Page 60 of Sleepless in Saunton
Her face fell. “I … see.”
He brushed any feelings of culpability aside. Mrs. Gordon had a different vision of the future than himself, and there was nothing to be done about it. If there was any possibility of making matters right with Jane, he would, but the widow was not an option now that he knew her philosophy about the rearing of children. Considering he was a single father, he should have been more assiduous in his assessment of her as a prospective match.
Barclay bowed, having said everything he wanted to say, and turned to walk away. He had wasted enough time. He needed to find the earl to request his help in the search.
* * *
Jane racedthrough the family wing, checking the bedrooms before climbing the stairs at the end of the hall. Searching the nursery took some time as several children greeted her and clamored to tell her stories about their day. Ethan held up his arms to be lifted, and Jane walked about the nursery, holding him to her side in an embrace while noting how much her cousin had grown. Walking about with him was not as easy as it had been even a year earlier.
She was able to finally lower him to the floor when he became distracted by a game the other children had begun, but only after he extricated a promise to meet him later that afternoon for chess.
Jane left the family wing and headed up to the attic level. There were several rooms containing stored furniture, old clothes, and even toys, so she hurried through the accumulation of goods while calling for Tatiana, but to no avail.
It was now midday, which meant she had been missing for some hours, and Jane admitted that her anxiety to see the child safe was increasing.
Reaching the landing outside the library, Jane stopped and tried to think where else the girl might go. Her mind kept drifting back to their last conversation. Tatiana had wanted her to readAladdinto her, and Jane had made a vague agreement to do so when she was well again. This thought was accompanied by a flash of shame, because Jane had had every intention of avoiding that situation since Barclay had snubbed her, but the little girl had been quite excited by the prospect.
Damn this ache in her head. It had improved, but it still dulled her thoughts. Tatiana had mentioned something aboutAladdinbefore that, but Jane could not think what it was. Something that could be a clue to where the girl had gone, if only Jane could remember it.
* * *
Barclay had informedRichard of the situation, who called on Radcliffe, his butler, to form a search party using the grooms and footmen. The duke himself had collected up two gentlemen they thought could be useful, Ridley and Trafford, and they had gone to saddle their horses to search farther afield while the earl remained at the house to supervise the search parties.
Still worried but feeling infinitesimally better that the men were to search all the waterways as a top priority, he found Aurora in a drawing room to apprise her of what was happening. His mother was drawn with worry, sipping on tea and attempting to still her shaking hands.
“This is my fault,” she exclaimed.
“Why would you say that?” Barclay had taken a moment to sit with his mother while he tried to think of places to look. He had a nagging sensation that he knew where Tatiana would have gone based on something she had said. Realizing he had not eaten, he quickly downed some dainty biscuits and a cup of tea to help him collect his thoughts back together. Perhaps it would come to him if he got some food in his body.
“I should have woken up earlier.”
“Tatiana has never done this before, so it would have made no sense for you to do so.”
Aurora’s gaze dropped to her hands, where she was twisting her fingers together in her agitation. “I sensed something was wrong.”
“With Tatiana?”
His mother shot him a perplexed glance. “Yes, with Tatiana. Who else?”
Barclay cleared his throat, nervous he had revealed too much. “What about her?”
“She was gloomy last night, talking about her mother and how, if she were here, she would settle this muddle. I did my best to cheer her up, but she seemed fixated on something to do with you and Mrs. Gordon.”
Barclay leaned back to stare at the cornices. The ornate cornices that Tsar had especially designed for this manor, as part of his commission from the late earl. Barclay’s sire. Four generations of Thompsons had their lives entwined within the walls of this manor, this grand design, and it was time for Barclay to confess his sins.
“This is not your fault, Mother. It is mine.”
“Why would you say that?” Aurora asked in an echo of his earlier question.
“I had planned to propose to the widow. Tatiana was adamant I was making a mistake, but I did not listen. She insisted the widow does not like children, and I informed her that was stuff and nonsense. So it is my fault she has run away. Or is hiding. Or is lying somewhere injured.”
Barclay lowered his head into his hands, his fear of something happening to his child causing his breath to come out in pants. What was the thing Tatiana had said that nagged at him? If he could just recall …
“Was she correct?”
He hesitated before answering. “Mrs. Gordon thinksTianashould be sent to a ladies’ seminary in Surrey.”
“Tiana?”
