Free Courting Trouble by Jenny Schwartz Page A

him?
    On the other hand, what would anyone gain by hiding the fact they’d kidnapped Lajli?
    Inside knowledge of what Jed planned and the element of surprise.
    “Tarnation.” She refolded the note and hurried downstairs.
    Gupta was just coming in the front door, a heavy trunk balanced on one narrow shoulder. “M-Miss Esme, I am s-sorry it has taken me so long—”
    “Never mind that.” She looked at Francis, who was holding the door open in long-suffering fashion. “Have you seen Lajli?”
    If the girl had simply slipped away…
    “Not since she went up them stairs, wittering about taking a bath. A bath in the middle of the day.” He snorted.
    “Francis, can you please ask Andrew to carry the trunk up to the guest room?” Esme drew a resolute breath as Francis shuffled off to command the gardener’s lad. “Gupta, we have a small problem. Will you come into the library, please?”
    He placed the trunk down by the front door and followed obediently.
    “Jed?” she called.
    But Jed was gone. Only his empty coffee cup remained on the desk. He’d gathered up the blueprints and notes and left.
    Her stomach hollowed out. It felt the way it did out at sea when the boat rode the high waves, rising up only to crash down. The ground seemed to rock a little beneath her feet. She was angry with him, but she’d expected him to be there.
    “M-miss Esme?” Gupta reclaimed her attention. “My cousin.”
    “Read this. Is it Lajli’s writing?”
    His forehead wrinkled miserably as he scanned the note. “I d-do not know. I have never seen her writing. B-but the discourtesy, to slip away like a thief, that is like my cousin. I am s-so sorry, Miss Esme.”
    “It’s not your fault.” She patted his shoulder absently. “In fact, I would be pleased to learn this is just some mad start of hers. Unfortunately, it’s equally possible Lajli has been kidnapped—and after my claim I would protect her. Of course, I will start looking for her immediately. I will question the servants.”
    “B-but you can’t.”
    “Why not? I must.”
    “I think my cousin has run away. It is like her. She t-takes advantage of you. While Nazim believes she is s-safe here, she is free to move around without him chasing her. But if you start looking for her…”
    “Then he knows she is roaming around unprotected, and he’ll start looking for her, too. You are right, Gupta. I’m not thinking clearly.”
    “It is Lajli’s fault. She causes trouble everywhere.”
    Esme accepted the note back from him. “If she has been kidnapped, it’s hardly her fault. But she is your cousin. You know her best. If she has run away, do you think she has a plan?”
    “L-Lajli always has a plan.”
    “Hmm. I’ll ask the servants not to discuss her presence—or absence.” And hope that since I haven’t made a fuss about Lajli, they won’t be tempted to discuss her in tea gossip and pub talk.
    “And we m-must tell Mr. Reeve.”
    She frowned. “I don’t know where he is.”
    “He will be in his workshop,” Gupta said confidently. “Looking at the blueprints.”
    “You’re very probably right.”
    The shrill trill of the telephone was nearly drowned out by the thunder of running feet. “Miss Esme, Miss Esme.” Voices, treble, baritone and female, called to her, panic threading through them.
    “What’s going on?” She met her staff in the library doorway.
    “It’s Mr. Reeve.” Andrew, the gardener’s lad, got the message out first. “His workshop just exploded.”

Chapter Nine
    Esme wrenched open the front door and ran into town. Her bloomers gave her a freedom of movement skirts would have denied her. She ran like a schoolboy fleeing punishment, fast and heedless of stares or obstacles.
    Her loyal staff—friends as well as servants—pounded behind her. Gupta was somewhere there with them.
    She could spare no thought for anyone else.
    Jed, Jed, Jed. Her every harsh breath was a prayer. God, what did it matter that he’d thought to trick