Rosalind did not immediately see Lord Standen as she entered the library. She was aware only of her guardian standing across from her, looking handsome and grim, his hands clasped behind his back. What now? she thought as she felt her heart begin to beat uncomfortably.
"What is it, my lord?" she asked coldly, and caught sight of Lord Standen at the same moment. She looked inquiringly at him.
"Rosalind," Raymore said sternly, "your cousin disappeared more than two hours ago. She is with Nigel Broome, we believe. Do you know anything of her whereabouts?"
Her eyes widened. "I noticed she had not returned," she said. "I have been worrying."
"But that does not answer the question," Raymore said. "If you know where she is, you must tell us."
"I do not know." she protested. "How should I?"
He strode across the room until he stood before her. He took her chin in his hand and raised it until she could not escape staring directly into his eyes. His touch was not gentle. "I know you resent my authority," he said. She noticed that his eyes were like blue ice chips. "But you must understand that Sylvia's reputation and perhaps her safety are very much at stake. You must tell me what you know. Now!"
"I am not a foolish girl, my lord," she blazed, grasping the wrist of the hand that held her chin. "Of course I do not know where Sylvia is. Do you imagine that I have helped her plan some escapade, perhaps even an elopement? You cannot know me very well."
His grip tightened. His lips became a thin line.
Lord Standen broke the tension. "Miss Dacey," he said, "I must believe you. I have the highest regard for your good sense. But please think. Perhaps you know something without realizing it. Does your cousin have a favorite place where she might have gone?"
Rosalind thought. "No, I know of none," she said. "Are you sure that she has not run away, perhaps returned to London or even Raymore Manor? She is a rather impulsive girl and can change her affections quite rapidly."
Standen flushed. "You mean she may be running from me?" he asked stiffly. "I think it hardly likely, ma'am. I can offer her all the worldly goods she can want and she has been well-received here by my mother. I can only believe that some accident has befallen them."
"Have you checked the stables, Standen, to see if any horses or carriages have been taken?" Raymore asked. "I cannot imagine how I did not think of doing so myself."
"Has anyone been down to the lake?" Rosalind asked. "Would they have gone there?"
It was agreed that Standen would go to the stables and Raymore to the lake. Rosalind begged to go with him, but he very firmly refused. She was forced to return to the ballroom, smiling sociably as she returned to the sofa that she had occupied for most of the evening. She was confiding to Sir Bernard what had happened when Standen joined them, smiling easily.
"There is no horse or carriage missing," he said. "I am afraid that I shall have to remain here, as the ball will be ending within the hour. I do not wish anyone else to know what has happened. I informed Mrs. Evanston a moment ago that Lady Marsh has been forced to retire with a headache." He smiled and moved away to solicit the hand of a neighbor's wife for the set that was forming.
"That is a cool customer," Sir Bernard murmured to Rosalind. "I would wager that it will not go well for the little Sylvia when she is finally found. Propriety comes before all else in Standen's book."
"Yes," Rosalind agreed, "but I cannot help agreeing that a scandal should be averted if at all possible."
"Have they eloped, do you think?" Sir Bernard asked.
"You mean hired a carriage somewhere else?" she asked. "I fear it. From the start she has been more attached to Nigel than to his lordship, I believe, though I did not suspect love."
She was feeling almost frantic by the time the Earl of Raymore reappeared in the ballroom when some of the guests were already taking their leave. He did not cross the room to her, but she did contrive to catch his eye. He shook his head imperceptibly.
Almost another hour had passed before a search party could be organized. By that time all the outside guests had left. Lord Standen had decided that he must enlist the help of all the men of the house party, and some of the servants. Inevitably, the whole household knew the story before much time had elapsed. The ladies gathered in the drawing room and ordered tea. The men began to search, on foot and on horseback. Even Rosalind rode out with Sir Bernard after Raymore had left and could not object. One servant was dispatched to the village to inquire discreetly whether any vehicle or horse had been hired during the night.
When dawn was already lightening the eastern sky, several members of the search party had gathered despondently in the main hallway. There did not seem to be anywhere else to search.
"Come, Axby," Mr. Morrison said wearily, "let us go down to the lake. It should be easier now to see any sign with daylight coming."
"I searched there earlier," Raymore said. "I walked the bank in both directions as far as I could go. But go again. Perhaps I missed something. The boat was still safely tied up by the bank."
"Boat?" Rosalind queried. "You mean boats, my lord. There are two."
He blanched as he looked into her frantic eyes. "There was one at the bank," he said.
All who were gathered in the hallway made immediately for the doorway. Rosalind, feeling sick with apprehension, also rushed forward. Raymore stopped her.
"No," he said firmly. "You must stay here."
"I must go," she cried. "Oh, do not be cruel. I cannot wait here. Please! I must come."
He caught her by the arms and looked earnestly into her face. "You must stay here," he said. "If you walk all that way, you will hurt yourself and be an invalid. Then you will be of no use to anyone. You may be needed. As soon as we find out something, I shall send someone running back to inform you. Now, promise me you will stay."
"Yes," she whispered, mesmerized by his eyes. "Bring her back safe, Edward."
He squeezed her arms and after a moment's hesitation kissed her softly on the forehead. Then he was gone.
The growing daylight helped the search party find the missing boat within the next hour. They found it overturned, knocking against the bank one mile away from the place where the other was moored.
"They might have swum to shore too," Mr. Morrison said hopefully. "Can Lady March swim, Raymore?"
"I have no idea," the earl replied. He was feeling physically sick. She was dead! They would find her body some time during the day, perhaps by dragging the bottom of the lake.
"But Nigel can," Lord Standen was saying, "and has swum in this lake many times. As children we got more than one strapping from our father by challenging each other and swimming to the island."
"Could they be on the island, Standen?" Sir Bernard Crawleigh asked, shading his eyes and peering across the water.
"It seems a sensible place to start," Mr. Morrison replied. "Let us look there first, George, and then organize a thorough search of the banks."
The Earl of Raymore and Lord Standen jumped into the dry boat and the latter rowed them across the water toward the small cluster of trees that made up the island.