It had been a long and exhausting night. Laura had barely slept a wink, worrying about Elouise and fretting over both what she had seen and what she had said. At the Duke’s insistence, she had left Elouise alone until the morning, allowing her to either sleep or to come to Laura’s door, should she need her. However, as dawn broke and the sun began to stream towards the house, Laura felt her urgency begin to grow.

She was desperate to speak to Elouise, desperate to explain to her that what she had seen meant only that Laura and the Duke cared for one another but that it did not mean they did not care for her. She wanted to tell her that the Duke had only good things planned for her, that she would have a happy future here and that, in the end, it would be Laura who would be returning to the orphanage and leaving them both behind here.

Swallowing her tears, Laura paced up and down her bedchamber, ignoring the breakfast tray that had been brought in only a few minutes before. She didn’t want to leave this place and certainly didn’t want to leave the Duke, but the thought of never returning to the other girls at the orphanage, the ones who she knew would be waiting for her to return, was more than she could bear. She had promised them that she’d come back, had promised them all that they would not be without her for too long. There was simply nothing else she could do, knowing that she both could not and would not turn her back on them now for the sake of her own personal happiness.

The Duke, of course, had not been thrilled to know that this was how Laura was thinking, even though he seemed to understand. That kiss they had shared was one that Laura knew she would never forget, even as tears came to her eyes at the memory of it. It had been the moment when she’d felt the Duke come into her heart completely, knowing that he would never be removed. Whatever happened, Laura knew that she would always love him with everything she had. She would always love him, always have a deep, abiding affection that could never be taken away. No matter what happened and even if she never saw him again in her life, that love would linger on in her heart.

How painful it was to know that she would be separated from him for good – and by her own choice also! If there was a way to be with both the Duke and her girls then, of course, she would accept it readily, but she simply could not see a way forward for such a thing to occur. She was resigned, therefore, to simply doing her best for Elouise and then departing back to London, back to Smithfield Market and back to the orphanage. It was what she had to do.

One hour later and, thinking that Elouise must be sleeping late, Laura knocked quietly on the door, expecting to find the maid within.

The door was locked.

Frowning, she turned the door handle again, not understanding why it should be so. There had always been a key in Elouise’s door but Elouise had been under strict instructions not to lock it and, thus far, had not done so. There had been no need for her to do so, given that Laura herself was just next door and the maid was required to come in and out at any given time. Laura had always trusted Elouise and had found her trust to be well given, since the girl had never done something like this before – but now, Laura realized, in her state of upset, Elouise must have chosen to lock her bedchamber door tight so that Laura could not get in.

Rapping gently, Laura let out a long breath and leaned her forehead against the door. “Elouise?” she called, quietly. “Elouise, please. You must open this door now. Come along.”

There was no response.

“Elouise!” Laura called again, a little more firmly. “None of this nonsense. Open the door. There are some things we must talk about.”

Again, there came no reply other than the quietness that wrapped itself around Laura’s soul. She felt herself quiver with a sudden fear, her heart beating painfully.

“Oh, Miss Smith!”

Laura turned to see Elouise’s assigned maid coming towards her, a slightly pinched expression on her face.

“Do you have the key, Miss Smith?” the maid continued, without waiting for Laura to greet her. “I cannot seem to get in this morning and thought it might be because you needed her to get a bit extra sleep or some such thing.”

Laura shook her head, biting her lip painfully. “No,” she said after a moment. “No, I have not locked this door. I believe Elouise must have done so herself.” She heard the maid’s quick intake of breath and looked at her again, her stomach fluttering. “Does the housekeeper have another key?”

The maid bobbed and turned on her heel without so much as a word, her steps quick as she hurried back along the corridor in search of the housekeeper. Laura, having nothing else to do other than wait, stood quietly outside Elouise’s door, knocking intermittently in the hope that Elouise would eventually decide to come and answer it. She did not know what had become of her charge, wondering if she was deliberately choosing to ignore Laura completely, simply to put fear into her heart, or whether she was somewhere in the room, curled into a tight ball as she sobbed. Either way, Laura simply wanted to get into the room so that she might be able to find Elouise, to hold her tight and say that everything she’d seen, everything she’d heard, had a simple explanation. She wanted to tell her just how much she loved her, in the same way that she loved the other girls at the orphanage, and that the Duke loved her too. She wanted to reassure her, to help her, to give her back the hope she’d lost by stumbling in on Laura and the Duke in the library last night.

Leaning her forehead against the door, Laura let out a long sigh, filled with regret.

“Elouise,” she whispered, one hand pressed flat against the door. “Please just open the door, my dear. There is so much I need to talk to you about.”

Silence met her ears in a deafening roar.

Tears filled Laura’s eyes as she waited, her worry filling her to capacity. The hurried sound of the maid’s footsteps brought her a modicum of relief, even more, the sound of keys jangling in her hand.

“This one, miss,” the maid said breathlessly, holding out the keys. “This one, the housekeeper says. She’s on her way up too, miss, just as soon as she gets the rest of the maids organized.”

“I’m sure her presence won’t be necessary,” Laura replied, with more belief than she felt. “Elouise is either sleeping heavily – for she was awake in the night – or she has decided to play some silly game of ‘hide and go-seek’ without informing me. She has done that before!” She tried to laugh as she turned the key in the lock but felt it stick in her throat. “Here we are then.”

Handing the keys back to the maid, she opened the door and stepped inside, surprised to find the room still shrouded in darkness. The heavy drapes were still over the windows and there was no fire in the grate.

Laura shivered as the cold air of the room nipped at her.

“I’d best get a fire going,” the maid muttered, hurrying towards it. “The little mistress will be cold once she gets up. The poor mite must be quite exhausted!”

Carefully making her way towards the window, Laura threw back the drapes and turned, with a bright smile on her face towards the bed, preparing to greet Elouise.

The words died in her throat. The bed was empty.

Elouise was gone.

“There we go, miss.”

The maid rose to her feet, wiping her hands on her apron. “A nice warm fire to keep the chill from the room. I know we’re nearing summer but still, the mornings can be very.....” Her words died away as she turned to see Laura staring at the empty bed, her face paling in shock. “But where is Miss Elouise?”

Laura shook her head, finding herself almost completely frozen in place.

“Where might she be?” the maid cried again, hurrying forward now and pulling back the bedsheets as though Elouise might be hiding underneath them. “She must be here somewhere.”

Knowing what the maid did not, Laura closed her eyes for a moment and steadied herself. Elouise was not hiding in the room, she was certain of it. The girl had taken herself off somewhere, in fear and upset, although where that might be, she could not say.

“Go and fetch the Duke.”

She looked at the maid who looked up and, after a moment, turned and hurried out of the room, leaving Laura alone.

Walking to the bed, Laura placed her hand on it and found it cold. Elouise had not been here in some time. Moving to the other side of the room, she found a discarded nightdress and, in pulling open the wardrobe, found some of Elouise’s clothes were gone. The girl had clearly decided to dress and then leave the room, locking the door tightly behind her.

“Oh, Elouise,” she whispered, her heart breaking. “Where have you gone?”

“Laura?”

She turned to see the Duke enter the room. His dark hair was sticking up in all manner of directions, his eyes wild with fear.

“She’s not here, Royston,” Laura whispered, as he wrapped her in his arms. “I don’t know what to do.”

He held her close for a moment and she leaned into him, letting his strength settle her fractious thoughts.

“We’ll find her,” he said, softly. “Can you trust me with that, Laura?”

Looking up at him, Laura saw the expression on his face and nodded jerkily, tears spilling from her eyes. “I am just so afraid. This is my fault, Royston.”

He grasped her upper arms tightly. “No,” he said, firmly, his head lowering just a little so that he might look into her face a little better. “No, Laura, this is not your fault. None of this is your fault. There was nothing wrong with what we did nor what Elouise saw. I think we were both rather flustered when she appeared and perhaps I spoke a little more firmly than I ought.” The fire in his eyes dimmed for a moment, regret tugging at his lips. “I did not think for one moment that she would.....”

Laura let out a shuddering breath, her lips twisting with the attempt not to let her tears fall. “We have to find her, Royston.”

“And we shall.” His hands drifted down her arms until they caught her hands, his head lowering to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. “We will find her, Laura, I promise. Can you trust me?”

Her eyes caught his as she nodded, and their lips met for just a moment, nothing more than a whisper caught between the two of them.

“Then go and tell Alice the news,” he said, gently, his breath tickling across her cheek. “I will assemble the staff and we will begin a thorough search of the grounds. Thank goodness it has not been raining and looks to be a fair day!”

Laura closed her eyes for a moment as tears spilled from her eyes, and felt the Duke’s hand brush across her cheek, capturing the moisture that had landed there.

“I will not lose another child,” he promised, fervently. “Now go. Find Alice and apprise her of what has happened. I will come and talk to you both once the staff has been sent out.

––––––––

Seven hours later and Laura and Alice were pacing the floor of the drawing room, having just completed a thorough search of the house in its entirety, assisted by the housekeeper and maids. The footmen had been organized by the Duke and the butler, who, along with the grounds men, gardeners and stable hands, had been sent out to search the grounds. It was to be a long search, for the grounds were extensive, and Laura felt a chill of fear wash through her as she waited for news of their return.

“It has been so long already,” she murmured, half to herself, “And they have still not returned with her.”

Alice threw herself down into a seat, her face paler than Laura had ever seen it. “I want to help further but I just do not know what to do.”

Laura nodded, feeling exactly the same way. “At least we know she is not in the house.”

A deep, fearful sigh left Alice’s lips as she nodded, her teeth worrying her lip. “Indeed,” she muttered, passing one hand over her eyes. “Which means that she is outside somewhere and soon, it will be getting dark.”

Trying not to give in to the fear that was already beginning to crowd her soul, Laura drew in a long, shuddering breath. It was by now late afternoon, for she had only discovered Elouise’s disappearance at ten o’ clock this morning, but she knew they still had some hours of daylight left. “I am sure Royston will find her before then,” she said, with as much confidence as she could muster, unable to even consider the thought that Elouise would be outside for another night, lost to them all. “Surely, there must be news of her soon.”

Alice choked back a sob, waving Laura away as she came to console her.

“I am quite all right,” she murmured, trying to remain as strong as she could. “I apologize, Miss Smith, I – ”

“Laura, please.”

A wan smile crossed Alice’s face. “Laura, then. I apologize, Laura for being such a watering pot when you are having to be so strong. That girl has become so dear to me these last few weeks that I can hardly bear to think of her out there alone. I just pray she is not injured!” Her eyes lifted to Laura’s, her lips trembling. “Why did she leave, do you think? What was her reason?”

A cloud of guilt surrounded Laura. “She stumbled across me and your brother, Lady Alice. I will not try to hide the truth from you, for it will come out eventually, although I pray you will not think ill of me. I care for your brother most deeply, but I have had to refuse his urging to remain here.  I do believe he will adopt Elouise.”

“But why?” Lady Alice exclaimed at once, looking almost hurt. “Why would you do such a thing when you care for him?”

“Because I must,” Laura replied, her throat aching. “There are twelve other girls at the orphanage who need me. I cannot simply toss them aside in favor of my own desires and longings.”

There was silence for a moment or two, which was then broken by the sound of Lady Alice sighing heavily.

“You are an extraordinary young lady, Laura,” she said, softly. “I would not have thought that anyone would turn down a Duke for the sake of a few orphaned girls, except that is what you are doing. You are putting their lives before your own. I think there is so much I could learn from you, Laura. I am only sorry that I will not be able to have the pleasure of your company for much longer.”

“I am sorry for that too,” Laura replied, honestly. “I have found your generosity and your kindness to be truly wonderful, Lady Alice. You have done so much for Elouise in particular and I know that she –” her throat ached all the more. “She will be very happy here, as I hope you will be also.”

Lady Alice was crying openly now, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I will miss Elouise dreadfully, as I will miss you, this house and of course, the Duke himself,” Laura continued, trying to get the words out and finding it increasingly difficult to do so. “But I have many wonderful memories now and, perhaps one day, we might be able to meet again. Thank you for everything you have done, Lady Alice. You have truly changed my life for the better.”

Lady Alice pulled herself out of her chair and embraced Laura, who felt tears spill down her cheeks unhindered. Together, they wept as they embraced, feeling their friendship strengthen all the more.

“I shall miss you terribly,” Lady Alice whispered, stepping back but keeping a hold of Laura’s hand. “How sad I am that things should not be as I had hoped between yourself and my brother. He will be a lesser man without you.”

Laura wept all the harder, her emotions almost tearing her apart.

“But I understand your reasons for returning,” Lady Alice finished, her own voice wobbling terribly. “You have a good heart, Laura, and even though Elouise might not understand what she saw, then I know that she will soon come to realize the truth of it. This is not your fault and not your doing, so you are not to take any of the blame on yourself, as I can see you are inclined to do.”

Laura nodded jerkily, her handkerchief now a sodden mess as she tried to stem the flow of tears. “Royston asked me to trust him, to trust that he will find Elouise and that is all I can do,” she said, hoarsely, suddenly forced to sit down in a chair given the weakness of her limbs. “I just pray to God that they find her soon.”