It was thrilling, having her in control. She’d dominated him in a fashion he’d never encountered prior, and he was incredibly excited by it. Her behavior called to a deviant part of him, one that enjoyed how he’d been subjugated.
“We’re finished for today,” Miranda stated. “You may button up.”
Without speaking, he did as she’d bid him.
“On your next visit,” Miranda said, “you will fuck my sister. I will tell you how.” She tapped the crop on his thigh. “You will do it
exactly
as I say, or you will be punished. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“You may go.”
She ushered him out and pushed him into the hall. She started to shut the door, and he frantically asked, “When will you send for me again?”
“We’ll let you know.”
He staggered to his bedchamber, trying to figure out how he could accelerate their summons and needing—once again—to rapidly ease the pressure in his loins.
“ARE you still with us, Miss Lambert?”
“Yes.”
Lily carefully maneuvered the last few steps down an ancient staircase that wound into the bowels of the earth to a hot springs below the castle. She was following the twins, who were up ahead.
As they’d descended, the air had grown warm and humid, so the stones were very slippery, and it had slowed her pace. Yet she couldn’t dawdle. The twins had both brought lanterns, but they hadn’t instructed her to bring one. If she lagged, she would be left in the dark.
The twins had insisted she accompany them to help them bathe. She’d considered refusing, but curiosity had prodded her to tag along.
What could go wrong?
she’d asked herself. She’d told a maid where she’d be, so it wasn’t as if she could vanish.
She’d never been to a hot springs spa, had never tasted the medicinal waters or swum in the bubbling currents, so she’d been eager for the adventure. But when she’d agreed to attend them, she hadn’t known that the walk would be so treacherous, or that she would end up such a distance from the occupied sections of the castle.
She let go of the slimy, moss-covered wall and entered a huge underground cave. Lantern light flickered off the ceiling, making it glow a silvery white. Water gurgled at the rear, trickling down in a waterfall to form a large pool. It was very clean, very clear, and she could see the bottom. It looked just the right depth for wading and floating.
The place was decadent and hedonistic, and she hoped she’d be able to come back sometime. She’d like to strip to her chemise and jump in, but with the twins present, she never would.
“How do you like it?” Melanie inquired of her.
“It’s spectacular,” Lily had to admit. She pointed into the pool. “Are those benches in the rocks?”
“Yes.”
“Who carved them?”
“John believes it was the Romans.”
“So it’s very old,” Lily mused.
“And very magical,” Miranda added.
Lily concurred. There was an eerie, almost reverential stillness to the grotto, as if primeval spirits were observing them.
Miranda began fussing with the buttons on her gown, but she couldn’t reach them.
“Miss Lambert,” she said, “I need your assistance.”
“Certainly.”
Lily approached, prepared for any mischief, but she didn’t see what trick they could play. They might shove her into the pool, but it wouldn’t kill her to get wet. She’d survive a dunking.
“Do you swim?” Miranda probed.
“Yes.”
“Will you swim today?”
“No.”
“Shy, are you?”
“I’m not shy. I’m just not about to remove my clothes, for I’m sure that—the moment I did—you would grab them and run, leaving me to traipse upstairs in my drawers.”
“My, my!” Melanie batted her lashes. “I wonder what John would say?”
“Precisely. You’d have me convicted before I could defend myself.”
“You’d be fired, as our prior companions were all fired.”
“Yes, I would be, so I’m not taking any chances.”
“How is it that you know us so well, Miss Lambert?” Miranda queried. “The other ladies never figured out that we were trying to get rid of them. They were never suspicious—as you always are.”
“You aren’t my first tough assignment, and you won’t be my last.”
“We won’t stop our attempts to be shed of you. You must realize that.”
“Yes, I realize it, so I won’t let down my guard.”
“It seems we’re at an impasse.”
“It seems we are,” Lily concurred.
She should have seen it coming, but she didn’t.
They’d lured her into complacency with their civil conversation, and she’d turned slightly to peer out over the water.
Her initial indication of calamity was activity at the periphery of her vision. Her adrenaline surged, and she meant to spin toward them, but before she could, Miranda pushed her very hard. Lily stumbled to her knees, then was pushed a second time, her head hitting the stone floor with a muted thud.
Dazed and disoriented, she struggled to rise, but she was pushed, once more, her head smacking rock again, so she was barely conscious.
She felt herself being rolled into the pool, but she couldn’t forestall them. It was a drop of several feet, and it transpired slowly, as if she was watching it happen to someone else.
For a brief instant, she was positive their blows had blinded her. She couldn’t see anything, but then, it dawned on her that they had taken their lanterns and fled. They hustled up the staircase, their giggles echoing in the vaulted chamber.
She ordered her limbs to respond, but they didn’t, and it occurred to her that she might be drowning. If she perished, would anyone care? Would anyone search?
In complete darkness, in a total vacuum devoid of light or sound, she sank down, her heavy, soaked garments dragging her to the bottom.
“ANY news?” John asked.
“We’ve looked everywhere, Lord Penworth,” the butler, Angus, said. “Miss Lambert seems to have disappeared.”
“How could that be?” John mused. “She’s an adult woman who weighs at least ten stone. Such a person doesn’t just vanish.”
John was secluded in his library, away from his supper guests and their merriment in the other wing of the castle. He was trying to maintain his composure but finding it impossible.
It was after eleven. Where could she be? Had she left him?
Though he was panicked, he couldn’t show any overt alarm. As far as the world was concerned, she was merely an employee, and thus not entitled to any excessive worry.
She’d been out all afternoon, but no one could say where she’d gone. She’d missed tea, then supper, and when the dancing had commenced, he’d finally sent a maid to her bedchamber on the pretext of asking if she was ill.
The maid reported that her clothes and portmanteau were still in her room. Her reticule was there, too, her small amount of money tucked inside. He couldn’t picture her leaving without her purse and the coins it contained.
So . . . where was she?
Suddenly, someone banged on the door, and it was flung open. A man stormed in.
“Mr. Dudley, isn’t it?” John curtly inquired.
“Bloody right,” Dudley barked in reply as he strode over to the desk.
They’d been introduced, but were scarcely acquainted, yet the fellow was mad as a hornet. Why would he presume he could accost John? The knave had gall sufficient for a dozen!
“What can I do for you?” John queried.
“I have a few questions.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m in the middle of a . . . situation. Would you mind if we talk later?”
“Yes, I would bloody well mind.”
John’s temper sparked. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with the furious oaf, but he didn’t relish a tussle, either.
“Fine,” John fumed. “Speak your piece, then go. I’m busy.”
“I was hoping to see a member of your household this evening—your twins’ companion, Miss Lambert.”
John was instantly on alert. “Really? What is your connection to her?”
“She’s a friend of mine.”
Dudley’s explanation was casually supplied, giving no hint as to the true state of his relationship with Lily. But he was tall and handsome, the sort John imagined the ladies would deem mysterious and dashing, and John suffered an odd wave of jealousy.
“A friend?” John scoffed. “You bumped into her here in Scotland?”
“Yes. Where is she?”
“Why would you assume I know?”
“Don’t annoy me, Penworth. I heard a footman whispering. Apparently, she’s disappeared. What have you done with her?”
“Me! Why would I have done anything with her? I have people searching. We’ll locate her. Now . . . if that will be all?”
“No, that’s not all.” Dudley glared over at Angus, who was lurking and eavesdropping. “You! Get out, and don’t slither back in until I tell you you can.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Angus huffed.
Dudley was ready to throttle the older man, and John intervened. “You may wait outside, Angus.”
“Make yourself useful,” Dudley suggested. “Go fetch those two brats.”
“Which
brats
would that be?” Angus snapped.
“The earl’s wards, those paragons of grace and charm. Let’s see what the little monsters have to say.”
“Dudley,” John interrupted, “I insist that you cease your—”
“Let me guess: You haven’t spoken to them yet.”
No, I haven’t.
John flushed with chagrin and gestured to Angus. “Find them.”
Angus nodded and marched out.
His strides faded, and Dudley said, “If you’ve harmed her, I’ll make you pay.”
“Mr. Dudley! I have no idea why you would walk into my library and threaten me.”
“You’ve been trying to seduce her.”
The charge was quietly leveled, and John was so stunned that he couldn’t formulate a response. Why was Dudley aware of his private business?
“Shut your rude mouth,” John seethed, “or I will shut it for you.”
Dudley was undaunted. “Have you succeeded? Is that why she’s vanished? Was she ravished? Is that why you sent her away? So she couldn’t tell anyone what you did?”
John stomped around the desk, and he approached until they were toe-to-toe. They were the same height, but Dudley was stockier, broader across the shoulders and arms. If they brawled, it would be a close call as to who would be the winner.
“I won’t ask,” John hissed, “where you come by the temerity to insult me, but as to Miss Lambert and myself—”
“You may think she is alone and unprotected, with no father or brothers to intercede on her behalf. You may think she’s easy prey, but she’s not. She has me.”
“I don’t
think
about her at all, Dudley,” John lied. “She’s companion to my wards. No more. No less.”
A scuffle might have transpired, but Angus knocked, preventing any fisticuffs.
“The twins are here, milord.”
“Show them in.”
Dudley shifted so he was standing with John—as if they were partners—and they faced the girls together. John hated giving the impression that he and Dudley were on the same side, but he didn’t have time to worry about it.
“Hello, John,” the twins cooed in unison, and they came forward.
“You know our neighbor Mr. Dudley?” John asked.
“Yes,” they answered. “Hello, Dudley.”
They grinned—as if seeing him there was a great joke. Dudley bristled.
“Angus said you wanted to talk to us,” Miranda began. “What about?”
“Where were you this afternoon?”
“We were at home.”
“You didn’t go visiting or riding?”
“No.”
“Had you required any assistance from Miss Lambert?”
“No, we had no need of her. Not all day.”
“We thought about swimming in the hot springs,” Melanie chimed in, “but we couldn’t find her, so we didn’t.”
John studied them. They looked young and innocent, so surprised at being interrogated. Were they deceiving him? How was he to discover if they were? He’d never been good at reading women, and in the past few minutes, he’d gained no superior knowledge.
“Thank you,” he said. “You may return to the party.”
They started out, when Dudley sputtered, “That’s it? You’re just going to let them saunter away?”
“They claim to know nothing, Mr. Dudley. What would you have me do?”
Dudley scowled at them, having a knack for assessment that John lacked. Under his scrutiny, they flinched, as if he could see an aspect of their character that John could not.
“If I learn that you’re lying,” Dudley told them, “I’ll take a whip to both of you, and I don’t care what Penworth says. He won’t be able to stop me.” He nodded toward the door. “You two discuss it, and if you decide there’s something you’d like to tell me, I’ll be in the card room.”
The twins exchanged a look that John couldn’t decipher, but it seemed as if Dudley’s arrow had hit its mark. Clearly, they had a secret, but how was John to pry it out of them? Or were they simply unnerved by Dudley’s bluster?
They left, and John whirled around.
“Are you mad, Dudley? Offending me and threatening to abuse them. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I
think
I’m the only person in the world who will fret if we never locate her.”
“I have the situation well in hand.”
“Really?” Dudley oozed sarcasm. “You could have fooled me.”
“Isn’t it time you departed? I don’t like to be rude, but you’ve overstayed your welcome.”
“I’ll go after Miss Lambert is found and not a second before.”
They were on the verge of blows again when Angus knocked.
“Beggin’ your pardon, milord, but I just spoke to one of the maids. She’d been in the village, so she hadn’t heard that we were searching for Miss Lambert.”
“And?”