to sleep for a few hours before waking in Niall’s arms.
Xavier helped them pack while Blake wrote out a bank draught for as much money as he could, sealing it in an envelope with instructions on how to contact his solicitor for the transfer of the rest of the money Ian had asked for. If Ian reneged on his end of the deal, they would contact Blake’s solicitor immediately, telling him to instruct the bank not to honor the draught. While he did that, Niall sifted through the Egyptian parlor until he found a necklace that was close enough to what he remembered the medallion looking like to pass and a box to put it in. Then Charles saw them to the train station in Leeds before most of the rest of the household staff had made it above-stairs. Exactly as Niall had figured, they were able to purchase tickets for a train heading on a more direct route to Blackpool, although it did pass through Liverpool first.
“There’s a ship leaving for New York tomorrow,” Blake noted gravely as they searched for food in the station while waiting for the train to Blackpool. Several of the passenger lines departing out of Liverpool had their departure dates and times posted on boards that were decorated with enticing advertisements. The White Star line had a ship departing the next day, just after the time Ian had set for the exchange of the children for the medallion.
“Maybe Lady Fairport was right after all,” Niall said with a sigh as the two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the board. “It’s a good thing we didn’t wait the full three days.”
Knowing Ian might very well have planned to steal away to America the moment the handoff was supposed to take place made Blake extraordinarily anxious as they traveled the final leg of the journey to Blackpool. Once they reached the seaside town, they took a room in a different hotel than they’d stayed in days before, just to be safe, dropped their things, then headed for Shell Cottage.
The moment they neared the cottage, Blake’s high hopes crashed. He could see at once they were too late, in spite of their best efforts.
“It’s abandoned,” he said, pausing just inside the garden gate as his heart raced and his knees threatened to give out.
Indeed, the curtains were pulled shut in every window of the cottage that they could see, even though it was a rainy day and keeping them open would let in much-needed light. They walked around the side of the house and on to the back, where the garden met the beach, but everything was desperately quiet. The steady roar of the waves combined with the patter of rain on the cottage’s roof and the cry of sea birds only added to Blake’s sense of hopelessness.
“We’re too late,” he said, as they rounded the cottage to the front again.
“Maybe not,” Niall said with a frown, marching up to the door. He banged on it, then stood back, waiting for someone to open up.
No one came. Not when Niall knocked again, and not when they went to peer into as many windows as they could reach. The house was empty.
“I knew we shouldn’t have left the children the other day,” Blake hissed, cursing himself. He sucked in a breath that turned into a sob. “It’s all my fault.”
“It is not your fault.” Niall raised his voice slightly, glaring at Blake, but Blake could tell it was Ian he was angry with, not him. Niall paused for a moment before charging out to the road. “We’ll go back to the Archibalds’ house. Ian’s mother was there before, and even if she isn’t there now, one of the servants might know where Ian and Annamarie have gone.”
“What if they’re in Liverpool already?” Blake asked, heart pounding, as they strode along the main road that skirted the beach on their way to the Archibalds’ house.
“Then we’ll go back to Liverpool,” Niall said, bursting with determination. “We’ll plant ourselves on the dock where that ship is departing, if we have to. The one thing we won’t do is let Ian and Annamarie board a ship with your children.”
The situation was beyond desperate, but Blake found himself smiling and his heart warming all the same. His title and the expectations it brought with it be damned, he would follow Niall to the ends of the earth—or at the very least, London—just to stay by his side. Plans