Trying not to give any indication of his doubts about Niles, Brant said, "If you were not my cousin, who was spying for me at the time, this would be an easy matter. I could just kill you." He paused for affect, then continued, "You really shook Isabel up, and now she is my wife. Now I know why she dislikes you so. But since I cannot kill you, how am I supposed to deal with this?"
"I do not know," Niles replied. "At the time, it seemed benign. When I ran in to Richard, with Lady Ann recently, they were discussing her daughter. He reminded me of the war you had going with Avery, and the fact that Avery likely murdered the girl's father, to gain control of her resources. When I figured out who they were talking about, and that you had wed the girl, it was quite awkward. I merely said the polite things, and got away from them, quickly."
He paused, trying to look properly embarrassed. Niles was hoping Brant would accept his explanation as sincere, and let him off the hook, but his cousin said nothing. After a short time, the silence was becoming awkward.
Niles continued, "I treated the sole heiress to a huge fortune, like some dock side strumpet. I know full well, my appalling behavior could destroy the reputation of my whole family, if the story gets out."
“I think the first thing, is to talk to Isabel. I doubt that your being my cousin, is going to endear me to her,” Brant said.
“How did you manage to wed the girl, anyway?” Niles asked. “How did she get away from Avery?”
“Let us just say, Richard arranged it,” Brant answered.
“Avery seemed quite taken with the girl. Was she actually a virgin, as he said?” Niles asked.
“She was,” Brant answered, wondering why Niles was so interested. “Now she is my wife, and mother to my son."
"You must be quite pleased, with the lad," Niles said.
“Aye, I am,” Brant replied. “Nora should be back shortly, with some refreshment.”
“Right now, I could use some strong spirits. This is a nightmare,” Niles replied.
Brant merely nodded, before exiting to go speak with Isabel. The look that crossed Niles face, when he mentioned the lad, did not look like happiness for his cousin, to Brant. Twas more like he was trying to say the polite things, what he thought he should say, about something that really displeased him.
Brant stepped out of the sitting room into the hall, and quickly crossed to where Ann, Esme, and Hannah, sat by the hearth.
Looking to Lady Ann, he asked, “Where did Isabel go?”
“Right after the Duke arrived, she spoke briefly with Nora, then took the babe upstairs,” Ann answered. “You know, she looked a little shaken when she saw him.”
Brant acknowledged her reply with a nod, and turned to go upstairs. Upon arriving in the Solar, he found the inner chamber door blocked from the inside, so that it would not open.
“Isabel, open the door, we need to talk,” Brant ordered. When there was no answer from inside the chamber, he continued, “He told me his version, of what happened with Avery. Open the door.” Still no response came, from inside the bedchamber. “Isabel, say something.” After several more seconds of silence, Brant said, “If you do not say something, I am going to have this door knocked down.”
He listened closely, but there was no sound from inside the chamber. Brant returned to the passageway, where the guard who was assigned to keep an eye on Isabel, at all times, reclined on a bench.
He asked, “Did Isabel go in there?”
“Oh, aye, My Lord,” the guard said. “She went in there with the babe, about half an hour ago. I have been watching the door, and no one has gone in, or out, since.”
“Go down, and ask Lady Ann to come up here, please,” Brant instructed the guard.
He went back to the blocked door, to wait.
“Isabel, answer me, so I know you are alright,” Brant said, while he waited for Ann.
Still no reply came from behind the portal. Within a few minutes, Lady Ann entered the antechamber. Brant quickly explained that the door was blocked, and Isabel would not answer him.
Ann tapped softly on the heavy door, and said, “Alisa, please open the door, so we can talk.” When there was no response, she continued, “Do you remember what you told me, last night? Do you not think that this is childish?” When no answer came, Ann turned to Brant, and asked, “Are you sure she went in there?”
“The guard followed her upstairs, and saw her go in. He has been watching the door, and she has not come out,” Brant answered.
Ann, looking doubtful, stepped back to examine the top of the high door. Apparently, seeing what she was looking for, the Lady got a chair from the small table to stand on. Reaching up, she grasped a short length of heavy twine, hanging at the top of the door. She pulled the string down, and pushed on the door, which opened freely. Brant slipped past Ann into the chamber, only to see a length of wood had been lowered into place, between the bed and door, from the outside. The room was empty. Isabel and Nathaniel were not there. Brant looked around the room, quickly noticing that the small box with Isabel’s crest on it, was missing from the table.
When Ann’s presence had been requested upstairs, Niles had followed, to see what was going on. Ann saw him standing in the antechamber doorway.
She asked accusingly, “What did you do to my daughter, that has her hiding out?”
Not wanting to tip Niles off, Brant said, “Niles, could you wait downstairs, while we sort this out.”
That blackguard, not wanting to deal with Isabel’s angry mother, nodded and withdrew. Brant waited until he was out of earshot, to correct Ann.
“She is not hiding. She is gone. The wooden box with her crest on it, always sits right here. It is gone, and she is gone," Brant said.
He indicated the spot on the table, beside her brush, where the trinket always sat.
“What?” Ann asked, not understanding his point. She indicated with her hands, “That wooden thing, about so big? That was her father’s. I recall it was quite heavy for its size, but I could never figure out any use for it.”
Realizing that Isabel’s mother knew some, but not all of her daughter’s little secrets, he explained, “There is an inconspicuous clasp, on the bottom of the box. It contained two rows of coins. Maybe one hundred pounds. A goodly sum of money.”
Ann shook off her surprise at Brant’s revelation, and looked around the room.
“Last night, I saw the deer skin duffle her father had specially made, one for each of them. That is gone, too. If there was money in the box, there is no telling what may have been in the duffle. I walked in on him once, to see a compartment in the handle of the bags. Oh, my, Rosamond said Isabel had a dagger. What else do I not know about my daughter? Do you know what the problem is, with the Duke? Last night, Isabel seemed at least resigned, to being here for a while. He walks in, and suddenly she has fled?” Ann asked, angrily.
“You need not concern yourself with him. I will handle that. Right now, we need to find Isabel, and Nathaniel,” Brant said.
He immediately set about looking for a lead, as to how Isabel made her escape. Hopefully, the how, would help figure out where, she was off to.