Introducing Miss Joanna (Once a Wallflower #2) - Maggi Andersen Page 0,44
mounted Sally on a smaller bay with calm eyes.
They reined in inside the Brook Street gate. Jo glanced at the watch pinned to her chest. It was almost noon. “We shall have to wait, Sally.”
Sally rode her horse up and down the strip of grass. “Is this to be another adventure, Miss Jo?”
“Not like the last one, thank the Lord,” Jo said. “Shall we dismount?”
It was half-past twelve, and the horses were growing restive when Reade, in a black coat, buckskins, and glossy riding boots, rode through the gate on a beautiful steel gray horse. Jo’s heart hammered as she fought to put into words what she must tell him. He did not look happy to see her.
He greeted them both as he pulled up. “Well, Miss Dalrymple, shall we trot the horses down Rotten Row?”
Jo turned her horse’s head to follow him. Even at this unfashionable hour, a few riders cantered down the Row, and carriages circled on the South Carriage drive.
Jo was conscious only of Reade. “I’m so glad you came.” It gave her a jolt to recognize how important he’d become in her life.
Reade angled Ash in beside her mount. “What has brought you here, Miss Dalrymple?”
“Something terribly worrying has happened,” she gasped. With a deep breath, she rushed to tell him. “My friend Charlotte Graham has disappeared.”
Miss Dalrymple, Joanna, was clearly frightened. Reade glanced back at the young maid trailing behind them. “Tell me more slowly,” he ordered, his voice low and insistent, his attention caught by a fiery lock curling against her satiny cheek and her firm little chin beneath the black hat. “Charlotte went to the park with Mr. Virden in his curricle. But he left her at the gate. Her chaperone hasn’t seen her since.”
His blood ran cold. “She was with Virden?”
“Yes, and I thought…”
“Thoughts have no place here,” he said, concern making him abrupt. “We need to look at the facts. Did Miss Graham mention anything that might help us find her?”
Her scared eyes sought his. “I’ve been going over and over it. Only that Mr. Virden expressed an interest in her. She thought he might propose.”
“What are her circumstances?”
“Charlotte lives with Mrs. Lincoln, the lady her grandfather engaged as her chaperone. Her grandfather lives in the country.”
“Is the family affluent?”
“Not especially. Charlotte said she didn’t have a large dowry. She has no other relatives.” She swallowed the lump in her dry throat. “Something else I recalled, which may have no bearing on this, but Charlotte mentioned a debutante, Anabel Riley, who suddenly disappeared last Season.”
He nodded. “We must deal first with Charlotte, but tell me about Anabel, and describe Charlotte to me.”
“Anabel was an orphan, staying with an aged aunt who has since died. That’s all I know about her. Charlotte is above average height and very slender. She has golden hair and brown eyes.”
As they walked the horses, he listened while Joanna told him about the young lady. “She considers herself too tall to attract a husband, but her grandfather is determined to see her wed.”
What had Virden done with her? Got one of his scoundrels to kidnap her? Would the girl stand a chance when she’d been gone for days? He doubted anything could be done for Anabel. Were either of them still in London? Or even alive? He ordered his thoughts for the search, which he would put in motion as soon as he left Joanna. They reined in at the end of the Row. “I’ll ride with you to the stables.”
Her eyes beseeched him. “Reade, what will you do to find her?”
“I intend to look for her, Joanna. But you must leave it in my hands.”
“Do you think a procuress abducted Anabel and Charlotte?”
He cursed under his breath. Joanna was smart. He might have known she’d consider the possibility. He didn’t want her anywhere near this investigation. “There are many reasons for a girl to leave London. Not all of them bad.”
“I know you will find her, but let me help, please. Tell me what to do.”
It tore at him to see the trust in her eyes. She believed he wrought miracles. He could not tell her of his worst fears. “You will help me by staying safe and letting me deal with it.”
“Do you think the same people took Charlotte as those who abducted Sally?”
“That I don’t know. If I have news, I’ll send you a note. In the meantime, I’ll advise Bow Street.”
“I thought we might utilize Sally’s experience to find her.”