Loving a Fearless Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance Book(78)

Maybe, he eliminated the cause of a fire so the vision wouldn’t come true. Maybe not. He ordered buckets of water to be placed in every room to douse flames should they start. And he had a footman check every room in a continuous loop through the day and night.

Edward was comfortable he had done just about everything he could to keep his house and the people under its roof intact.

*****

Henry knew the cook was putting something in his food. He didn’t care. He couldn’t stop it, anyway. The problem was, whatever it was, was keeping him awake.

It was becoming a regular pattern for him. First, give up trying to sleep in the middle of the night. Second, go to the parlour, light a fire in the fireplace, place lit candelabra on the end table and read.

His guards gave him space. One stood near the door, the other about six feet away. He could read in peace and then, in a couple of hours, he could go back to bed and sleep.

One night, he looked down at his book turning the pages at intervals but thinking of a plan to escape. It was brilliant because it was simple.

For three nights, he went to the parlour and pretended to read but moved his eyes in every direction of the room. On the fourth night, he struck.

Earlier in the day, Henry had left his book near the windows adorned with heavy drapes. After lighting his candelabra, Henry walked casually to where the book was sitting on the table next to the window and bent over to pick it up.

Instead, he moved the candelabra behind the curtain, holding it to the fabric until a wide swath of the curtain was on fire. His guards were on him by then, but they had the dilemma of holding onto Henry or dousing the fire.

Given every door and window was locked, so Henry couldn’t go anywhere, they decided to douse the fire and wake the house. Henry slowly backed out of the room and into the shadows of the foyer.

When Minton ran into the parlour, one of the guards yelled at him to open the front door and get everyone out of the house. Minton did as asked.

And that is how Henry escaped the dower house.

The main house was alerted to the fire, and every footman and stable boy was sent down to help. Edward dressed and prepared to leave, but not before putting a guard on Cecilia and Penelope’s door. No one had to tell him Henry escaped.

By eight in the morning, the fire was out. The parlour was a charred and smelly mess, and Edward was questioning the guards. He couldn’t really fault them for what happened. Everyone in the house did the right thing. Everyone except Henry.

Edward gathered the guards, the footmen, the inside and outside male servants except for Thomas and Minton and every villager who wanted to join for a mission to catch Henry. He couldn’t have gone far without a horse – Edward was sure none were missing. And Henry wasn’t one to outwit that many people.

On horses, circling the house, the men inched away from the structure to the open fields looking for footprints.

Once the footprints were found, they all followed the trail. Henry had made a sorry attempt to confuse someone who might be following him by going around in wide circles a couple of times before moving on towards the main house.

Edward assigned men to the perimeter of the house and others to certain rooms inside the house. There were plenty of men. A man could search every room of the house and a man could be stationed on the outside perimeter of the house with a man on horseback every ten feet.

Edward spoke in a low voice. “You all have your room assignments. Slowly and quietly, go to the room assigned and search it. Then, stay there in the open door and wait. If you hear a call for help, go.”

He took the stairs two at a time and ran to Cecilia’s room. He gently knocked and went into it, finding Cecilia sitting up in bed, having just woken.

Edward bent until his mouth was close to her ear and whispered, “Henry is in the house –”

Cecilia gasped as Edward pulled her out of bed.

“ – so put on something over your night-rail, and come with me. Grab your gown to put on later if you must.”

He took her hand and hurried her along down the stairs. “Take her to the guarded cottage then come back.”

Cecilia went to protest, but Edward’s back was already to her, and his man was taking her arm in his.

This time at the top of the stairs, Edward went to Penelope’s bedroom. He entered without knocking. Her empty bed was dishevelled with her bedding pulled over the side and some of it on the floor.

Edward panicked. “Penelope,” he shouted. He listened. Her bedroom was still, and Edward stood in the middle dizzy with fear.

He tore away from the grip of his terrifying thoughts and called down for help. He thoroughly checked the room, looking at the ground below her window, checking under her bed, and climbing into her wardrobe. She was gone.

He heard the footsteps behind him. Backing out of the wardrobe, he said, “She’s gone.”

*****

He looked from one man to the next. “Has the entire house been searched? Kitchen? Storeroom? Basement?”

Edward tried to remember the places they would play when they were younger. He dropped to his knees.

“Help me move this rug away from the floor.”

The trap door, built in the original house close to one hundred years ago as an escape if the Scots should attack, lay silently at Edward’s knees.

He pulled it up and looked below. There was no light coming from inside, but there were no cobwebs either.

He stood. “We need ten torches and fifty men. We are going into the tunnels, and we’ll check every one of them. I’ll station a man at every tunnel exit.