Ascension by A.S. Fenichel Page A

Belinda. She seems to have fallen into some kind of trouble. I think she is in need of help. You must help her.”
    His heart pounded. Was it even possible, in her current state, Belinda’s mother knew what was happening with her daughter? He didn’t think so, but any lead into Belinda’s nocturnal actions might help. He led her to a chair and handed her into it. “Why do you say such a thing, ma’am?”
    “I know you will think I am mad, but I know what I know.” Lady Clayton’s face was pale and her eyes too large. Belinda was the image of her mother, but time and bad habits had taken their toll on the older woman.
    “What do you know?” He kept his voice even and calm.
    “It was not my fault. Her father should have been here.” A tear spilled and she clutched the edge of the chair.
    “Yes, of course.” He had no idea what she was rambling about, but agreeing that it was his lordship’s fault seemed the best response.
    “When she disappeared I thought I’d go mad. I called the runners, but they could not find her.” Her words were stringing together rapidly. A flood of tears ran down her cheeks while her breath came in short gasps.
    Gabriel touched her shoulder. “Who disappeared?”
    “Belinda.”
    His first instinct was to rush out and find his fiancée, but he already knew from the butler that she was still above. Even knowing that fact, his heart raced and a sheen of sweat formed on his brow.
    He kept his voice soft trying to sooth her. “When was this, my lady?”
    Confusion flushed her face.
    “It was a long time ago,” Belinda said from the doorway. She glided into the room in a light blue day dress and sat down next to her mother. “I came home and all was well, Mother. I came home.”
    Tears streamed down the countess’s face. She touched Belinda’s cheek. “Yes, my sweet girl. You came home.”
    “See that, Mother. All is well.” Belinda’s voice was as gentle as the summer wind. She hugged her mother to her breast. When she looked up her eyes glistened with tears, but she didn’t shed any.
    His heart tightened painfully filling his chest. In that moment, he loved her more than ever, this gentle woman he remembered. It was the first glimpse he’d had of the old Belinda since his return from war. Holding her mother, she showed the sweetness he yearned for.
    “I will just take my mother to her bed, my lord. Do you have time to wait or shall we meet another day?”
    “I will wait.” Gabriel made a concerted effort not to jump to any conclusions based on what Lady Clayton had said. She was obviously not a reliable source of information. But there was something to it. Belinda had not denied her disappearance.
    She returned from seeing her mother to bed, silent as a cat, but her light feminine scent filled his head more thoroughly than any drug.
    “What did she mean, Bella?”
    “My mother is not well, Gabriel. You cannot rely on her for the information you seek.” Her lovely face was a mask of composure but the distress in her eyes betrayed her. She made her way to a grouping of chairs and sat.
    A maid entered with a tea tray. Claire looked nervously from her lady to him.
    Belinda looked at the maid a long moment. Her head twitched in approval.
    The servant nodded once before leaving them.
    “Then perhaps you would care to tell me what she was talking about?” He made his way over and accepted the cup of tea she poured, before taking the seat across from her.
    She tilted the teapot and stared down into the dark liquid.
    He could almost see her mind working out exactly what to tell him and how much. How he longed for any sign of trust from her.
    “I’m not sure where to begin. It was so long ago.”
    “Did you disappear as your mother indicated?”
    He gaze never removed from the steaming cup of tea. “Yes.”
    “Where did you go?”
    “I cannot say.”
    His jaw twitched. “Cannot or will not?”
    Finally, she looked up with wide eyes and between them, a crease marred her