Mantheria could simply be herself.
And so could Andrew.
She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her son all morning, and it was time for luncheon.Mantheria’s heart ached for him.He’d lost his father, and he badly needed friends of his own age.Andrew played with the children of the servants and tenants at Avalon, but not in London.It was not safe for Andrew to be out and about without a groom and his governess to keep watch over him.Before now, he’d enjoyed spending time with his cousins, but it was hard to be the eldest.Mantheria knew that all too well.Once Elizabeth was gone, she had no true companion.Her other sisters had seemed too young for her confidences and too badly behaved for her trust.
Checking the nursery, Mantheria was surprised that Andrew was not there.Nor were any of the toys he played with.She went back down the stairs to the main rooms and searched them one by one, but he was nowhere to be found.Tugging the cord, she waited impatiently for his governess to arrive.
Miss Robinson came into the parlor and curtsied to Mantheria.She was a no-nonsense sort of woman, with a stern face and scraped-back dark hair.“Was Your Grace needing something?”
“May I inquire where Andrew is?”
Blinking, Robinson glanced around the room.“You said that he didn’t have to attend lessons this week.So, he went to your room this morning, Your Grace.He told me that he wanted to spend time with you.I saw him enter and shut the door behind him.”
Mantheria’s room.She hadn’t looked there.“Thank you, Miss Robinson.I shall go and check there.”
“Perhaps I’ll look around the house, too, Your Grace.Just to be safe.Master Andrew has been mighty quiet lately, and we don’t want the little duke getting into any mischief.”
“No, we do not.”
Mantheria’s pulse was beating faster than usual as she climbed the stairs a second time and opened the door to her rooms.Andrew must have entered them right after she’d gone downstairs for breakfast.Many ladies received their breakfast in bed, but Mantheria preferred to eat with her son.Except he had not been there.She’d assumed that he was sulking.He hadn’t spoken one word to her yesterday after returning from a ride with his grandfather.
Swallowing convulsively, Mantheria glanced around her room and did not see her son.She walked quickly to her dressing room—he was not there either.She passed through the door to her sitting room—Andrew was nowhere to be seen.Mantheria walked around the sitting room and saw that there was a letter on her desk withMamascrawled on the front of it.
She picked it up and opened it.
Dearest Mama,
I will be cooped up no longer.I am going on an adventure.Do not worry.I am not running away for good.I shall come back soon, and I shan’t tell anyone that I am a duke—so they don’t kidnap me for a ransom.Not that I think that anyone would believe me anyway.I’m only eleven.
Love, Andrew
Her stomach churned, and a chill of horror ran down her spine.She looked around the room for a timepiece—it was nearly one o’clock.Her beloved son could have already been gone for hours.
If only she had searched for him sooner!
Mantheria had wrongfully believed that she was giving her son the space he needed to mourn.Swallowing a sob, Mantheria had failed everyone else that she’d loved, but she was not going to fail Andrew.She reread the letter to see if Andrew had given her any clues about his whereabouts.
Nothing.
Where did one go on an adventure?
Her father would have said Africa.Her sister Helen would say South America.Would her eleven-year-old boy attempt to go on a boat?If Andrew made it to the London docks, there were plenty of boats that hired cabin boys.But surely any captain worth his salt would not employ a lad dressed like Andrew.Her son would be wearing fine-linen clothes, real silver buttons on his coat, and custom-sewn boots.It would not take a genius to realize that he was the son of a wealthy family.
Truthfully, Mantheria would pay any ransom for her son.For Andrew, she would give away her entire fortune.He was her everything.
Clutching the letter, she forced herself to sit down at her desk.As much as she wanted to cry and scream and pull at her hair, none of these things would help her find her son.Mantheria picked up a piece of hot-pressed paper and then dipped her quill in ink.She would send letters to her brothers.There was a sour taste in her mouth, and her hands trembled a little as she wrote:
Dear Matthew,
Andrew has run away to go on an adventure.Would you and Nancy please search the London docks to make sure that he has not gotten on a ship?
Your sister,
Mantheria
Dipping her pen in again, she took out another sheet of paper.Her stomach roiled as she bent her neck.
Dear Wick,