The Vanishing at Loxby Manor by Abigail Wilson (grave mercy .TXT) 📕

room. Something was not as it seemed. If only Piers were here to witness it as well.

I cleared my throat. “Are you all attending?”

They stared at me for a long second, and I added quickly, “The ball.”

“Oh yes, of course.” Tony stood, startling me by his hasty movement. “We were really on our way home. No wish to tarry. Idon’t think Hugh should be out of his house for much longer. I’m pleased to learn Kendal has not lost all his senses overa bit of love. Good day, Miss Halliwell. Avery, I know you’ll keep us informed.”

Informed of what?

I opened my mouth to form a question, but Avery mumbled something about clothes as he made his way to the door. Hugh, it seemed,meant to beat him to it, calling out his farewells as he rushed into the entryway.

Then silence. The life of the drawing room disappeared into the incessant tick of the grandfather clock. I stared across theempty room at the flames in the fireplace. Those three gentlemen were hiding something, and if I had to guess, it had somethingto do with the night Seline disappeared.

*  *  *

Later that same day, hours after I’d retired to my room, I heard a scratch at my bedchamber door. I stared for a moment atthe closed door before moving. My first thought was of my maid, but the notion trickled from my mind, skittering its way downmy back like an insect. She would have no reason to return to my room.

I clutched my robe from my bed and threw it around my shoulders. “Who is it?”

The person answered with another knock, but this time it had a pattern to it, as if that alone should reassure me whoeverstood on the other side meant no harm.

“Just a moment.”

I grasped the poker from the fireplace and inched my way to the door before turning the lock and stepping into the shadows.“It’s open.”

The door swung inward slowly as my heart thundered. A figure appeared in silhouette, and I raised the poker above my head.

“Don’t you dare hit me with that thing.”

My arms relaxed, and I dropped the iron rod to my side. It was Piers.

I took a few steps forward and then stopped, the realization of my lack of dress filling my cheeks with heat. I pulled myrobe tight about my neck. “What are you doing here?”

“Charity.” My name came out a little more than a whisper, but then a laugh entered his voice. “Who were you expecting?”

I placed the poker back into its holder near the fender. “No one. Which is why I couldn’t be too careful.”

“Oh?”

I turned back to face him as a peculiar feeling swarmed my chest. He just stood there, watching me, his arms crossed, hisshoulder pressed to the wall as if the past few years hadn’t even happened. He seemed different. Did he somehow know whatI’d discovered from his father?

I swallowed hard. Or was it me who was different?

A familiar stir of anticipation, one I hadn’t felt in some time, settled in my core. I forced it to bend to my will. We wereolder now, both changed by our experiences. Both wiser, hopefully.

Not once during the few blessed weeks of our secret relationship had I ever been alone with him in my room. Outside, yes. Hidden in the hall alcove, once. But this intimate setting, the most private of places, felt like something else entirely.

I rubbed my arms, but I couldn’t completely wipe away the urge to step nearer, to test the boundaries of my delicate emotions,to find out what I feared most of all—was intimacy possible for me after so much pain?

Piers had always been perceptive, but never more so than in that moment. His brows drew in and he seemed almost careful whenhe asked, “What is it, Charity?”

The sound of his voice broke the tension that had sprung up like a plague, forcing me back to the present, to reality. “Nothing.You just surprised me is all. Why are you here?”

He crossed the room, his gaze never leaving my face. “I need to show you something.”

A beat of terror coursed through my body. “What is it?”

He stalked to the window and thrust open the drapes. He pointed into the inky blackness. “There on the hill. A light.”

I rushed to his side. Sure enough, across the meadow a light twinkled on the horizon, darkening what was left of the ruggedstones of the Kinwich Abbey cloisters. “And Avery just returned today.”

Piers dipped his chin. “Care to join me for a midnight stroll?”

The familiar flash of fear drew heat to my cheeks once again and then a startling cold.

Piers took my hand. “I’ll be with you of course.” He motioned to the window with his head. “It’s only Avery and his sillyfriends out there.”

Then his face changed. “Forgive me if I was improper in coming to your room. I thought you might like to join me. I can certainly venture to the abbey by myself.” His voice dissolved into a mumble. “Asking you to come had nothing to do with any fear on my part. I— Never mind.” He pulled away.

“Wait!” I followed him to the door. “I’m coming with you. I wanted to go more than anything the night Seline disappeared,but I couldn’t bring myself to do so alone.”

Piers eyed me for a moment as if he didn’t believe me, then nodded. Goodness, he probably thought I changed my mind to appeasehim, that I actually thought him the coward he’d been labeled. After all, the Charity he remembered wouldn’t have batted aneye at such an idea.

I reached for the door, and he chuckled. “I am glad you’ve decided to join me, but I don’t think it would be all that wiseto go dressed like that.”

I grimaced, then lifted my chin. “Give me five minutes.”

The ridiculous charm he liked to strike to life like a candle in the most awkward of moments bubbled to the surface. He’dnever been all that good at social games, but sometimes he possessed this look . . .

He raised an eyebrow. “You know, someone