A Winter Scandal by Candace Camp

Author:Candace Camp [Camp, Candace]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General, Historical, Regency
ISBN: 9781451639506
Google: HL2-oJtg9REC
Amazon: 1451639503
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2011-10-24T16:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Lolly! Lolly!” Thea shook the girl’s shoulder. “Lolly, wake up! Where is Matthew?”

“Wha—” Lolly sat up groggily.

“Where is the baby? What’s happened to Matthew?”

Lolly blinked at her. “What? Miss? Why—he’s in his bed.” She pointed over at the basket.

“No. He’s not.”

Lolly scrambled out of bed and ran to the basket, then frantically searched the rest of the small chamber, babbling as she looked, “Matthew! Matthew! Oh, miss, where could he have gone?”

Thea’s mind was racing. Matthew could not have climbed out of his basket and crawled away. He had not even started crawling yet. And it was utterly absurd to think he could have opened the front door.

Clearly someone had entered the house and taken the baby.

Still, she had to make sure he was not in the house. Thea turned to Lolly, saying, “Check everywhere in the house. Look in any room he could have crawled into. I’m going for help.”

Thea hurried back to her room and threw a dress on over her night rail, thrust her bare feet into boots, and topped it all with her cloak. Grabbing a knitted cap and gloves, she spared a moment to check with Lolly.

“No, miss. I’ve checked them all!” Tears stained the girl’s face. “Except the master’s room, of course, but his door’s closed. Oh, miss, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what could have happened!”

“I have a fairly good idea. If I am right, Matthew is warm and safe enough, I think. But I will need help to get him back. You keep searching, just in case. I shall return as soon as I can.”

“But, miss, it’s snowing!”

“I know.”

Thea ran downstairs. In the kitchen, she lit the lantern, tugged on her gloves and cap, pulled up the hood of the cloak, and took off into the night.

The moon and lantern gave her light enough to see her way, but the snow was falling harder now, making it difficult to see any distance in front of her. Fortunately, the path was as familiar to Thea as the village. She had grown up playing with her siblings around the church and old convent grounds.

The bridge was a little slick, as was the flagstone path to the church, but once she turned off through the graveyard, the dirt path was not slippery despite the snow, and Thea took it at a fast pace, breaking into a trot whenever she could. Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in rapid spurts. She barely noticed the cold, but the trip seemed endless. After she passed the ruins, the landscape was less familiar, almost devoid of landmarks in the white storm, but she could still make out the narrow path immediately in front of her by the light of her lantern. It was eerie out here alone in the dark, with the snow falling around her, and for one panicky moment she felt disoriented and was afraid that she had strayed from the path.

But then she saw the dark bulk of the Priory ahead, and she rushed on with a renewed effort.

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