Kendra didn’t know what to say to that, didn’t know what to think. Was there still hope? A dark seed had taken root inside her, strangling any confidence that she might have over Rose’s fate. It left her feeling sick and shaken.
The coach clattered to a stop in the stable yard. Kendra didn’t wait for the footman to lower the steps, but threw open the door and hopped down onto the gravel. At least twenty men with lanterns milled around the area. She spotted Alec immediately in the center of the throng, his figure distinguished by his finer clothing—a sharp contrast from the roughly dressed men around him—and his air of authority.
As she watched, she had an eerie feeling of familiarity. This is the same. Not the clothing and hairstyles, of course. And there were no powerful LED flashlights, no dizzying strobes from nearby police cars, no thumping of blades from sleek helicopters as they circled the sky, their lights piercing the ground in an aerial search. There were no television crews or reporters covering the search, peppering her with impatient questions from behind the barricades.
But she saw the same terrible fear etched on the faces of the crowd; the same pungent odor of desperation and urgency; the same dread filling their gazes as they worried about what they might find at the end of their search. The accouterments of humanity may change, but its heartbeat remained the same.
Before Kendra had set out, Rebecca had insisted that she don what was called a spencer—basically, a jacket with a high neckline and long sleeves. The design reminded her a little of a modern-day shrug, because the material ended just below the breastbone, leaving the skirt of her gown exposed. Yet the jacket was no match for the chill of the night air, which easily penetrated the woven cotton and wafted up her skirt. She had to clench her jaw to prevent her teeth from chattering.
Alec spotted them. He finished giving instructions, then he and Sam shouldered their way through the crowd. Alec’s eyes were fixed on Kendra, intense.
“Did you learn anything?” he asked as soon as the two pairs met.
“No,” Aldridge answered. “The vicar was in the vicinity. Miss Donovan believes he had enough time to snatch the maid. I, however, am not so certain.”
“What of Morland and Dalton?”
Aldridge shook his head. “Neither were home.”
“We will need to have their whereabouts verified,” Kendra said, crossing her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to retain her body heat. “What’s happening here?”
“We have sent out the hunting dogs, hoping to pick up the maid’s scent. And Mr. Kelly and I rode out personally to nearby hunting lodges. There was no sign of the girl. No sign of any recent occupation.”
“The lass seems ter have vanished.”
The lass. The girl. The maid.
“She has a name,” Kendra snapped, turning on the Bow Street Runner. Her anger was irrational, she knew, but it filled her like helium expanding a balloon. “She has an identity. She’s not Jane Doe. Rose. Her name is Rose. She wants to be a lady’s maid someday. She . . . she . . .” Her breath hitched. Appalled, Kendra could feel hot tears surge into her throat. She pressed her face into her hands, as taken by surprise by the unexpected emotion as the men staring at her.
Alec made a low sound, and moved forward. Kendra stiffened for just a second when he took her into his arms, but didn’t move away, trembling so hard she might shatter.
“We know,” he murmured. “We shall find her, I promise you.”
But will she be alive? Kendra wanted to ask. But she doubted if she’d be able to formulate a sentence at the moment, and that shook her even more. She wasn’t the kind of person who lost control like this.
That reminder had her straightening, pulling away, already ashamed at her weakness—though she missed Alec’s warmth. Without it, her body temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
“I still need to interview Thomas. He’s the last person to have seen Rose . . .” Alive. The word was on the tip of her tongue. “Before she disappeared,” she said.
“Thomas ain’t around,” Sam told her. “He’s helping with the search. He said that the lass . . . that Rose gave him some bread and cheese when he came ter the kitchen earlier.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Aye. He didn’t see anything.”
“I still want to interview him.”
“Not tonight,” Aldridge said firmly. “I have no intention of letting you freeze to death out here in the stable yard, Miss Donovan.”
“Mr. Kelly and I will continue the search,” Alec said.
Aldridge nodded, “Very good. Come along, Miss Donovan. We must find Rebecca.”