♚♚♚
ROCK spent the next two days at Alexis Manor.
The emotional distance between her and her aunt and uncle didn’t shrink visibly, but she’d go with Danilo into the garden to pick flowers for her aunt and spend time drinking tea with her, which made her look like an obedient daughter on the outside. Lauretta was delighted by her niece’s attention, and this, in turn, reassured Placido.
Meanwhile, Rock was no closer to obtaining the information she sought.
Since she’d decided to save directly questioning the lord and lady for last, she started by prodding the servants, Danilo, and Alice first. Unfortunately, Danilo’s guilty conscience seemed to make him flee every time he saw her, and all the maids, especially Alice, gave her a wide berth. She couldn’t blame them for being suspicious of some country girl brought in from God knows where and who lacked basic etiquette lessons.
Searching every nook and cranny of the mansion didn’t turn up anything of note either. Her impatience grew when she couldn’t find the werewolf statue or any items that could be connected to the Werewolf Brotherhood.
Rock constantly looked out the windows for those two days.
Maybe someone has come for me? She’d looked hoping to see the people she loved the most there to rescue her.
Sadly, her desired visitors never came, and only merchants frequented Alexis Manor during that time.
Rock frantically tried to keep her hopes up and her thoughts positive.
There was no way Ebel and Phoebe would abandon her. If anything, they were both the type to sacrifice whatever they had to in order to rescue her. So there must’ve been a good reason why they didn’t show up right away.
In fact, there was an interesting article written up in the newspaper that’d been thrown into the wastebasket the day after Rock was kidnapped.
The article was about an accident that caused a carriage to topple on the main street running through the aristocrat district. It clearly indicated the carriage belonged to Count Mateus and reported that the coachman sustained minor injuries while the single passenger was unharmed. The accident report said it was caused by the bridle disconnecting from the horse’s bit—obviously, that wasn’t what’d really happened.
Ebel and Phoebe couldn’t publicly announce the carriage was attacked by a werewolf either. Placido was likely counting on that when he attacked. Still, Rock hadn’t given up hope.
I’m not alone.
She never stopped believing that.
✦ ✦ ✦
♚♚♚
CHANGE came the third morning Rock woke up in Alexis Manor.
She was yawning in the coral pink bedroom she still hadn’t gotten used to when there was a dainty knock at the door.
“Roxy? Are you awake?” Lauretta asked through the door.
Rock quickly combed out her bedhead and slipped a robe over her nightgown before answering.
“Come in, Auntie.”
Lauretta was accompanied by Alice, who was holding two brand new dresses, which Lauretta made her hold up high so Rock could see their splendor.
“We have guests today. Choose the dress you like best and get ready to go downstairs.”
Her options were an elegant, dark-green velvet dress or a glossy strawberry pink sateen dress. Judging by the exquisite quality of the fabrics, their guest was likely of higher rank.
“I’m supposed to meet these guests?” Rock cautiously inquired.
“Yes,” Lauretta said, nodding. “But don’t worry, dear. One of our guests is a young lady near your age.”
“But—”
“It will be all right. She’s a very well-behaved and kind young lady,” Lauretta said in soothing tones, as if trying to encourage her teenage daughter to make new friends. “You need friends too. I’m sure it will take you a while to get used to life here, so you need someone you can relax around.”
Her expression was so caring, it threw Rock for a loop.
Besides, Rock was a commoner girl who’d spent her life living in a poor village and the slums. Relaxing was the last thing she’d be able to do in the presence of snobbish nobility. She was well aware that Ebel was the exception that proved the rule.
“Who might this guest be?” Rock asked, already dreading the day ahead.
“Someone who you are already acquainted with,” Lauretta said with a mischievous smile.
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s Duke Linus’s daughter, Lady Michaela Linus.”
At that moment, Rock experienced every kind of emotion:
Surprise over seeing an acquaintance in her situation.
Fear of Lauretta, who knew Michaela was her friend.
Hope that Ebel might have sent her here.
And also suspicion that Lauretta was letting them meet like this.
As Rock struggled to conceal the bilge of emotions, Lauretta giggled behind her hand.
“I see, so you do know her. We had learned of your whereabouts from her, you see.”
From what Rock had heard, the Alexises learned of her existence from Michaela’s birthday party. So it made sense they’d ask the Linus family about her.
“I heard you were with Count Mateus when you met Lady Michaela,” Lauretta continued in a surprisingly innocent voice. “Lady Michaela is His Excellency’s former fiancée. She said they barely see each other anymore now that they’re no longer engaged, so she had no way to find you, but when I told her we found you ourselves, she said she’d love to see you again!”
That’s a lie.
Michaela and Guido still spent a lot of time with Ebel, and Michaela knew exactly who and where Rock was after her party.
The duke’s daughter was willing to pull the wool over the Alexises’ eyes just to make contact with Rock.
“I would love to see her again myself,” Rock responded mildly, keeping the emotions that threatened to cause her to tremble in check.
Then she chose the dark-green dress and waited for Michaela Linus to arrive.
It wasn’t long before a familiar carriage rolled up outside the window. The carriage slowed to a stop as it entered Alexis Manor’s courtyard, and the door opened from the inside.
The familiar faces almost made Rock nostalgic as she watched. A tall man with black hair was the first to step down—Guido Linus. He extended his hand inside the carriage, and a white-gloved hand reached out and took it.
Exiting the carriage with the help of her older brother, Michaela stared up at Alexis Manor as if searching for something. Following his sister’s lead, Guido’s gold eyes also scanned the windows.
Rock was about to wave to them when—
“Young Miss, your guests have arrived.”
Danilo had come to get her, so she couldn’t wave them down.
But she hadn’t given up hope.
She impatiently waited for the coming reunion.
✦ ✦ ✦
♚♚♚
ROCK went to the foyer to welcome her guests with Lord and Lady Alexis.
The Linus siblings entered through the door Danilo held open. They immediately noticed Rock. Guido flattened his lips in a straight line and Michaela’s eyes widened.
But their shock lasted for less than a second before they both shifted their gazes to the lord and lady of the house.
“Thank you very much for inviting us into your lovely home.”
Guido swept his tall body into a dashing bow and greeted them with what appeared to be a genial expression on the surface.
Lauretta and Placido both bowed back.
“We are honored by your visit, Lord Linus,” Placido said, placing his hand on Rock’s back like a father would. “Thanks to you, we were able to welcome our daughter back into the fold. Her name is Roxy.”
“Oh, you’re the lady from my party…!” Michaela cried out with pretend surprise.
“Lord Alexis has been searching for you for a long time,” Guido said in a velvety soft voice Rock never imagined him capable of. “While I regret not being of assistance in your discovery, I am terribly happy to see you safe.”
And then he smiled at her with his stern face.