“Abducted?” Regina muttered. “But why would Brodie take that poor girl? He is a little wild, perhaps, but then again, he is a Kincade, and we’ve seen how unpredictable they are.”
Ashton scowled and took the letter from Joanna to read it again. As a baron, Ashton should have had the least influence among the League of Rogues, all of whom were members of the peerage, but due to his clever work in the financial markets, he had amassed wealth and power far in excess of his title. And when necessary, he had used that power and influence to do whatever was needed, especially when it came to dealing with Rafe’s actions.
“That bloody fool,” Ashton growled.
“Brodie?” Joanna asked.
“No, Rafe. I have a suspicion our brother is at the root of whatever trouble this is. He’s likely having a good laugh at Brodie’s expense.”
“But why abduct Lydia Hunt? She’s so sweet, and oh, Ash, we must tell Brock and Rosalind. They will know what to do about Brodie.”
“Know what to do about whom?” Rosalind, Ashton’s wife and Brock’s sister, said as she appeared in the doorway.
“It’s your brother, Brodie.” Ashton passed the letter to his wife. Rosalind began to read, and then after a moment, she slid onto the nearest settee and gazed at Ashton in clear confusion.
“I . . . I don’t understand. Who is this woman they say Brodie has taken? What could she have done to him?” Unlike her brothers, Rosalind’s brogue was not nearly as thick. She had been married to an older English gentleman a few years ago and had done her best to assimilate with London society before she’d been widowed. Yet there was still enough of the Scot in her, especially when she was upset, for the brogue to become more pronounced.
“Done to him? Lydia Hunt is a friend of mine. She’s the most wonderful girl. She wouldn’t do anything to Brodie to make him do this,” Joanna said.
Ashton spoke up. “Didn’t you say a few weeks ago that Portia Hunt had set her cap for Brodie?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Rosalind said. “I met the young woman at a party. She had heard rumors of my brothers, and rather than being scared off, she was intrigued. She inquired whether they were unattached. I informed her that Brock is married and Aiden was returning here with me. Only Brodie was to stay behind in Bath.”
Ashton began to pace around the drawing room. “I didn’t have a good feeling about Rafe leaving here so soon. I thought that a stay in the country would keep him out of mischief, but he was eager to return to Bath after just one week here. He must have had a hand in this somehow.”
“Where do you suppose they would go?” Joanna asked.
Rosalind considered the question. “There’s our townhouse in Edinburgh, but Lady Rochester said they had not arrived there. I’m certain they won’t come here,” Rosalind said. “Brodie wouldn’t bring a woman home unless he was planning to marry her. Do you think they stopped at Gretna Green, Ash?” Rosalind asked.
Ashton shrugged. “You know him better than I do, love.”
“I fear Brock and Aiden know him better than me,” Rosalind admitted quietly. “He may have changed since I escaped to London.”
Ashton took the letter back from Rosalind, reading it yet again, as though he could divine some secrets from the page. “Joanna, would you please go find your husband?”
Joanna left the drawing room in search of Brock. Instead, she found Aiden lounging on a window seat in the library, feeding tiny bits of meat to a small owl. Aiden was smiling as he stroked the backs of his fingers over the downy soft feathers of the tawny owl.
“Aiden, do you know where Brock is?”
The owl gave a disgruntled hoot at being disturbed. Aiden turned his attention toward her. “He’s in his study, I think. What’s wrong, Joanna?”
“It’s Brodie. He’s abducted a poor woman and run away with her. He’s headed for Scotland.”
“What?” Aiden stood, and with a click of Aiden’s tongue, the owl hooted and took to the air, returning to its roost on the topmost shelf of the library.
“We received a letter from Lady Rochester, who is traveling with the woman’s father, and they are searching for them. They believe Rafe is with them.”
Aiden’s gaze turned even more serious. “Rafe? Gah. Brodie shouldna be anywhere near him. I like your brother, Joanna, but he is . . .” Aiden was obviously trying to be diplomatic. “Trouble.”
“He is,” Joanna agreed. “But we must find them. They have my friend Lydia.”
Aiden strode past her into the hall and loudly bellowed for Brock. She heard the bang of a distant door and running steps, and then her husband appeared at the top of the grand stairs.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” Brock practically leapt down the stairs, only to stop and pull her into his arms. She melted into him, relishing the way he held her. They’d been through so much together, and she sensed he would never be less protective of her.
“I’m fine, Brock. But we have a problem.”
He pulled back a little to look down at her. “A problem?”
“It’s Brodie. He’s kidnapped my friend Lydia Hunt from Bath. He and Rafe are in Scotland, supposedly headed to Edinburgh.” She quickly filled in the rest of the details for him as Ashton, Regina, Aiden, and Rosalind all gathered around them in the hall.
“Where do you think he would go?” Joanna asked.
“He wouldna come here,” Brock said with certainty. “Not if he knew what was good for him. I don’t know what drove him to do this, but I’ll box his ears for such foolishness.”
“Then he’ll be bound for Edinburgh,” Ashton said. “To my townhouse on the Royal Mile. Lady Rochester and Mr. Hunt must have passed them on the road and arrived early.”
“Perhaps.” Brock was scowling now, enough to match Ashton’s own. “We must leave at once,” he finally said, then turned to his brother. “Aiden, would you remain here, should they choose to come this way?”
Aiden nodded. “I will.”
Brock turned to Ashton. “Are you ready to leave, Sassenach?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Joanna, you and Rosalind, as well as your mother, shall travel in the coach. Ash and I will ride on ahead. We may be able to catch them if there are only two of us.”
“Very well.” Joanna didn’t like to be separated from Brock, but the situation was dire, and it would only mean a day or two of being apart.
She hadn’t yet told him that she suspected she was with child and would not do so now. If she did, she would be left behind. She would wait to tell him, after they had rescued Lydia.
15
It was early in the evening when Lydia, Brodie, and Rafe finally arrived in Edinburgh. They’d taken care to travel more slowly after one of their horses threw a shoe and they’d had to stop halfway to Edinburgh to have a new one put on.
Now the coach rattled over the cobblestones of Edinburgh’s Old Town, which jolted Lydia awake, much to Brodie’s dismay. He had been enjoying holding her in his arms, perhaps too much. She was the perfect weight when settled on his lap, and he didn’t want to let her go.