Page 66 of The Ones Left Behind
“Come,” the Duchess said kindly, leading her to a settee. “Husband, do you send Hayes for some warm water, towels and salve?” she asked the Duke.
Lady Amelia rose and poured her a brandy and placed the glass between her hands.
Kitty detested spirits, but she certainly needed something to soothe her shattered nerves.
Hayes returned with the supplies and set them down next to Kitty. The Duchess began tending to her scratches.
“I can see to them myself,” Kitty insisted, reaching for the towel Meg was wringing with water.
“Nonsense. Tell us what happened when you feel ready and I will take care of this.”
Kitty took a sip of brandy and a warm tingle washed through her. “After you left to go to the hunting lodge, we were sitting in here talking about where else Henry might go. That is when it occurred to me that as a child, he always chose one particular place to hide.”
“Meg mentioned the folly, and we checked there on our way back from the lodge,” Matthias explained.
“Not that one,” Kitty shook her head.
“You don’t mean the old ruin at the overlook point? I have not been up there in years.”
“The path was very overgrown.” She indicated the cuts and scrapes all over her arms and hands, and winced as the Duchess plucked a thorn from her side.
“You should not have gone up there alone.”
“There was no one to go with me. However, I did find Henry.”
“I beg your pardon? I gather he would not return with you?”
Kitty shook her head. “I did not invite him to return, knowing Lord Worth is looking for him.”
“Worth was just here, in fact,” Matthias said baldly.
Kitty felt her eyes widen with the knowledge. “Has he gone?” she suddenly thought to whisper.
“Yes. Please continue.”
“There is little else to tell. He has been there a few days and seemed disinclined to come to the house to ask for your help.”
Matthias showed little reaction to the words.
“He was not in a good state of mind,” she said, trying to think of how to explain.
“That is hardly surprising,” the Duke remarked.
“What do you mean, Kitty?” Matthias understood she was trying to tell him something.
“It seems he thought he was going to be the Earl, and he thinks that, by becoming the Earl, he will solve all his problems.”
Stunned silence met her statement before Waverley exclaimed, “By Jove, are you saying he means to kill Matthias?”
CHAPTER18
Matthias could not believe what he was hearing. Although he had no great kinship with Henry, he would not have thought his brother wished him dead.
“He told you this and then simply allowed do you to leave?”
“Yes and no,” Kitty said carefully.
“I can see why you did not invite him back to the house,” Philip remarked dryly.
