Free Married by Morning by Linda Hays-Gibbs Page B

servants?  Send them with my men to search the castle for this Lady Constance at once.”  “Jarvis, send down to the mews and to the kitchens and tell everyone to search for Lady Constance immediately.”  “Yes, Your Grace.”  “Lady Stella where are the other guests?  We must assemble them and have this search.  She might be with one of them or have been seen by them.” “Yes Constable Spencer.  I’ll see to it at once.”  Stella rushed away to go see to her paramour who was still tied to her bedpost.  She giggled to herself.  Things were working splendidly.  The woman was gone and they still had Sy alive.  It was a good night and she giggled again when she saw her lover’s enraged eyes.  “Are you comfortable, my love?”  Avery snorted at her and shook his head.  She laughed a deep rich laugh and found the key to the manacles.  She unfastened them. Then she took off his blindfold and the scarf tied about his mouth.  He looked up at her through very thick eyelashes and smirked.  “You are something else Miss Darby.  I think I should spank you for this.  You have been a very naughty girl.”  “Call me Stella.”  “Not Madam Stella?”  “No, not right now, we seem to have an issue at hand.  Lady Constance is missing and my brother Lord Darby is hurt. We have a doctor and a constable at the house.”  “Well, I will have recompense from you, my dear.  It might have to wait but this is not over.”  “Alright I will let you tie me up later.  Right now we must round up all the other guests for the Constable to talk to.  You go to the top floors and I will go below.”  “Sure give me the stairs after you have ruined my legs.”  “How did I ruin your legs?” She looked him up and down and his naked self looked delightfully good to her.  She winked at him and he shouted back at her. “Since you left me, I have been in that position for two hours, love.” Stella giggled and wiggled her arse.  “Didn’t you have any fun?”  “Not yet.”  “Well, we will see about this later and I assure you that you will have fun.”  She winked at him again and swanned out of the room.
         Constable Spencer located Lady Mable St. John, Lady Diane Stewart,  Lady Rachael Stewart, Lord Thornton, Lord Rathbone, but no Horace Stewart, Lord Fenster, Cousin Devlin Snead, Cousin Alfred,  Cousin Driscoll, Missie Stewart, or of course Lady Constance.  He was worried that more than one person was missing.  Constable Spencer shook his head and ran his fingers through his red hair.  His cold blue eyes assessed the damage here.  Something was just not right with this family.  They just buried the Fifth Earl of Darby and now all this happening.  He was sure that most of these women could commit murder if needed as there was a cold set about their eyes.  They all seemed to have it in for this poor Lady Constance too.  That did not sound right to him especially since the Earl was to marry her this morning.  He was hoping the Earl would awake and tell him what this was all about but the man was still unconscious.
         Lady Darby let out another of her horrible shrieks and the constable gritted his teeth.  The woman was so ugly with her large bony nose and pointy head. Did she have to shriek like that too?  Her friend Lord Thornton had taken up the task of soothing her and that was a blessing to everyone else in the house.  God bless the man that could put up with that woman.
         Stella and Avery took up the vigil with Lord Darby.  Someone had to sit beside his bed and watch him.  Lady Darby was just too upset to stay in the room.  Stella took a cloth and wet it with the water beside the bed and wiped her stepbrother’s brow with it.  He looked so vulnerable like that.  She had rather have him screaming at her.  She never realized that she did care for him after all.  Avery took her hand and stared into her beautiful green passionate eyes.  He was hooked