Page 68 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
“You’ve got to find her! Please! You’ve got to find her,” the baroness said, seizing Nicholas by the hand.
“We will. I promise,” he said, rallying the others to follow him.
Harry, Edmund, the viscount, the twins, Lord Thornton, Sir Samuel, and the servants hurried out into the snow.
“We’re coming, too,” Isobel called out, appearing behind them with Clara at her side, both wrapped in red fur cloaks and hats.
“Spread out. Some of you search the grounds, and the cliff path, the rest of will go across the moor. If she’s headed for the village, she might have lost her way. The paths can be hard to find, even on a summer’s day,” Nicholas said.
“We’ll take the grounds and the cliff path,” the viscount said, signaling for Edgar and Hugh to follow him.
The others followed Nicholas. It was a bright, clear day, but clouds on the horizon were threatening snow. With the afternoon drawing on, it would not be long before it was dark.
“You don’t think something terrible’s happened to her, do you?” Clara said, as they hurried across the lawn.
“No. I’m sure she’s all right. But she’s upset, and we need to find her,” Nicholas said.
He had blamed Constance for what had happened, but he blamed himself, too. Had he been stronger willed, perhaps none of this would have happened.
“You care about her, don’t you, Nicholas?” his cousin said, and Nicholas sighed.
“Yes, Clara, I do, and I wish I’d… well, it doesn’t matter now. We need to find her,” he said, and calling to the others, he hurried towards the moorland path, determined to find Amelia and tell her of his true feelings for her.
***
The path wound its way up onto a ridge, or so it seemed, for it was not clear precisely which way the path led. Amelia had followed the line of yew trees as the stable boy had told her to do. She was struggling. The snow was thick, and it took considerable effort to walk through it.
“The yew trees, but now where?”she asked herself, looking back over her shoulder to where her tracks showed the course of her progress up the ridge.
Her stomach was rumbling, her hands and face were cold, and she did not know which way was the right way to go. Sighing, Amelia took a deep breath, imagining the rest of the party sitting around the table devouring their luncheon.
She wondered if she had been missed, or whether the others had even noticed she was gone. Nicholas would not care. He and Constance would be toasting their betrothment and congratulated by the others as they did so.
“They’re welcome to one another,”she told herself, struggling on through the snow.
It would be dark soon, and there was no sign of the village, or any habitation for miles around. Amelia was lost and tears welled up in her eyes. She clasped at the locket around her neck, knowing she could not give up, and wondering if Rupert’s last thought had been of her. She had often imagined those dreadful last moments in the sinking ship, the waves crashing over its bough, the desperate attempts at rescue.
What had Rupert been thinking? Had he died with her name on his lips? It made her shudder to think of it, even as she now feared her own fate, too. She was lost, alone, cold and shivering. She did not know which way to go, or where she was going. Her flight had been folly; it was just what Constance had wanted.
“But I won’t give up,”she said to herself, willing her next footstep, and the next.
On she went, clouds gathering above, the daylight fading.
***
“The ridge. That’s the path, along the line of yews,” Isobel said, pointing up the moorland path.
Nicholas nodded. He knew the moor well, but to one such as Amelia, its paths would be unknown. The yew trees marked the way up the ridge towards the village, but a fork appeared at the top, one way leading down to the harbor and the other across the moor towards the church. If Amelia had taken the wrong turn in the fork, she could be lost for days.
“We’ll have to split up again. Isobel, you take Lord Thornton and go to the inn to check if she’s there. The rest of us will head towards the church. I’m glad we brought lamps. I think we’ll need them,” Nicholas said, turning back to the two footmen who had accompanied them, each carrying large carriage lamps they now lit in the gathering gloom.
It was getting colder, too, and the gathering clouds brought with them the threat of further snowfall. The conditions were treacherous, and Nicholas feared they did not have long to find Amelia before disaster struck.
“What are we to do if we find her at the inn?” Isobel said, as they came to the fork in the path.
“Send one of the inn keeper’s boys up to find us on the moor. We’ll have the lamps lit. Tell them we’re heading to the church,” Nicholas said.
They parted ways, Isobel and Lord Thornton hurrying towards the village, and Nicholas and the others making their way across the moor towards the church. It was nearly dark now, the moon hidden behind a cloud.
