Page 51 of A Winter Scandal

“No. He’s not.”

Lolly scrambled out of bed and ran to the basket, then frantically searched the rest of the small chamber, babbling as she looked, “Matthew! Matthew! Oh, miss, where could he have gone?”

Thea’s mind was racing. Matthew could not have climbed out of his basket and crawled away. He had not even started crawling yet. And it was utterly absurd to think he could have opened the front door.

Clearly someone had entered the house and taken the baby.

Still, she had to make sure he was not in the house. Thea turned to Lolly, saying, “Check everywhere in the house. Look in any room he could have crawled into. I’m going for help.”

Thea hurried back to her room and threw a dress on over her night rail, thrust her bare feet into boots, and topped it all with her cloak. Grabbing a knitted cap and gloves, she spared a moment to check with Lolly.

“No, miss. I’ve checked them all!” Tears stained the girl’s face. “Except the master’s room, of course, but his door’s closed. Oh, miss, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what could have happened!”

“I have a fairly good idea. If I am right, Matthew is warm and safe enough, I think. But I will need help to get him back. You keep searching, just in case. I shall return as soon as I can.”

“But, miss, it’s snowing!”

“I know.”

Thea ran downstairs. In the kitchen, she lit the lantern, tugged on her gloves and cap, pulled up the hood of the cloak, and took off into the night.

The moon and lantern gave her light enough to see her way, but the snow was falling harder now, making it difficult to see any distance in front of her. Fortunately, the path was as familiar to Thea as the village. She had grown up playing with her siblings around the church and old convent grounds.

The bridge was a little slick, as was the flagstone path to the church, but once she turned off through the graveyard, the dirt path was not slippery despite the snow, and Thea took it at a fast pace, breaking into a trot whenever she could. Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in rapid spurts. She barely noticed the cold, but the trip seemed endless. After she passed the ruins, the landscape was less familiar, almost devoid of landmarks in the white storm, but she could still make out the narrow path immediately in front of her by the light of her lantern. It was eerie out here alone in the dark, with the snow falling around her, and for one panicky moment she felt disoriented and was afraid that she had strayed from the path.

But then she saw the dark bulk of the Priory ahead, and she rushed on with a renewed effort. When she reached the door, she crashed the brass door knocker against its plate with all her force, beating out a determined tattoo. She did not wait for someone to open the door, but reached out and pulled at the handle. Unfortunately, unlike her own front door, someone had locked it, and she could not make it budge. She returned to beating on the door until suddenly it swung open to reveal an astonished-looking footman, obviously roused from his bed.

Thea pushed past him, still carrying her lantern, and ran to the foot of the stairs, screaming, “Gabriel! Gabriel! I need your help!”

With the sound of pounding footsteps, in the next moment Gabriel appeared at the top of the stairs. His hair was tangled, and he was shirtless and barefoot.

“Thea!” He ran down the steps, pulling on his shirt as he came. “What happened? What’s the matter?”

“He’s taken Matthew!”

“What? Who—” He stopped on the bottom step, just above her. “The devil! Rawdon? He’s taken Matthew?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t see it, but it must be he! I woke up and the front door was ajar and Matthew was missing! Someone came in and took him. And Lord Rawdon said—”

“That he should take his son away from me,” Gabriel finished grimly. “I’ll kill the bastard.” He turned and pointed to the footman. “Get my curricle brought around. Immediately!” Gabriel swiveled back to face Thea, taking her hand in both his. “Don’t worry. We shall get him back. I promise you. I’ll just go dress, and we’ll leave as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.” For the first time since she had found Matthew missing, Thea relaxed, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

Gabriel turned and ran back up the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he reached the top of the stairs, Ian and his wife appeared, wrapped in their dressing gowns, babbling questions.

“The baby’s missing. I have to go.” Gabriel pushed past them.

“What! What’s happening?” Emily exclaimed, and they moved out of Thea’s sight, following Gabriel down the hall.

She could still hear their voices, though she could not make out the words—the rapid flood of questions and Gabriel’s terse replies, Emily’s voice rising rather hysterically until finally Ian snapped at her to shut up. After that the woman began to cry, and all the voices quieted, followed by the sound of doors closing. In a few moments, Gabriel appeared again, dressed and booted now, though he had not bothered with a neckcloth. He was shrugging into his overcoat as he came.

“Gabriel, wait!” Ian came to the top of the stairs. “You can’t just go storming over there!”

“The hell I can’t.”

“But you don’t know what’s happened. You don’t know that it is Rawdon who took this child. You don’t even know where the baby is.”

“Who else would it be?” Gabriel countered. “I’ll tell you what I do know: Rawdon said he would have his son, and now Matthew is gone. And I’m going to the inn to get Matthew back.”