Free The Duchess Hunt by Jennifer Haymore Page A

comfortable in
Simon’s presence, so it was odd to think that his own sister found him so
frightening. And yet she did.
    “Maybe,” Esme said doubtfully.
    Sarah patted her shoulder and rose. “Good
night, my lady.”
    “Will you be going to bed, too?”
    Sarah glanced over at the door to the
adjoining room, a small space with a tiny window – just a closet, really. She
didn’t feel like being cooped up in there just yet. “No. I think I’ll go check
on Amy, Robert, and Ned. Make sure they’re settled.”
    “All right,” Esme murmured.
    “Sleep well,” Sarah said before going out
the door that led to the second-floor corridor. The Angel Inn was small, and
Simon had let all the rooms on this floor for their party.
    She went to the room Robert Johnston was
sharing with Ned, a new coachman he was bringing to London to train to drive
there, but neither answered the door. Amy didn’t answer either, and Sarah
realized they had probably all gone downstairs for dinner.
    She had just descended the first step on
her way to the kitchen when she saw Simon climbing the narrow stairway.
    She stepped back up onto the landing and
waited for him. Deep in thought, he didn’t realize she stood there until he reached
the top.
    “Sarah, what are you doing?” He looked
past her to see if anyone else stood on the landing. Finding it empty, the
parallel lines on his forehead deepened. She wanted to soothe them away. Press
her thumbs to them and work them until his forehead was smooth again and a
smile touched his lips.
    “Lady Esme just went to bed, but I’m not
tired. I was going to go downstairs to check on… everyone else.” She knew that
to Simon they were “the servants,” but calling them that would set them apart
from her, and she had always been one of them.
    He stared at her, long and hard, then
nodded. “I see.”
    She frowned at him. No one else was near,
so she could be frank with him. “What is it, Your Grace?”
    “I…” He shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’m
just not comfortable with you being out alone.”
    “I am not going out,” she said, “just
downstairs to see whether Amy, Robert, and Ned are settled and whether they
need anything.”
    “Always taking care of everyone, aren’t
you?”
    She couldn’t tell whether he meant that in
a positive way or a negative one, so she simply shrugged.
    Suddenly, he raised his hand to the bridge
of his nose and pressed hard, blowing out a breath.
    On impulse, she reached out and touched
his arm. His gaze dropped to the place where her body made contact with his.
    “Sorry,” she whispered, withdrawing her
hand. “It’s just… You have been out of sorts since this afternoon. I know how
upset you are about the duchess. Tell me how I can help.”
    “It’s not only my mother,” Simon said on a
sigh. “Flighty and peculiar as she is, she can take care of herself. While my
brothers and sister may worry that something unspeakable has happened to her, I
doubt that. I intend to go forward under the assumption that she is at some
family member’s house on a holiday and she simply forgot to tell us. You know
how she is,” he added, gaze dark.
    “Yes, I do.” Sometimes the duchess did
seem to forget about her children. She loved them more than anything, but now
that they were grown and on their own for the most part, she had become more
absorbed in her own activities. She didn’t always tell the family about
everything she did and everywhere she went.
    “So you understand why I am not worried.”
    “And yet you intend to find her.”
    “I do. To ease my siblings’ concerns, and
because she needs to know that it’s unacceptable, not to mention irresponsible,
to worry us like this.” He blew out a breath between pursed lips.
“Unfortunately, we probably won’t be able to find her before the gossip mill
starts to grind out the story, certainly with all kinds of embellishments.”
    “Ah,” Sarah said. “So that’s why you’re
frustrated.”
    He