Chapter Six
The next morning, as soon as Jocelyn was dressed, she raced down to Evelyn’s room, throwing open the door and hoping against hope that either the whole thing had been a terrible nightmare or that her sister had somehow returned during the night. But Evelyn’s bed was still pristinely made, the room silent and dark, the curtains still drawn against the dawn.
Oh, Evelyn. Where are you?
How was this happening? How could her staid, boring sister have just vanished without a trace?
Backing slowly out of the door, she headed upstairs to the nursery, nodding tiredly at Abbie as she picked up her little blond-haired son and hugged him tightly.
“Any word?” Abbie asked, but she sounded as though she already knew the answer to that.
“No. Inspector Ness and I went to the meeting, but none of them knew anything about where Evelyn might be.”
Abbie scrubbed her hand across her face. “I went everywhere I could think of that she might be yesterday. I just don’t know what could have happened.”
“Something bad,” Jocelyn said, giving voice to her worst fears. “If she could have come home, she would have.”
“I feel the same way,” Abbie said. “I’m so worried about her.”
They shared a long, poignant moment, bonding over their shared love for Evelyn. Jocelyn didn’t think anyone else in the world knew her sister the way the two of them did. If something had happened, Abbie would be the only one who could understand how much the world had lost.
Frightened of the direction her thoughts were going, Jocelyn tried to head them off. “I think I will just stay up here with the two of you today. I need to be with Oliver.”
He smiled up at her. “Mommy will stay.”
“Yes, baby. Mommy will stay.” She tried to summon a smile for her adorable little son.
For the next two hours, she played with Oliver, letting his youthful exuberance completely consume her, trying to put all thoughts of Evelyn from her mind. She’d fallen so deeply into the world of toy soldiers that she jumped when the butler cleared his throat in the doorway.
“My lady, Inspector Ness is here to see you.”
She exchanged quick, worried glances with Abbie, then pushed to her feet. “Thank you, Winston.”
She rushed down the stairs to the drawing room, slowing down only when she reached the closed doorway. She stopped for a moment and took a few deep breaths, then finally opened the door.
Sebastian had been standing in front of the window, staring down at the street below, but when she entered, he turned, and their gazes caught and held, heat flaring between them. Would it always be like this? Or if she was to give into it, would it quickly fade? That thought had kept her up last night. That, and her worry about Evelyn, of course.
The thought of her sister was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, and she remembered in a rush that the attraction between them was not the reason he was here.
“Is there any news of my sister?” she asked, hurrying toward him.
Sebastian shook his head regretfully. “No, I’m afraid not. I’ve just come from Scotland Yard, and though they still have dozens of men out searching, they haven’t found any sign of her. Likewise, no hospitals reported having her as a patient.”
She sank down into the nearest chair, trying to stay strong even though she wanted desperately to have the cry she’d promised herself. But she wouldn’t, not until her sister had been found. She had to stay strong and keep her wits about her. She stared down at the tips of shoes, just visible beneath her dark-green skirts. “That’s not bad news though. As long as they haven’t found her yet, there’s still a chance that they will.” She didn’t know who she was trying to convince—him or herself.
She peeked up at Sebastian, and the unguarded look she caught on his face told her everything she needed to know. He didn’t think that Evelyn was going to be found.
Not alive, anyway.
She pushed to her feet, refusing to believe the resignation on his face. “We have to look harder. There has to be something we haven’t thought of yet. Some clue we’ve missed.”
Sebastian said nothing. He simply crossed to her side and wrapped her in a tight embrace, holding her quietly as she struggled not to give in to her threatening tears.
“Some investigations take longer than others,” he said at last. “We’ve covered all the obvious places, so now we have to go back to the drawing board and follow leads that are not so apparent.”
“Like that mysterious unwelcome suitor.”
“Yes. But we won’t give up. I promise you that.”