To Save a Love - Alexa Aston Page 0,25
as he continued. “His lordship returned with his daughter after she tried to elope. With you. She was locked in her room and Lord Shelton left for a day. When he returned, he had me summon two of our largest footmen to take Miss Browning to the carriage. I did as asked.”
“Did you know where she was being taken?”
The old man cleared his voice. “I had an idea, my lord. It was confirmed after the carriage left. Lord Shelton told me that disobedient, rebellious daughters needed to learn their place and that his daughter would learn her lesson at Gollingham.”
Dez gripped the table in order to keep from striking the man. “You knew she wasn’t mad. And yet you did nothing to stop things?”
Beauchamp met his gaze and defiantly asked, “What was I to do, my lord? I was a mere servant and Lord Shelton a powerful viscount. He exercised the rights he held over his own child. If I would have protested, I would have been tossed from the house without a reference. As it was, both footmen and the coachman who accompanied Miss Browning that day were let go within a month. I knew which side my bread was buttered on.” He shrugged. “Besides, she must have been mad to cross her father the way she did. Everyone knew what he was like. No one dared test Lord Shelton. If they did, they would suffer the consequences.”
Frustration filled him, knowing the man spoke the truth. No servant would ever stand up to his master, especially one as vindictive as the dead Shelton.
“Do you know where Gollingham is located?” he asked, his jaw tightening.
“Somewhere in Hampshire. Near Alton.” Beauchamp shook his head. “You know everything I do.”
Dez rose. His companions followed suit. They left the inn and waited to speak after the carriage started up.
“We must go now,” he declared. “I cannot let her stay another night in such a place.”
“No,” the viscount said. “We only have a vague idea at this point. It will be dark soon. Even if by some miracle we could find our way there, Torrington, they wouldn’t receive us in the middle of the night. It would be better to wait until daylight and leave. We will ask to speak to the physician in charge of the facility. As head of the Browning family, I am legally responsible for Cousin Anna. I am the one who can free her. If she is there.”
“She is,” insisted Jessa. “I feel it in my bones.”
“Very well,” Dez agreed. “We leave at first light. I will ride to Shelton Park and we can take your carriage.”
“I am going with you,” Jessa said stubbornly.
“No. You aren’t,” Lady Shelton said. She took Jessa’s hand. “It will be difficult enough for the two men to see Anna in these circumstances. You will wait with me. We will be strong for Anna once she returns.”
Tears welled in Jessa’s eyes. “I want to go—but I know you are right.”
“I am,” the viscountess assured. She looked to her husband. “Even if they claim Anna is not there, you must find her. Tear down the place if necessary, Tom.”
“They won’t want her once they learn I am no longer willing to pay for her to be there,” her husband said. “I will take Cheshire’s letter and invoice. That is proof enough she is there.”
“Is it?” Dez asked, despair filling him. “Anna could be dead and this doctor might have continued sending his bills. I doubt Shelton went even once to visit his daughter.”
“We won’t know until we arrive,” the viscount said. “If she is there, we will bring her home.”
“Agreed,” he said, a silent prayer echoing in his mind that they would find Anna alive.
*
Dez sat across from Shelton, both their expressions grim. They had left Shelton Park as the sun broke the horizon, traveling west to Hampshire. In Alton, they stopped and discovered that Gollingham Asylum was a few miles southwest of their current location, just outside a small town called Grantham.
The carriage now slowed and he glanced out the window. They had reached Grantham. The driver knew to stop in the village so they could ascertain the asylum’s exact location and brought the carriage to the door of the local tavern. Dez sprang from the vehicle, Lord Shelton right behind him.
“We are close,” the viscount said. “We will find it. I am certain.”
They entered the tavern. It was deserted at this hour of the morning. A large man with a bald pate and