Upon their return to London, her husband immediately set off to enquire after Mr. Lloyd’s whereabouts.
“Why do you think he is here?” Anna wondered aloud, following him down the corridor to-ward the front hall.
Edmond shrugged. “It is easier to disappear in a city of tens of thousands than out in the country.” Stopping at the front door, he turned to her, the lines on his face hard as she had never seen them before. “I will find him, and he will pay for what he did.”
Anna nodded, ignoring the sense of dread that settled in her stomach. “Why do you think he stole the money?”
Edmond shook his head. “Greed, I suppose. Why else do people steal?” Planting a kiss on her cheek, he left her standing in the doorway, wondering what this day would bring.
Why do people steal?
Anna spent the remainder of the morning asking herself that very question. Although greed usually was an important factor, Anna could not quite make sense of it with regard to Mr. Lloyd. He had been in the duke’s employ for decades, and from what she could tell had started stealing money about fifteen years ago. Had he stashed the money away for his future? Had he planned to leave sometime soon? Why hadn’t he already? After all, he had only now left when he was about to be discovered.
From what Edmond had told her, Mr. Lloyd had never married. He had no family and only few acquaintances. According to Edmond, the only thing Mr. Lloyd had ever done was work.
Why? Anna wondered again and again. What other reasons were there but greed? Necessity maybe? Could it be that Mr. Lloyd had needed the money for something important or someone in need? Then why had he not spoken to the family? Would they not have helped him?
Probably not, Anna thought, considering the amount of money he had needed.
When noon came around, Anna had worn a hole in the expensive Persian rug in the drawing room. And yet still no word from Edmond.
Making up her mind, Anna rang for the carriage and set off to her parents’ house. With his connections in trade, maybe her father knew something. At the very least, it gave her something to do other than waiting.
Since her father was out when Anna arrived, she sat down to a cup of tea with her mother.
“Why are you so agitated, child?”
Forcing her hands to still and drop the hem of her dress before they could work a hole in it, Anna sighed. “I hardly know where to begin. Something awful has happened.”
Setting down her cup of tea, her mother came to sit beside her. Her brows drew down in concern, and she took Anna’s hands in hers. “What is it, Anna?”
Collecting her thoughts, Anna informed her mother of Mr. Lloyd’s duplicity. With every word, Anna spoke, her mother grew paler and paler. “And is there any word?” her mother breathed. “Has your husband been able to find him?”
Shaking her head in frustration, Anna huffed, “None. That’s why I came. I feel like losing my mind just sitting at home, having nothing to do.”
Eyes distant, her mother nodded. “And are you certain it was Mr. Lloyd who stole the money? He seemed like such a trustworthy man.”
“How do you know? When did you meet him?” Anna frowned, then her eyes cleared. “Oh yes, at the wedding.” She shrugged. “It seems like it. Who else could it have been? He was the one to handle all the finances, and he is the one who is gone. What other conclusion is there?”
Rising from her seat, her mother walked over to the window, staring out at the busy street. “I suppose there is none.”
Worry creeping into her heart, Anna eyed her mother’s turned back. “Are you all right, Mother?”
“Yes.” Wringing her hands, her mother turned to look at her, a forced smile on her lips. “It’s just such an awful story. I am sorry you have to go through this. I−”
A loud bang echoed over from the front hall.
“Father is here!” Anna jumped up, her feet carrying her out the door before her mother could finish the sentence. Just short of running, Anna rushed across the hall to her father’s study. After a quick knock, she opened the door the second her father bid her to enter.
“Anna?” His eyebrows went up. “I didn’t know you were back in London. Is everything all right? You look rather flustered.”
Coming to stand before his desk, Anna drew in a deep breath to calm her nerves. “I need to speak with you. It is rather urgent. Do you have a moment?”
A concerned frown on his face, her father gestured for her to take a seat. “What on earth has happened?”
And for the second time that day, Anna told the story of Mr. Lloyd’s betrayal. “And when we went to confront him, we found him gone.”
“Gone?” Rubbing his hands over his face, her father blinked as beats of sweat popped up on his forehead. “What do you mean gone?”
“He left, Father. He packed his things and left in the middle of the night.”
Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, her father dabbed his forehead. “And do you know where he went? Surely, your husband has some way of finding him.”
“He is looking, but so far he has not sent word.” Eyeing her father curiously, Anna wondered at his own rather flustered state. “Father, are you all right?”
“Me?” For a second his eyes went wide, then, laughing, he waved her concerns away. “Oh, don’t worry about me. It was simply a stressful day down at the docks. Another ship came in just yesterday, and I have a lot of work to do.”
“Really?” Anna couldn’t help but wonder. “But you only seemed to get agitated after you heard my telling of Mr. Lloyd’s betrayal.”
“Nonsense, child,” her father insisted, his eyes refusing to meet hers. “I am merely shocked that a man of such questionable character has been in the duke’s employ.” He nodded vigorously. “Yes, the mere thought that you might have been in danger is just horrifying. Any parent would feel the same way. After all you’re my…daughter.”
Although his explanation was perfectly reasonable, Anna’s eyes still narrowed. “I’m sorry to have alarmed you, Father,” she said, seeing the relief over her acceptance of his explanation clearly on his face.
Something was definitely wrong! What was her father hiding? Did he know anything of Mr. Lloyd’s whereabouts?
“I actually came here,” Anna began, her eyes carefully watching her father’s every move. “Because I meant to ask for your assistance in locating Mr. Lloyd. Certainly, you are well-connected. Can you not make enquiries?”
For a moment, her father’s features went rigid before a relieved smile once more drew up the corners of his mouth. “Certainly. After dinner, I shall head down to my office and have David make enquiries. I am sure something will turn up.”
“Thank you, Father.” As Anna rose from her chair, her father returned his attention to the papers on his desk. She turned to go then, but stopped when she had reached the door…and looked back.
Gazing out the window, her father sat leaning back in his chair, fingers steepled. A smile lit up his face; a smile that froze the blood in Anna’s veins for her father’s smile did not speak of happiness or joy, but rather of triumph and victory. It was a dark smile. A smile born out of the misfortune of others.
And Anna knew she had seen it before.
If she could only remember when.
***
When Anna returned home in the late afternoon, Edmond was still gone. He had sent a quick message, saying that he had had no luck so far but had enlisted the help of the Bow Street runners. Disappointed, Anna went to bed early, her father’s reaction still playing before her eyes.
Sleep wouldn’t come that night, and Anna tossed and turned until faint footsteps echoed through the closed door. Jumping up, she drew on her robe, then without knocking pulled open the door to her husband’s bedchamber. “Any news?”
Looking up with weary eyes, Edmond shook his head. “I’m afraid not.” Stepping toward her, he drew her hands in his, an exhausted smile playing on his lips. “Were you waiting for me? Or for news of Mr. Lloyd?”
Smiling, Anna reached up and cupped a hand to his face, feeling a slight stubble under her fingertips. “Can it be both?”
Yawning, he nodded.
“Go to bed,” Anna whispered. “We will talk in the morning.” Then she stepped back, ready to close the door behind her, when his hand shot out, holding her back.
Drawing her into his arms, he skimmed a finger down her cheek, gazing into her eyes. “I missed you today.”
Touched by his words, Anna smiled. “I missed you too.” Then she raised herself on her toes, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and wished him a good night. Before the door fell closed behind her, she heard him sink into his mattress, a deep yawn echoing through the dark room.
Returning to her own bed, Anna drew the covers around herself, feeling her eyelids droop. Relieved, she closed her eyes, willing sleep to take her, freeing her from the never ending array of questions her mind could not stop asking.
Although sleep did come, it was far from restful. Dreams claimed her, pulling her under and drawing images before her eyes she had long since forgotten. One such image formed slowly as though it was incomplete.
Anna found herself in her parents’ house, walking down the staircase to the entry hall. Her hand sliding down the rail beside her, she craned her neck, glancing into the ground floor, trying to spot her sister. They were to spend the day outside in the gardens. Looking down, Anna found a picnic basket in her other hand, her favourite doll securely fastened to its lid.
A little surprised, Anna realised that the memory she was reliving had found her from many years in the past.
When she found the drawing room to be empty, Anna decided to visit her father and ask if he had seen Judith.
Stepping up to the double doors of the study, Anna found one to be ajar. Leaning forward, she peeked through the small gap.
Sitting behind his desk was her father, a sneer on his face, narrowed eyes focused on a rather thin, immaculately dressed man, standing before him. While her father seemed completely at ease, triumphant really, the other man was ashen-faced, his hands trembling as he hung his head as though it was too heavy to hold up any longer.
Although affection and family ties should have dictated otherwise, Anna’s little heart went out to the trembling man, who had such misery edged into his eyes that Anna looked at her own father in shock.
Her little hands trembled as she retreated from the door, then turned and ran…the picnic all but forgotten.
When the memory finally released her, Anna shot upright in bed, her heart pounding in her chest. At first confused, she looked about her room, dim starlight shining in through the windows, and remembered where she was.
Catching her breath, she wiped the sleep out of her eyes, trying to hold on to the last shreds of her dream. She closed her eyes, and a shiver went over her as the scene in her father’s study appeared once more in her mind. Only too well did she remember the dark feeling that had come over her upon witnessing her father’s disdain for the well-being of others. It had been the first time in her life that she had realised that the kind man her father was in her presence was but one of many facets he harboured within himself.
Shaking her head to rid herself of these troubling thoughts, Anna felt a new coldness spread over her when time flew onward and she once again found herself standing outside her father’s study, overhearing a conversation between her father and another man. It had been the night before her sister’s wedding. That day she had not seen the man’s face, who had found himself at the lower end of her father’s mercy, but she had heard his voice, and remembered well the disgust it had held for her father.
Slowly, both memories began to merge, shifting into one another, each adding what the other lacked. Until she saw the truth as clear as day.
The other man had been Mr. Lloyd.
For a reason that first eluded her, Mr. Lloyd had been in her father’s study, at least twice, and whatever they had discussed had turned Mr. Lloyd’s stomach upside down. The look on his face as well as the tone of his voice clearly told her that he was the victim in this affair. Her father had the upper hand, exacting the power he had over him in whichever way he liked.
What had her father done? Did he have anything to do with Mr. Lloyd’s betrayal? With the money being stolen?
The money.
Anna froze, remembering the monthly withdrawals as well as the lost investments adding up to the sum of her dowry. Tears came to her eyes when realisation dawned, and she could do nothing but to look truth in the eye…as ugly as it was.
If Edmond found out, he would never forgive her.
Breaking down into tears, Anna sank back into the covers. In the back of her head though, a tiny voice still whispered, why?