The Vanishing at Loxby Manor by Abigail Wilson

Author:Abigail Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2021-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I passed the remainder of the night in a state of fitful agony, the sleep I did manage ruled by dark thoughts. Each member of Avery’s secret society shared a special relationship with Seline. Though I could no more imagine any one of the four gentlemen harming her, they did have a reason to be concerned about her knowing their secret.

Hugh was clearly taken by her, but he also had the most to lose should the curricle race not take place. His family was in the basket and he was depending on the money to turn everything around. Both his mother and his sister were counting on him. And then there was my brooch. Piers and I found it on the main road to his estate. Seline must have made her way to Rushridge at some point.

Lord Kendal’s reputation was as sharp as his temper. Everyone knew he won any contest he entered—at any cost. He’d actually put a bullet in his own cousin during a duel, even when his cousin swore he’d delope. Lord Kendal would have no scruples where the race was concerned, and he would do anything to ensure his deception remained a secret.

Tony had told me he had money riding on the race as well, and his father was a stickler for rules. He could not chance the possibility of getting disinherited. He would be left destitute.

Then there was Avery. Confident, affable Avery. What possible motive could he have to silence his sister? Unless he feared the ramifications of another scandal in the family. He wasn’t the heir; however, he would lose something else he so desperately clung to—his mother’s affections. She could never forgive him if he betrayed her too.

I was still hashing through the possibilities when I crossed the landing the following morning. I knew Piers would be gone on his morning ride, and part of me was glad he’d be absent. More had passed between us the previous night than simply the investigation. He still cared for me, one way or another.

I had always been like a member of the Cavanagh family. And of late I’d hoped Piers could find a way to look upon me like a sister. But after a night spent crouching in his arms, I knew it could never be, not for either of us. My skin would always tingle. My fingers would ache to touch him. And the dreaded question of what would happen next might forever hang in the air between us. I stopped at the head of the grand staircase, my gaze drifting to the alcove, then to the carpeted steps at my feet.

As soon as we discovered what happened to Seline, it was time to begin my search for a governess position. Loxby Manor could never be a place of refuge for me. I’d been fooling myself since the moment I came back. Even after he left the estate, Piers Cavanagh would haunt the halls of the house as well as my heart.

The breakfast

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