“Yes, having your sister there will be a great help,” their father said, then he pushed his chair back. “But we must leave very early, so I will excuse myself. I won’t see you before we leave, so goodbye. Juliana will write, no doubt, to keep you apprised of our search, foolish as it may be.”

He pivoted and exited the room without so much as a warm glance to the daughter he was abandoning. Once he had gone, Thomasina looked at Juliana. “Will you be safe?” she whispered.

Juliana glanced toward Jasper. “Assuming the men your husband sends to accompany us are true.”

“They are,” he reassured her softly. “I’ll give them special instructions to protect you and your maid at all costs. Will having you there truly keep him in line?”

“Him, my father?” she asked.

Jasper nodded. Juliana glanced again at Thomasina. “Yes. Of course it will. I can at least actually look for signs of Anne in truth, not just as some show to keep your wrath from coming down upon him.”

Thomasina stood and moved to sit beside her sister. She wrapped her arms around her, and Jasper watched as his wife shook with emotion. She was losing so much. Because of his family. His past.

He hated himself for all of it.

The two women silently held each other for a while, then Juliana pulled back, wiping her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she reassured her sister. “I’ll be very careful and sharp-eyed. If there is news to be found of Anne, I will find it.”

Thomasina nodded and squeezed her hand gently. “I will get up tomorrow to see you off.”

Juliana glanced at Jasper and then shook her head. “No, leaving you will be hard enough. Let us depart in the morning without fanfare. It will be easier for me.”

Jasper could see how much that request pained Thomasina, but she managed to jerk out a nod. “Very well.”

Juliana pushed from the table. “I’ll go up now, so say goodbye to me.”

Thomasina bit out a sob as she embraced Juliana again tightly, whispering to her for a moment before they parted. Thomasina paced away to the window. Juliana’s eyes were bright with tears as she walked to Jasper. She reached out and took his hand, meeting his eyes evenly as she whispered, “Be careful with her, my lord. Please.”

He nodded and Juliana left the room. Left him with his bride, who was now shaking as she wept against her hand. He moved to her, turning her into his chest and holding her as he soothed her as she had soothed him earlier. And knowing that he could do nothing to ease her pain except everything in his power to bring Anne home.

And even then it might not be enough.

Thomasina stood at her window, looking out across the moonlit garden behind the house. She had been standing there for almost an hour, thinking of everything this long, horrible day had brought. How much she had lost. How much she could still lose.