Her cousin was definitely missing. Her bedchambers-both at Drummond Cottage and at the manor-were empty, her clothes gone. With the staff hastily preparing for the impromptu wedding, she couldn't get anyone to agree that perhaps they should search for her.

After the ceremony, Sophia wasn't about to sit with Miles and Portia and eat their stupid wedding breakfast. She would start in the attic and scour every nook and cranny in the manor until she found some hint of where Georgina was hiding.

Noise emanated in the foyer, and she assumed it would be Portia and her parents. Yet when the butler opened the door and she glanced over, Harold Bean and his mother walked in. She hadn't seen him since he'd jilted her.

"Harold!" Sophia snapped. "What are you doing at Kirkwood?"

He had the decency to look abashed. "Your mother invited us to the wedding."

"She what?"

"She invited us."

"Well, I uninvite you!"

"That's really not done, Sophia. We are your closest neighbors."

"I don't care. How dare you show your sorry face here where you're so despised."

His dour, gloomy mother offered, "We were invited, Sophia. What part of that don't you understand?"

"Be silent you old shrew."

They huffed with indignation, but she ignored them and stormed out to speak with her mother.

How could Augusta blithely have him and Mother Bean pop over for a visit? Was Sophia the only one in the family with any pride? She was so incensed she was surprised she could stand up straight.

Suddenly she was deluged by a wave of fondness for Kit Roxbury. Where was he when she needed him? He'd hurried off to hunt for Mr. Drummond, and she had to believe he'd come back. She'd told him she couldn't marry him, but in rejecting him, she'd made a horrible mistake.

When her option was to remain at Kirkwood with Miles and Portia, Kit could provide a perfect ending. She had to stop being so fussy and bind herself to the sole person in the world who wanted her and would always protect her.

Despite what Miles claimed, Mr. Drummond owned Kirkwood, and when he ultimately confronted Miles, the conclusion wouldn't be pretty. She intended to be safely at Kit's side where she'd be out of harm's way.

She dashed through the foyer and had proceeded to the stairs when the butler approached.

"Miss Sophia?" he said.

"Yes?"

"You were asking about Miss Georgina."

"Has she been located?"

"No, but a footman just returned from the village. He spent the night there with his parents or I might have heard this sooner."

Her pulse raced. "What is it?"

"Miss Georgina left."

"For where?"

"I don't know. He drove her into the village yesterday afternoon so she could catch the mail coach."

Sophia frowned. "The mail coach? What on earth for?"

"I have no idea. She had her portmanteau with her so evidently she'd packed her clothes, which is why we couldn't find them."

"Was there any mention of where she was headed?"

"No, and he didn't feel it was appropriate to inquire."

"How did she appear? Was she upset? Was she sad?"

"She seemed very, very happy."

"Who asked him to take her?"

The butler stoically glared as if conveying an important message he was anxious for her to receive. "I'm told it was your mother."

"My mother..." Sophia repeated.

Of course it would have been Augusta. Over the past few hours, Sophia had pestered her a dozen times as to whether she'd seen Georgina. Her mother had insisted she hadn't, but clearly she'd been lying.

Sophia spun and ran up the stairs. What could have happened? Her mother loathed Georgina so the myriad of possibilities was terrifying.

She arrived at her mother's door and burst in without knocking. To her consternation, Portia was present. She and Augusta were seated by the hearth and drinking a glass of wine. They looked sly and triumphant, as if they were celebrating.

"We were about to come down, Sophia," her mother said. "There was no need to fetch us."

"Harold and his mother are down there! How could you invite them?"

"They're our neighbors. Why wouldn't I have?"

Her mother seemed genuinely perplexed, and Sophia bristled with rage. She'd always detested her mother's autocratic ways, and apparently she'd reached the limit of what she could tolerate.

"He jilted me!" She was nearly shouting. "Have you conveniently forgotten?"

Her mother waved away the comment. "It was a misunderstanding. Now that Miles's business dealings are settled, I'm sure Harold will be eager to renew your engagement. I've already talked to his mother about it."

"You think I'd have him back?"

"Why wouldn't you? You're much too immature, Sophia, so you require his steadying influence. I've explained this over and over. He'll be the perfect husband for you."

She thought of handsome, dashing Kit Roxbury who wanted her so desperately. She thought of how he gazed at her, how he smiled at her as if she was the most extraordinary female in the kingdom.

"I would rather slit my wrists than marry Harold Bean, and if he and Mother Bean stay, I will not attend the ceremony!"

"Honestly, Sophia," Portia said, "you're being appallingly melodramatic."

"Shut up, Portia. I'm speaking to my mother. Not you."

"Don't take that attitude with me." Portia sounded like an elderly matron. "I'm about to be mistress here. Your continued residence in the manor will be at my pleasure. I suggest you treat me accordingly, or you'll be begging Harold to have you."

"You'd better be careful, Portia. If you stick your nose any higher into the air, you'll float off into the sky."

"You little witch! You will not behave so disdainfully to me!"

"Girls! Girls!" Augusta chided.

Sophia whipped her irate focus to her mother. "Where is Georgina? Where has she gone?"

There was the slightest pause, the quickest furtive glance between Portia and her mother, and it told Sophia what she needed to know. They'd done something awful to her.

"Where has Georgina...gone?" Augusta struggled to appear confused by the question. "I wasn't aware that she'd left."

"Don't lie to me!" Sophia was next to a decorative table and she banged her fist on it, sending the knickknacks smashing to the floor.

"Sophia!" Portia scolded. "Look at the mess you made!"

"This is none of your affair, Portia!" Sophia bellowed. "Be silent!"

"Return to the front parlor, Sophia," her mother ordered. "I won't put up with you when you're in such a volatile condition. Your tantrum underscores the necessity for you to marry a man of Harold's temperament."

"You always hated Georgina," Sophia fumed.

Augusta considered the charge, then nodded. "I suppose that's a valid assessment."

"What did she ever do to you?"

"She did nothing. I simply never liked her, and it was wrong of your father to burden me with raising her."

"Really, Mother? Is that your story?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever heard the servants' gossip about it?"

"I don't listen to servants' gossip and neither should you."

"They say you were in love with Georgina's father. They say you wanted to elope with him yourself, but Georgina's mother snagged him first, and you've always been hideously jealous because of it."

A muscle ticked in Augusta's cheek. "Don't be ridiculous. I was betrothed to your father when Sergeant Fogarty came to town."

"I bet you'd have tossed Father over swiftly enough if Fogarty had noticed you. Rumor has it that Georgina's mother was very pretty. Is that why you hate her? You look at her, see her mother, and remember how Sergeant Fogarty preferred her to you?"

"I can't abide your slurs, Sophia. You need to go downstairs. Now!"

Sophia banged the table again. It tipped over with a loud crash. "Where is Georgina! I swear, if you don't tell me, I will rip this room apart."

"She went to live with her father's relatives," Portia blandly stated.

"She...what?" Sophia stammered.

"She went to live with her other family."

"Why would she? This is her home, and we have no information about them."

"Your mother has always known where they are," Portia said.

Portia was so cool and composed, Sophia yearned to walk over and slap her silly.

"Why did she have to leave?" Sophia demanded of her mother, but Portia answered.

"She disgraced herself with Mr. Drummond."

"Portia!" Augusta admonished. "Let's not get into the details. They're not fit for Sophia's ears."

Sophia advanced on Portia. She was seated in her chair so Sophia towered over her, and for a moment alarm flashed in Portia's eyes. Was she afraid Sophia might attack her? Good! In her current mood, she might enjoy a brawl.

"What was Georgina's conduct with Mr. Drummond that you found so shocking?" Sophia asked.

Portia smirked. "I have to agree with your mother. As you are still unwed, it's simply not appropriate for you to be apprised."

"She had an affair with him after all," Sophia murmured.

Portia shrugged but didn't reply.

"You sent her away because of it?" Sophia asked.

"Your mother and I deemed it for the best," Portia said.

"You and mother decided?"

"Of course. I keep telling you, Sophia. I'm about to be mistress of Kirkwood. It's my choice who stays and who goes. I will not have that...that...harlot residing under the same roof as me."

"Portia!" Augusta sharply said. "That's enough."

"I've barely started, Augusta," Portia retorted.

"You sent Georgina away," Sophia murmured again. She couldn't believe it. "You had the gall, the audacity!"

"Yes," Portia bragged, "and I'd do it again too."

Sophia glared at her mother. "You let her! You were complicit!"

"Georgina was eager to depart, Sophia," her mother claimed. "I mentioned the idea and she was happy to have the chance."

Sophia studied them, feeling sick to her stomach. She reflected on all the years she'd listened to her mother, obeyed her mother, watched her harass kind, wonderful Georgina. Why had she? What had been the point of all of it?