Page 90 of Forget Me Not

Chapter Thirty

“I look forward to introducingJulia to London,” he said over a game of billiards with Henri that night. “She’ll be a fast favorite in Society.”

“Our Julia is a delight.” Henri expertly cracked one billiard ball against another. “It is a shame she has been unwell since our return from Falstone Castle yesterday.”

“I will check on her before turning in for the night. The rest she received today will have done her good.”

“Kes said earlier that he’s feeling a little unwell. And Digby may be as well; we’ve none of us seen him since breakfast this morning.”

He and Henri had nearly finished their game when Niles looked inside. “Have either of you seen Digby?”

“I assume he is in his bedchamber.”

Niles shook his head. “He is not.”

“Could he have made a trek up the mountain?” Henri asked.

“The King does not perform without an audience.” Niles didn’t often display his wit, but when he did, it was vastly enjoyable.

Lucas looked out the window at the dim landscape. What if Digbyhaddecided to wander up the mountain? The sun was setting. “He doesn’t know the trails well enough to be on them after dark.” He couldn’t be comfortable with the idea of any of the Gents in danger, however small. He set his cue in the case on the wall. “Do you suppose our monarch was wise enough to take a lantern with him?”

“I do not believe we can be certain,” Henri said.

The chances were good Digby would be found somewhere around the estate long before Lucas returned, but he meant to search the mountain just in case. This band of brothers did not abandon one another. Not ever.

He moved up the stairs and directly to his bedchamber to change into his mountaineering clothes. He crossed toward the bell pull but stopped when he spotted a folded bit of parchment on the mantel. “Lucas” was scrawled across it.

He snatched it up, unfolding it and glancing at the signature first.Digby.The very person he was looking for. With any luck, this note would save him a dark trek up a mountain. He started at the top of the page.

Dunderhead.

An odd salutation.

I’ve gone with Julia. She couldn’t be persuaded to stay. I will try to convince her to return, and I will keep her safe. There is likely a note in her room. Don’t take unnecessary risks, but also, don’t be more bacon-brained than you already have been.

I’ve gone with Julia.What did he mean? Where had she gone? Why did he think he needed to “keep her safe”?

Lucas stuffed the note in his jacket pocket and set his feet on a path through the circular sitting room and directly to Julia’s bedchamber. He gave a quick knock on the ajar door before pushing it open, telling himself Julia would be in bed, resting.

But she wasn’t.

Neither was she seated by the fireplace or on the bench at the end of the bed or the chair near the window. The book she’d been reading lay on the bedside table. A letter sat on top.

Lucas’s throat thickened, and his lungs cramped. He reached for the letter with a shaking hand.

His name was written on the front in tidy script. He knew it on sight, having spent enough of the past weeks with Julia as she’d studied her book on mathematics and physical sciences.

He pushed out a breath and broke the wax seal. It was a more formal missive than Digby had left.

My dear friend,

I have told myself these past weeks that I had begun to prove myself something more than a weight around your neck or an option you were forced to pick. I don’t want to be a bump in your road, an obstacle to be overcome in the pursuit of what is important to you.

And I don’t want to sit in the empty quietness of Brier Hill, wondering why I don’t matter enough for you to pause even a moment in planning your life to include me in it. That is a variety of peace and quiet I cannot endure. Not again. As you once said to me, it is time I moved on.

I hope your journeys and adventures bring you joy and that the peaks of Portugal are all you dream they will be.

Think of me now and then.

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