Page 47 of My Gentleman Spy
Chapter Seventeen
“What doyou mean you cannot find her?” Will groundout.
He stood red faced, hands on his hips as he faced the ship's captain. It was taking every ounce of his self-restraint to keep his temper under control. The captain's visage in turn was a slightly whiter shade of pale grey. The young lady passenger had gone missing from the ship sometime during the night and the captain had noexplanation.
“I sent the cabin boy to double check your cabin,” the captainreplied.
“After I had already checked it twice. I can assure you that my fiancée is not hiding under the bed clothes,” repliedWill.
It was a ludicrous statement, but in the cramped space of the cabin, it was the only place that Hattie could havebeen.
He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Where wasshe?
Memories of the previous night crashed through his mind. He had foolishly accepted the bottle of wine, never once thinking that Hattie would seek to drug him to sleep. The morning had brought with it the bitter aftertaste of laudanum in hismouth.
His anger at this point was not just directed at Hattie, but at himself. He had been well and trulyplayed.
He had to give Hattie her dues. She had learned from their experience with the market crowd in Gibraltar. She knew the mind of the mob and had read the situation perfectly. The damsel in distress ruse had brought the crew very quickly on to herside.
And what had he, great spy and undercover operative done? Reasoned with her, called on the crew for manly support, no he had gone and lost his temper. He had shown himself to be the rogue she hadclaimed.
While he slept, Hattie had found a way to escape from the ship. When he finally woke long after the ship had docked, he knew she was gone. Buthow?
Will turned on his heel and headed back to the cabin. The ship was being offloaded and his travel trunk needed to be closed and secured. He would send it on to his parent’s house while he remained at the dockside and tried to get to the bottom of Hattie’sdisappearance.
Inside the travel trunk, he finally got his first clue. As he went to close the lid, he caught sight of a small piece of folded paper wedged in one of the interior pockets. He pulled it out and read the short message written uponit.
Will,
You and I live in different worlds. Please know that I never wanted to lie to you and I will be forever in your debt. I love you with all my heart, our time together has been a dream come true, but you must let mego.
I loveyou
Hattie
Awaveof anguish washed over him, leaving him to founder on a bitter shore. His instincts had yet again failed him when it came toHattie.
What was it with this girl? He could not read her. Sometime during the night, Hattie had escaped theship.
Worry creased his brow. If she had attempted to swim ashore with her possessions it would be a miracle if she was still alive. There were so many ships and boats moving up and down the river at any one time, she could have easily been towed under one ofthem.
He had brought her all this way, only to lose her within sight ofhome.
“Oh Hattie,” hemurmured.
The captain meanwhile made enquiries of the crew. The last person who had seen her was the cabin boy when he delivered the bottle of wine. No one else could shed light on what had become ofher.
Will packed up the remainder of his things. As soon as he left the ship he would contact the Thames River police and ask them to search thewaters.
If Hattie had come to grief while trying to escape the ship, he could only pray that her death had beenswift.
* * *
As Will followedthe crew carrying his luggage ashore he pondered what he was to do. They took his luggage to the nearby shipping office with instructions to send it on to his parent's house in DoverStreet.
By rights he should have been accompanying his travel trunk, but he was in no mood for happyreunions.
Turning up the collar of his spare wool coat to keep out the early morning chill he headed down Pennington Street to the office of the Thames RiverPolice.
