an interest in Evelyn’s good works. Sebastian had been right. How could change ever come about if women like her, those who held a bit of power, wealth, and influence, didn’t do anything? After her husband’s death, she’d attained a level of freedom most women could only dream of, yet what had she done with it? She was starting to realize that she’d put herself in as much of a box as Albert had.
Sebastian reached the door and opened it for her, setting off a little bell that tinkled merrily as they entered. To her surprise, it seemed just an ordinary apothecary shop, bottles of pills and potions lining the crowded shelves, a bored-looking female clerk behind the long counter at the back of the store. No rabble-rousing female protestors to be found.
Jocelyn exchanged a worried look with Sebastian. Had they come to the wrong place?
“May I help you?” the clerk asked.
Sebastian stepped forward. “Yes, I’m Inspector Ness from the Metropolitan Police, and this is Lady Aston. We’re here for the women’s suffrage meeting. Lady Aston’s sister, Lady Evelyn Lindsay, is one of your members, and she’s been missing for a full day. We know she was supposed to come here tonight, and we’re hoping that she did or that we can talk to someone who might know where she’s disappeared to.”
“Evelyn is missing?” The woman’s entire demeanor changed. “I’m Rose Grantham. Evelyn is one of my closest friends. I would hate it if anything had happened to her. Please, tell me what I can do to help.”
Relieved that this woman seemed inclined to help them, Jocelyn gave her a strained smile. “She didn’t come home last night, and I haven’t heard from her since. I’m certain you know how unlike her that is.”
“I was wondering why she hadn’t shown up tonight. You’re right. It’s very unlike her not to be the first to arrive.” Biting her lip, the woman opened a door behind her. “The rest of the girls are in the back having tea. I was just about to close up the shop and join them. This way, please.”
Sebastian and Jocelyn followed Rose through the door and past a maze of boxes until they reached a storeroom in the back of the building that had been converted into a meeting room of sorts. A circle of about a dozen chairs sat in the middle of the room, but only seven of them were full. Everyone looked up as they entered, several of their gazes locking unwelcomingly on Sebastian.
Jocelyn was somewhat surprised to see Allison’s lady’s maid, Heather Fields, was one of the attendees, though she supposed she shouldn’t be. When Allison and Heather had lived with Jocelyn and Evelyn, her sister and Heather had become great friends. Evelyn had never let someone’s station in life determine whether she should be friends with them. Jocelyn was starting to realize how often she had judged people based on their pedigree, and she vowed never to do so again.
Rose cleared her throat. “This is Inspector Ness and Evelyn’s sister, Lady Aston. They are looking for Evelyn. Apparently, she’s gone missing.”
The women all started talking at once, their distress at having a man invade their meeting wiped away by their obvious concern for Evelyn. As Sebastian began answering their questions and asking some of his own, Jocelyn’s heart sank. It didn’t seem as though any of them knew where Evelyn might be, and she had no idea where else they could look.
Just when she thought all hope was lost, Heather drew her a little off to the side. She was a lovely woman with dark hair and wide blue eyes. “I last saw Evelyn two days ago. We met for coffee and to discuss the agenda for tonight’s meeting. She seemed a little distracted.”
“Did she say why?” Jocelyn asked eagerly. “Did she tell you anything at all that might help us find her?”
Heather bit her lip, then nodded. “She mentioned that a man had been sending her notes. Though she’d turned him down in the past, he’d decided that she must reconsider. She thought it was funny at first, that any men would become so fixated on a spinster like herself, but he’d grown more and more persistent. She said she’d finally agreed to meet with him that evening to tell him she was not going to change her mind and ask him to stop contacting her.”
“Did she mention his name?” This had to be the mysterious M, but she still wasn’t certain who it could be. As far as she knew, Evelyn had never had any serious suitors.
Heather shook her head, looking upset. “No, I don’t think she ever mentioned him by name, and if she did, I can’t remember it.”
“What did she do with the notes?” Jocelyn asked. Perhaps, if she could find them, she could figure out the identity of the man sending them.
Heather frowned. “I am assuming that they went right into the fireplace. She was quite undone by them. I cannot see her keeping them for any reason.”
Jocelyn unease grew. “Did anything she said make you think she would have changed her mind once she talk to him, that she might have willingly gone somewhere with him without sending word to anyone about where they’d gone?”
“No.” Heather shook her head emphatically. “She seemed upset by the entire situation.”
Why hadn’t Evelyn told her any of this? Tears stung Jocelyn’s eyes, and she blinked rapidly, trying to hold them at bay. It wouldn’t help Evelyn at all if she were to utterly break down. She needed to remain as strong as Sebastian thought she was until they got to the bottom of this.
But then she promised herself she would have a good long cry about it all.
“Thank you, Heather,” she said, offering the woman a shaky smile. “Please let me know if you remember anything else. You’re welcome to come by anytime.”
“I will,” Heather replied. “I do hope you find her. She’s the rock of this group. Any of us would do anything for her.”
“I should have come with her,” Jocelyn said, feeling more guilty with each passing moment. “She asked me a dozen times, but I never made the time for it.”
“Well, we’d be happy to have you,” Heather assured her. “I’ve been trying to convince Allison to come as well. We could really use women like the two of you. A few members of the ton could make all the difference in the world.”