Amelia and Bartley watched as John never moved from his spot. They tried to engage him in conversation, but he didn't pay them any attention. Bartley nodded towards the door. If they left one at a time, he might not even notice they had left. They had to look inside the room.

Except, they forgot about the constables guarding the door. No one was entering the room. Inspector Grimshaw had given him permission to arrest anyone, no matter their rank, who tried to gain entry.

"I don't really fancy a night in the police cells, do you, Lady Amelia?" Bartley smiled as he escorted Amelia back downstairs. Despite the circumstances, Bartley found a small amount of pleasure in spending more time with Amelia.

"I do hope Henrietta is coping. What if it was a kidnapping? Someone might see her as an easy way to get money from the duke. He would surely want the safe return of his bride-to-be, but the scandal might ruin him. What do you think, Lord Swinford?"

Bartley stopped to consider what she said. "I suppose it is a possibility. Shall we look around outside? Perhaps we will find something that the police missed.”

"We'd have nothing to lose by looking around, I suppose,” said Amelia, although a little hesitant.

They didn’t want to alarm John, so Andrews was quiet as he retrieved their coats. They snuck outdoors with two servants, who offered their help.

Amelia tried to piece together a plan, trying to imagine what one of the protagonists would do in the mystery novels she had read. Her first concerns were with finding Henrietta, but she was experiencing a slight thrill at being able to solve this mystery.

If it was indeed a kidnapping, her question was, how had they coerced, or even taken, Lady Henrietta from her room? And why wasn't there any ransom note? Perhaps the earl's suggestion of a secret passageway was true. Maybe Henrietta had discovered the passage and was stuck. The thought of her friend being scared in a dark secret passageway nearly brought tears to her eyes. Henrietta’s fear of the dark would have made the situation even more frightening. Amelia was determined to get to the bottom of this.

The snowfall was beautiful, and Amelia would have been delighted with the scene, being it was so close to Christmas. But because her mind was focused on the important task at hand, she had hardly noticed the breathtaking trails of white the snowflakes were leaving across the dark sky.

When their investigation didn’t turn up any clues to Henrietta’s disappearance, Amelia headed to the front door to return to the warmth of the house. Bartley thought a piece to the puzzle was still missing, so he questioned Lady Amelia.

"Does Lady Henrietta know anyone along these streets? Anyone she may have called upon?"

"Goodness, no. And if she did, she would never call upon acquaintances unannounced at this hour. And if she was leaving, she would have extended an invitation to me or at least told me about her plans.”

"The timing may seem off, but I wonder if you’d considered the possibility of me calling upon you sometime?" For once, the usually confident Bartley, seemed a little shy in his demeanor. "I mean, we are out alone. Would that not mean we are practically engaged?" He laughed and tried to recover his confidence.

Amelia was not amused. "Lord Swinford, this is certainly not the time, and we are certainly not alone. Our carriage driver and Lucille have been within a safe distance, so my honor is intact.” Amelia softened her tone, “But I am not against you calling upon me. After we find Lady Henrietta, of course."

She was grateful for the cover of night that could cover her flushed cheeks.

"You have made me very happy. And, I will find your friend. That, I promise you. Now, shall we return to the house?"

As they warmed up by the fire, Amelia and the Bartley stole glances at each other. The duke was sitting by the fire now, but he didn't seem to notice that they had even left the room, let alone the building.

Andrews had brought blankets and pillows; no one was going to bed. They settled in the drawing room for the rest of the night.

There was a harsh knock on the door that woke everyone up. Sleep had descended upon them despite their fears and upsets of Lady Henrietta's disappearance. Andrews announced the arrival of Inspector Grimshaw, who had resumed the search at first light.

"Your Grace, I wish to examine the bedroom now that we have daylight."

John just nodded as Amelia and Bartley followed the inspector upstairs.

The inspector stopped in front of Henrietta’s door and addressed Bartley and Amelia, "My Lord, my Lady, I wonder if you could leave the investigation work to the police. Could you kindly return to the drawing room?"

"But inspector, I would like to freshen up. May I use my room?" Lady Amelia asked as Bartley walked away, disappointed to be dismissed so easily.

"Certainly, my Lady, I don't see any problem with that."

Lucille was in Amelia's room.

"Lucille, did you manage to find anything out from the policeman?"

"Not a lot ma'am. He does say Inspector Grimshaw is very thorough in his work. He did hear the inspector say he was concerned for Lady Henrietta's safety especially as they had no clues," Lucille said as she lay out fresh clothes for her Ladyship.

"Hmm, I wonder. I do think the answer lies in the bedroom. I wonder if there's anything to Lord Swinford's idea of a secret passage. Lucille, will you fetch the earl for me?" If the earl could find the plans, then they may be able to help Henrietta.

As Lucille was leaving, Amelia couldn't help overhearing the inspector and his policemen talking about looking around the back of the house They wanted to inspect the carriage house and stables. She peeked out her door, and seeing there was no one on duty at the door, took the opportunity to sneak into Henrietta's room. It belied the events of the past evening.

"What secrets are you hiding?" She said as she looked around the room, wondering how Henrietta had spent her last moments. There was nothing odd or out of place in any way. It was very strange.

She sat in the chair that seemed to be placed at an awkward angle. She was going to move the chair, but as the morning sun bounced off the mirror, she sat down to see the room as Henrietta had. She too was intrigued with the placement of the mirrors on opposite walls. As she looked at the reflection of the mirror behind her, something caught her eye.

"My goodness. Well, I never…" Lady Amelia stood up and traced her fingers over beautiful carvings on the mirror. She noticed markings that seemed invisible to the eye, but were obvious when light bounced from one mirror to the other. The wall began to move.

Amelia’s heart began to race. What could have caused this? She wished that wasn’t alone, but this might be her only chance to find her friend.

"Henrietta, are you there?" she called out, but there was no reply.

"I need something to prop this open," she said to herself as she looked around and grabbing a fireplace poker from the fireplace, wedged the wall open. It was dark, and she lit a lamp as she prepared to find Henrietta. To stifle her fear, she imagined the excitement of making the discovery and returning Henrietta to her beloved, John. She could tease Bartley that she was the superior mind, although he was quite correct in figuring out there was a secret passageway.

The dark hallway felt damp and eerie, but she forced herself to continue down the path because she knew it had to lead to Henrietta. The light from her lamp illuminated a staircase just ahead. Taking her time, she slowly descended the stairs and saw her friend lying on the ground. She quickened her pace down the remaining stairs.

"Henrietta!" she screamed as she knelt beside her friend. Amelia listened for her breath, and was relieved to see Henrietta’s chest rising and falling. She was still alive, but unconscious.

Amelia slowly lifted Henrietta’s head into her lap, and noticed a nasty gash to her head. She offered up a silent prayer to God, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Meanwhile, Lucille had returned upstairs, and seeing her mistress was missing, and the door to Lady Henrietta's room was ajar, she went inside calling for Lady Amelia. Lucille gasped as she saw what appeared to be a hole in the wall and ran towards it.

"Lady Amelia, did you find Lady Henrietta," Lucille ran to the wall but tripped on the fireplace poker, dislodging it and kicking it into the darkness before her.

She wiped herself down as she gathered herself.

Lady Amelia called to her, "Lucille, whatever you do, don't move the poker."

But it was too late. The wall had closed as Lucille, disorientated from going from light to dark, slipped down the stairs just as Amelia pulled Henrietta out of harm's way.

“Lucille, are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“I am not hurt, m’lady. I didn’t mean to kick the poker. I just didn’t see it, and…”

"Lucille, please calm down. I am not upset; it was an accident,” Amelia said as she consoled Lucille. “Now, please stay with Lady Henrietta while I see if I can find a way out of here.”

Amelia went back up the stairs to see if there was any way to open the door, but she couldn’t find a handle, and she couldn’t make the door budge. They were trapped.

“Lucille, were you able to find Lord Swinford? With his background in architecture, maybe he will be able to find a way out of here. That is, if he follows up on his secret passage theory.”

“No, m’lady. Mr. Andrews said he left.”

Amelia couldn't allow herself to feel defeated. Her friend needed immediate medical attention, and she would not let her down. She walked back up the stairs, searching the wall of any sort of lever or clue that could help her open the door. When she was nearly at the top of the staircase, she noticed a noticed a tunnel. It had to lead somewhere, she figured, and a calm head was required.

"Lucille, I need to take the lamp and see where this leads. I won't go too far," she had caught sight of the look of alarm on Lucille's face.

"M’lady, I'm afraid of the dark," she whispered.

"But I need you to stay with Lady Henrietta, in case she comes too. Please, Lucille, I need you to put your fears aside. It's the only way we'll get out of this. I don't know how long the light will last," her appeal worked, and Lucille nodded.

Amelia followed the path of the tunnel. Her chest tightened as the tunnel seemed to narrow. It was difficult to catch her breath. She stepped forward cautiously, as she heard Lucille singing a child's lullaby. Who was going to find them? Was this their fate? She felt overwhelmed and with her eyes filled with tears, slipped, and she dropped the lamp.

She was in darkness.