is it?” her mother, Regina, asked. She and Ashton came to stand on either side of Joanna.
“I honestly have no idea.” She broke the wax seal and unfolded the urgent missive.
“Read it aloud, my dear,” her mother prompted.
Joanna cleared her throat and began to read.
My dear Lady Kincade,
I write to you of the most dire and urgent of circumstances. I am in Edinburgh with a gentleman named Mr. Jackson Hunt. His eldest daughter, Lydia, has been abducted at knifepoint by Mr. Brodie Kincade, your husband’s brother. We believe that they are bound for Edinburgh, accompanied by your brother, Mr. Rafe Lennox. However, upon our arrival, we found no trace of them at the Lennox residence in Edinburgh. It occurred to me that perhaps Mr. Kincade chanced going to Castle Kincade, but I cannot be sure. Please send a response to the address below as quickly as you can.
Sincerely yours,
Jane Russell
Dowager Marchioness of Rochester
Joanna finished reading the letter and then looked to her older brother and her mother in shock.
“Abducted?” Regina muttered. “But why would Brodie take that poor girl? He is a little wild, perhaps, but then again, he is a Kincade, and we’ve seen how unpredictable they are.”
Ashton scowled and took the letter from Joanna to read it again. As a baron, Ashton should have had the least influence among the League of Rogues, all of whom were members of the peerage, but due to his clever work in the financial markets, he had amassed wealth and power far in excess of his title. And when necessary, he had used that power and influence to do whatever was needed, especially when it came to dealing with Rafe’s actions.
“That bloody fool,” Ashton growled.
“Brodie?” Joanna asked.
“No, Rafe. I have a suspicion our brother is at the root of whatever trouble this is. He’s likely having a good laugh at Brodie’s expense.”
“But why abduct Lydia Hunt? She’s so sweet, and oh, Ash, we must tell Brock and Rosalind. They will know what to do about Brodie.”
“Know what to do about whom?” Rosalind, Ashton’s wife and Brock’s sister, said as she appeared in the doorway.
“It’s your brother, Brodie.” Ashton passed the letter to his wife. Rosalind began to read, and then after a moment, she slid onto the nearest settee and gazed at Ashton in clear confusion.
“I . . . I don’t understand. Who is this woman they say Brodie has taken? What could she have done to him?” Unlike her brothers, Rosalind’s brogue was not nearly as thick. She had been married to an older English gentleman a few years ago and had done her best to assimilate with London society before she’d been widowed. Yet there was still enough of the Scot in her, especially when she was upset, for the brogue to become more pronounced.
“Done to him? Lydia Hunt is a friend of mine. She’s the most wonderful girl. She wouldn’t do anything to Brodie to make him do this,” Joanna said.
Ashton spoke up. “Didn’t you say a few weeks ago that Portia Hunt had set her cap for Brodie?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Rosalind said. “I met the young woman at a party. She had heard rumors of my brothers, and rather than being scared off, she was intrigued. She inquired whether they were unattached. I informed her that Brock is married and Aiden was returning here with me. Only Brodie was to stay behind in Bath.”
Ashton began to pace around the drawing room. “I didn’t have a good feeling about Rafe leaving here so soon. I thought that a stay in the country would keep him out of mischief, but he was eager to return to Bath after just one week here. He must have had a hand in this somehow.”
“Where do you suppose they would go?” Joanna asked.
Rosalind considered the question. “There’s our townhouse in Edinburgh, but Lady Rochester said they had not arrived there. I’m certain they won’t come here,” Rosalind said. “Brodie wouldn’t bring a woman home unless he was planning to marry her. Do you think they stopped at Gretna Green, Ash?” Rosalind asked.
Ashton shrugged. “You know him better than I do, love.”
“I fear Brock and Aiden know him better than me,” Rosalind admitted quietly. “He may have changed since I escaped to London.”
Ashton took the letter back from Rosalind, reading it yet again, as though he could divine some secrets from the page. “Joanna, would you please go find your husband?”
Joanna left the drawing room in search of Brock. Instead, she found Aiden lounging on