Page 85 of What's an Earl Gotta Do?
“That’s what I thought,” Michael said. “So. What’s your plan?”
Mr. Hewitt looked taken aback. “It will take time to formulate a plan, to find the manpower to—”
“What were Lord Hobart’s exact words?” Michael asked.
Samuel made a show of scanning the letter. “Let’s see. Ah, yes, here it is. ‘If I find out that you did not deploy every resource available to you—’”
Michael shook his head. “What a shame I’ll have to tell Lord Hobart his instructions were ignored.”
Mr. Hewitt scowled. “Be reasonable. Lord Gladstone’s current whereabouts are unknown. We don’t even know where to begin looking.”
“How marvelously convenient,” Samuel said. “In our earlier interview, both Nick and Johnny reported that, based on the smell, the house where Lord Gladstone was keeping the boys was near a kiln.”
Mr. Hewitt threw up his hands. “Who even knows how many kilns there are in London, or where they are!”
Samuel reached into his breast pocket. “Fourteen. That’s according to my friend over at Exchequer. I have a list of them right here.”
The clerk glared at him. “So you’re suggesting we just send men out to these fourteen kilns, and check the surrounding buildings for a bunch of kidnapped orphans?”
“Precisely,” Michael said. “Finally, you’re catching on.”
“And who is going to check these kilns?” Mr. Hewitt asked.
“Forgive me if I’ve been misinformed, as I’ve spent the past four years in Canada,” Michael said, “but does Bow Street not employ a Foot Patrol? What for, if not tasks of this nature?”
“It is a wild goose chase—” the clerk began.
Michael gave him a hard look. “Better than sitting around doing nothing.”
Anne stepped forward and took Michael’s arm. “Did Lord Morsley mention that he’s going to be the next Governor General of Canada?”
“Hand-picked by Lord Hobart himself,” Samuel noted.
Mr. Hewitt gave an aggrieved sigh. “Fine.”
In the end, ten pair of men from the Foot Patrol were mustered to initiate the search. “I’ll take Pottery Lane in Notting Hill,” Samuel offered.
“Give the rest to me,” Anne said. “I’ll divide it up amongst my footmen.”
As they left the Bow Street offices, Anne still felt sick with worry about Nick.
But at least she now had the tiniest sliver of hope.
Chapter 31
The sun had set by the time they reached Anne’s house. A maid brought a tray of cold meats and cheeses into the library, and Michael tucked in while Anne went to give assignments to her footmen.
Anne didn’t return until twenty minutes later. Michael had managed to save her some chicken and a bit of the ham, and, of course, a strawberry tart.
The first thing he noticed as she strode into the room was that she had changed into the same plain gray gown she had worn last night when they went into Holborn.
The second thing he noticed was that she was carrying his old coat, which he had left there that morning.
“Good, you saved some for me.” Anne handed him his jacket. “Put this on, and we’ll leave in five minutes.”
Michael frowned. “Leave? What do you mean, leave? And why are you dressed like that?”
Anne swallowed her bite of ham. “With the extra guards who’ve been set at my lodging house, I only had enough footmen to check two out of the three remaining kilns. So we’ll be searching around the Coade Stone manufactory in Lambeth.”
