The Vanishing at Loxby Manor, Abigail Wilson [best value ebook reader .TXT] 📗

His shoulders slumped. “Why does it matter now? She’s gone forever.”

“Piers and I believe the murderer had a different target in mind. Please, I need to hear what happened that night from yourperspective.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I was the last to arrive. Kendal was already getting nervous. He wanted to know how farwe were willing to go to ensure the race went in his favor. Avery was trying to calm him down. He told Avery he’d hired someonehe trusted not only to tamper with the other driver’s curricle but to ensure his victory as well.”

My eyes widened.

“We were never more shocked when that very person turned up dead.”

“You mean it was Miles that Lord Kendal hired?”

“So we all learned upon his death.”

My mind raced to make sense of the connection. After all, who would want to kill the very person hired to sabotage the race?And how did any of this relate to Hugh or Seline? “Go on. What else happened the night Seline disappeared?”

“We were all arguing about the importance of the race when Seline wandered into the circle and took a seat on the empty stonechair. For a moment I almost thought she was someone else.” He looked up at me. “But then she removed her hood. Avery sprangto his feet, ordering her back to the house, but she demanded to speak with Kendal first. We all knew of Kendal’s engagement.He’d told us at the start of the night. I thought that was why Seline had come. We all did. She pulled Kendal aside and theyhad one of their impassioned turn ups. The whole deuced affair was uncomfortable. I don’t even know what was said at the time,only Kendal stomped off angry.”

“You didn’t know at the time?”

“The meeting broke up; only we didn’t go home, not for a while. I met with Seline first. She was terribly upset. She thoughtshe could blackmail Kendal into marrying her. Apparently this wasn’t the first time she’d eavesdropped on one of our meetings.She knew about the sabotage and was planning to use it against Kendal. But his engagement was already announced in the papers.He couldn’t draw back. Her hands were permanently tied, and she knew it.

“I thought that would end things between them, that she’d finally fulfill the promise she made to me years ago. I startedto tell her that, but we were interrupted by Tony. He needed to talk to me about the race. He had questions about whetherwe could trust this anonymous person Kendal had hired. We all had far too much riding on the outcome, you see.

“Seline was so distraught, she wouldn’t go home. I told her to ride ahead to Rushridge and wait for me there. As soon as I was done with Tony, we could talk. She agreed—and I never saw her again.”

“What about Avery? Did you see him go straight home?”

“I cannot precisely recall. I did see him talk to Seline for a moment before she left. I assumed to encourage her to go home.”

I glanced up at Priscilla as I considered Avery’s role in all this. He had plans to marry a lady his parents didn’t approveof, one with no money or connections. He had been open about the society in the beginning, but was he only telling us whathe believed we already knew? Piers had been told about the Gormogons in Avery’s presence, and Seline was well aware of thenightly pursuits of the neighbors. I folded my hands in my lap, praying for wisdom. “I ask again, what was Avery’s loyaltypledge?”

Hugh ran his hand down his face. “I don’t remember precisely, something about his mother.”

“His mother?”

He flicked his fingers in the air. “He saw something a long time ago. It didn’t really make any sense to me.”

“Can I see it?”

“All the loyalty pledges are hidden at Kinwich Abbey . . . in the faceless statue.”

“Is that why you moved it?”

“The statue was to remind us of our commitment and what we would personally sacrifice for a better world.”

I narrowed my eyes. “This better world you speak of, what on earth did you hope to accomplish with this group?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the soldiers who’ve returned from war, desolate, starving. The Corn Laws will only further the devastation. When Kendal spoke of change in this country, I never knew the group had ultimate ties to France. We weren’t informed about that part, not until it was too late.” He glanced up. “And you should know they’ve got their sights on you as well.”

“Me?” I gasped.

“Well, not you exactly—your brother and his influence in Boston.”

“Arthur? Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a chemist. He has no time for political intrigue.”

Hugh looked away. “Don’t underestimate them, Charity.”

I bit my lip. “Will you come with me to Kinwich Abbey?”

“Tonight?”

“It has to be tonight. I don’t know who to trust, and I fear something terrible is going to happen. I need to see those loyaltypledges as soon as possible.”

Chapter 29

Mist had already begun forming in swirling clumps along the road, clinging to the base of the trees and gathering in the dipsof the earth. The remains of Kinwich Abbey stood in a meadow, flanked on one side by the River Sternway, the perfect breedingground for the ghostly dampened air.

Having dismounted our horses, Hugh and I trudged our way through the tall grass, the disturbed water droplets clinging toour clothes with each step as the fog grew ever thicker. Hugh pointed ahead, saying something about the abbey, but the hazemade over his words, muffling them, changing them, as if the hallowed ground demanded silence.

The ancient stones looked like black daggers plunging out of the earth, wrapped neatly in a gray veil. Hugh stalked straightfor the larger structure and I did my best to keep up. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was walking blind.

The center of the crumbling cloisters was strangely free of the thick mist as the five rock seats remained perfectly placedin the semicircle I remembered. I called out to Hugh