Barbara Metzger (33 page)

“To Hugo and Billy,” Willy added morosely.

Kendall went on, explaining why two young boys could not simply decide to go home. “Rock Hill is almost empty now. Mrs. Cabot is away visiting her sister, and Cook went to Bath on holiday, so there’s no one but the grooms and gardeners to take care of the place. They’d never let us stay there on our own.”

They both thought about that for a while.

Kendall opened a book of maps, pointing to the north of England. “’Sides, it’s too far away.”

“But I don’t like it here. And I miss Rosie.”

“And the donkey,” Kendall added.

“No one would miss us,” Willy said with a quaver in his voice. “Not even our own mama.”

“Don’t you start sniveling, now,” his older brother warned. “Rockford says only babies cry, and silly girls.”

“I bet Papa Ro—” Willy thought better of that and changed it to “Rockford would be happy if we left.”

Kendall nodded. “Then he wouldn’t have to pay extra. Mama said we must not be a burden on the earl, remember? That’s why she went to the duke, so he’d pay for our lessons.”

“Do you think he’d want us?”

“The duke? He hates us worst of all. Remember how Mama cried after she visited his house?”

“And Pa—Rockford called him a jackass.”

“Aunt Eleanor says he’s not so bad anymore.”

“But she liked Mr. Arkenstall.”

That ended all consideration of Henning House as a refuge.

Willy was not satisfied. “But we’re only in the way here. Everyone thinks so, even Claymore. It wasn’t my fault the dogs got in the kitchen and ate all the breakfast sausages. I only wanted one.”

“But we have nowhere to go, Willy. We have no relatives of our own.”

“We have cousins. Mama said so. Why, the duke must be old now. When he dies, our oldest cousin will be his grace. Maybe he’ll pay for our school so Mama won’t have to work so hard taking care of Hugo and Billy.”

Kendall considered the notion. “I bet the duke’s sons have big allowances.”

“And I wager they keep them, too, ’cause they never play cards with Aunt Reggie. And Mama did say she wanted us to get to know our own kin, remember? When Hugo and Billy are well enough we might go home finally, so we’ll never get another chance to meet them.”

Kendall turned the page of his map book. “But they
are
not in
London. They go to school
at
Oxford,
don’t they?”

And wasn’t that right where Mr. Canover’s brother was going in a hired carriage?

*
* *

The day the tutor’s brother was leaving, Lady Rockford took an early breakfast with her sons.

“Can’t you play with us, just this one morning?” Willy asked when she hurried through her chocolate and toast, after an all-night stint in the sickroom.

Alissa was exhausted from another bout of Billy’s antics. She never saw her sister or her husband, spent mere minutes with her sons, and rarely slept in her own bed. She had constant headaches and was losing weight from such irregular, hurried meals.

“You know she cannot, Will.” The earl had entered the breakfast parlor to have a cup of coffee. He was exhausted and irritable too, after losing a chess match to Hugo. He had nothing to look forward to but more humiliation and more time in the nursery instead of at his usual pastimes. The pastime he would have made a habit, visiting his wife’s bedchamber, was out of the question while she looked so worn and weary. She was seldom there, besides. So he was frustrated, beyond fatigue, and feeling guilty that his sons were so demanding. The last thing Alissa needed was more claims on her time. “Your mother needs her rest, William. Now stop being a complainer, when you are the healthy one.”

Alissa set down her cup. “Willy was not complaining, Robert. He merely wishes my company after so long a time.”

“He is a big boy now. You baby him.”

“I do not promise him pet monkeys!”

Rockford knew he was in the wrong but could not admit it, not in front of the Henning boys and Claymore. “William was sick.”

“Not that sick. What would you do if he were truly ill? Promise him a unicorn with a golden antler?”

“I will speak to William. He is a reasonable lad.” He ignored the snort from his butler. “He’ll understand we cannot have simians in the city.”

“So he will expect one when I take him home to the country? That makes me the ogre for refusing him, my lord. What a joyous homecoming that will be after an arduous journey, as trips with your son always are.”

“What, are you blaming the child for suffering motion sickness? Perhaps you think it his fault that he came down with this disease?”

“
If he had listened, like my sons, and not sneaked into the sickroom every chance he could, he might have been spared.”

“I suppose that is my fault too?”

“Oh, stubble it, Rockford. I suppose I should not use such cant terms, but I am too tired to care. The boys are recovering and that is all that matters. I shall not argue with you. In fact, why do you not go for a ride? You need to get out, and I am certain your horses need the exercise. Hugo is content with his books and Billy is finally asleep, with one of the maids at his bedside. I intend to rest myself while Willy and Ken are at lessons. Perhaps we can all take tea together this afternoon, or go to the park?”

Rockford leaped at the chance to get out of the house. He kissed his wife’s cheek, not daring more in front of the children and the butler, and left, giving the Henning boys a cursory nod.

Alissa touched the top of Kendall’s head and rubbed her hand across Willy’s cheek. “I’ll see you later. Be good.”

Instead of going to her bedroom, Alissa decided to peek in on Billy, just to be sure. The maid was in tears, the chamber pot was in pieces, and Billy was in his altogether, dancing on top of the bed.

“Stop that this instant!” Alissa yelled, stamping her foot for emphasis. “You will not act like a barbarian in my house, and that is
final,
do you
hear?
I
have
had enough. The servants have had enough. More than enough. I have given up my sleep, deprived my children of my attention and my husband of my— Never mind, but you, sir, are a spoiled, impossible little brat. And that will stop.”

“My papa won’t let you send me away.”

“Your father would be the first to pack your bags! Why, in any other household you would be birched for such behavior. If your father knew anything of young boys he would have seen to the matter, instead of letting you run all of us ragged. If Mr. Canover were not such a mild gentleman, I would ask him to spank you soundly.”

That got Billy’s attention. “You wouldn’t ask Jake, would you? He’s got arms like tree trunks.”

“I will think about it. Meantime, you will clean up this mess. And you will entertain yourself for the morning. Heaven knows you have books and toys aplenty. No one is going to come in here until midday, no one at all, no puppy, no Aunt Eleanor to encourage your naughtiness, no one. So you can cry and throw things to your heart’s content, but you shall not rule this house. No more. If you carry on, if you refuse your nuncheon, refuse your medicine or your bath, then you shall have no more stories, no more games with your father, no more special treats from the kitchen. You will sit here alone until kingdom come, or Jake. Do you understand?”

“Huzzah, madam,” the maid cheered, until Alissa glared her out of the room.

“Do you understand?” she repeated.

Billy nodded, tears in his eyes. Alissa had to harden her heart to keep from scooping him into her arms. He would never learn that way. “Good. I shall see you this afternoon, dressed and fed and rested, ready to join us downstairs for tea if you have no fever.”

“Will my monkey be there?”

*

Alissa went to her room, satisfied that Billy would be a better man, and that she would survive his boyhood. She thought she would rest for an hour or two, then join her own sons at their riding lesson and perhaps take them to Gunter’s. The poor boys had been left in the care of Mr. Canover long enough. As soon as her head hit the pillow, however, she fell into a deep, long sleep.

Mr. Canover, when he returned from seeing his brother off, could not find his charges. Claymore said the earl had gone riding, so the tutor assumed Lord Rockford had taken the Henning boys along with him. He sought out Miss Bourke for a pleasant conversation in the schoolroom, during which very few words were spoken.

Finding Billy’s door locked, with the footman on duty outside refusing entrance, Lady Eleanor happily took herself off to the shops. She was accompanied by Aunt Reggie, who was restored to good health by the thought of matchmaking again.

Lord Rockford came back from his ride invigorated and ready to take on his younger son. When he heard about Alissa’s edict, he was relieved enough to take on his elder son at chess again. He won, but not easily.

Alissa was still sleeping, and the boys must be at lessons, he assumed, so he stayed to have his midday meal with Hugo. Then he took a well-deserved nap while Hugo dozed off.

They both awakened feeling more the thing, and hungry. “Tea in the drawing room, my boy,” Rockford announced, carefully watching Hugo on the stairs lest his steps were unsteady. He sent a footman up to the nursery to fetch the Henning boys.

Mr. Canover came down. “I thought the boys were with you, my lord, out riding. I have not seen them since after breakfast.”

“Damn, they must have gone into the countess’s room after all, when I specifically told them not to bother her.”

Aminta said no one had answered at the countess’s chamber when she knocked.

Rockford went up and stepped through the adjoining door, only to find Alissa sprawled on her bed, in her gown, fast asleep.

He backed out and tried Billy’s room, but his youngest son was also sleeping. So were the puppies, in the nursery. He sent footmen to the stable mews, to the garden, to the park across the street. Lady Eleanor and Aunt Reggie returned, without the boys. Claymore shook his head, and Aminta started crying.

There was nothing for the earl to do but awaken Alissa and ask where her boys had gone.

“Gone?”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“You’ve lost my children?”

“I did not lose them. I never had them. I thought they were here in the schoolroom, or with you.”

“After you barked at them to leave me alone? They would not dare.” Alissa was hurriedly pinning up her hair again, after splashing her face with the cool water from the jug on her nightstand. “And they are good boys, anyway.”

“Unlike my son, you mean? At least he never ran off.”

“Hah. How do you think I acquired him?”

“By marrying me, that is how. Now stop acting like a fishwife and tell me where they would go, so I can fetch them back before it grows dark.”

Alissa ran to the window. The autumn sun was already lowering. “But I don’t know. Do you think Sir George has them?”

“What would Ganyon want with your sons?”

“To hold them for ransom? Or for revenge? I don’t know. You said yourself that he was deranged.”

Rockford had already sent a message to Bow Street, but he did not want to worry Alissa worse. “Someone would have seen him. No one noticed the boys talking to anyone or getting into a carriage.”

“Not even Claymore? He always knows where everyone is.”

“Claymore was, ah, replenishing the wine supplies from the cellar.”

“You mean he was drunk, while my babies were being abducted?”

“They were not abducted! Stop working yourself into a frenzy. They must have gone visiting or something.”

“Are the dogs here?”

He hated to say it, but he had to tell her that yes, the puppies were all accounted for. The boys were not merely out walking their pets, forgetting the time. Their ponies were in their stalls, and Jake had not seen the Henning boys since before breakfast.

“Then they have been kidnapped. I knew I should never have brought them to this evil place!”

He put his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed them, staring into the depths of her worried green eyes. “Alissa, please do not do this. We will find the boys.” Then he would have them shipped to the antipodes. “I promise.”

She rested her cheek briefly on his chest, borrowing his strength. “But you promised Billy a monkey too.”

Lud, he regretted that ridiculous vow, almost as much as he regretted snapping at the Henning boys this morning. They had only wished to spend time with their mother,
and
he
could not
fault them
for
that. Heaven knew he wanted to lock the bedroom door and listen to her calling his name at the height of her passion for the next twenty-four hours. Or the next twenty-four days. Twenty-four years might satisfy the craving he felt for this woman he had married so conveniently.

He had to put such thoughts out of his mind, or as far away as they would go, with her in his arms. “Come, we will check the cellars and attics and gardens again. We’ll go ask all the servants and the neighbors, the stables and the crossing sweeps. They cannot simply have disappeared off the face of the earth. This is London, where nothing goes unnoticed. Someone is bound to have an idea where they could have gone.”