“And let you wallow in all this misery by yourself?” Jonathan said as he dropped down on the sofa beside Vincent. “Now, here I thought the old adage was that misery loves company. I know I ain’t enjoying wallowing in mine alone.”

“You know bloody well that Larissa would only have been another acquisition for you. You didn’t form any deep attachment to her.”

“True, which is why my misery is quite mild compared to yours.”

“I’m not miserable.”

Jonathan snorted over that denial. “You’re so deep in the doldrums you can no longer see daylight. ’Fess up, man, you were an utter fool not to get the gel engaged to you while you had the chance.”

“You don’t understand what was going on here,” Vincent gritted out.

Jonathan raised a brow. “Apparently not,” he allowed, but added, “Did you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you realize that she was in love with you? I saw it, though I tried my damnedest to ignore it, of course. Didn’t fit with my plans, after all, for her to get so attached elsewhere that my millions wouldn’t tempt her. True love just don’t come with a price tag, unfortunately.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Why not? Or don’t you plan to do things right, if given a second chance?”

A second chance? Vincent hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was making an effort to find Larissa. He did plan to lay the truth at her feet, all of it. But he wasn’t very hopeful that it would do any good, other than to clear his conscience. And after nearly a week had gone by, he wasn’t very hopeful that he’d ever see her again.

He didn’t expect her to personally come back to collect what she’d left behind, but he had counted on at least someone, even if only a servant, showing up to do so. But she hadn’t sent anyone by to claim her jewels from him. She still didn’t even know where those furnishings of hers had been stored. Demanding one or the other would have given him someone to have followed to lead to her, but no one had come.

Hotels and inns had been searched. He had people scouring the whole town and watching Ascot’s office around the clock. The ship George had returned in was still in the harbor waiting for permission to dock, so at least he was still in the country. But there was simply no clue as to where he had taken his family off to.

Jonathan apparently got tired of waiting for an answer to his last question. With a sigh he said, “I have a confession to make.”

Vincent winced mentally. “Don’t. I’m not in the mood for confessions.”