like that girl to wander off. She has a good head on her shoulders.”
That was what Jo thought, and it only frightened her. She climbed the stairs, weeping. Her father sat with Aunt Mary in the parlor. Between choking sobs and hiccoughs, Jo explained what had happened.
“My goodness, my girl, there’s no need for this,” he said soothingly, patting her on the back. “She has merely gone off on an errand of her own. You didn’t see where she went?”
“No,” Jo wailed. “Sally waited on the pavement with the packages while I went out onto the road to hail a hackney. One jarvey refused to stop,” she confessed as her father’s eyebrows lowered. “I stopped the next by waving my handkerchief.”
“Sally will know the way home, Jo.” Aunt Mary said. “She is more familiar with London streets than we are.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Jo grasped it eagerly, desperate to believe it.
But the hours passed, and Sally did not come home.
They dispatched a servant to search the area where Sally disappeared. He returned two hours later with the distressing news that no one had seen a young blonde maid.
Jo’s dinner sat untouched before her. As soon as she could, she went to her bedchamber and sat on the window seat watching the street. Her aunt brought a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of biscuits. She sat with Jo until she drank the whole cup and nibbled a biscuit and then urged her to get into bed. There was nothing she could do until morning, and Sally may well be home by then.
Heavy with exhaustion, Jo slid beneath the covers, but her mind was too busy for sleep. She kept returning to when Sally disappeared. There had been a lot of traffic on the road, she remembered. She barely took notice of the carriages which passed her, so intent was she in gaining the jarvey’s attention. Surely someone would have seen something? She would return in the morning and make more inquiries, although in her heart she knew it was useless. Sally was not there. Where was she now? In danger? In pain? Or…worse? Her throat tight, Jo turned her face to the pillow and wept.
She had finally dropped off to sleep. When she woke, it seemed as if a lead weight had attached itself to her spine. She dressed quickly and ran up to the attics to the room Sally shared with Agnes, but Sally had not slept in her bed.
Jo went straight to the servants’ hall, hoping she might have just arrived. She had not. No one had seen her. All the servants talked about it. The scullery maid suggested Sally had gone home to the country. “Some girls don’t like it ’ere,” she said. “Sally seemed happy here, though. Oh, I hope she’s all right.”
“London can be dangerous for the unwary,” the housekeeper, Mrs. Cross, said grimly. “I advise all my maids to be careful. A girl can get in trouble in the blink of an eye.”
A servant went out again to search the area. He came back and shook his head.
By luncheon, Jo was frantic. She roamed the dining room, unable to sit and eat. Who could she turn to for help? They must call a constable, but would he be able to help her, when Sally vanished yesterday? One name came into her mind. Reade. She hadn’t forgiven him for interrogating her. But she still trusted Reade to accomplish what others could not.
A maid set plates of chicken soup before them. “I must speak to Lord Reade,” Jo said, “The baron will help us.” He might disapprove of her, but that hardly mattered if he found Sally.
“Why do you think that gentleman can help, Jo?” Aunt Mary asked. “You’ve only danced with him once, and a few days ago, you said you found him annoying,”
“And we don’t have his address,” her father added, picking up his spoon.
“No, but the Cartwrights live in Grosvenor Square, which isn’t far from here. We pass the square every day.”
“Very well. I shan’t risk this interfering with my digestion.” Her father put down his napkin and, with a regretful glance at the soup, rose from the table. “I shall send a note to the Cartwrights.”
“No! We must go to see them, Papa,” Jo said. “They may not get the note for hours!”
“One doesn’t just visit people unannounced, Jo,” he said with a perplexed frown. “The Cartwrights are decent people, so I suppose they won’t mind. But I’m not sure how they