Chapter 44
He attempted to contact Beaseley but, with his mission accomplished, he seemed to have left London. Had he left news of Catherine? Jocelyn’s heart turned over. There was no news –surely that was good news?
He went to Wansdyke and found it shut up. The few servants who remained told him that Catherine had travelled by coach to Bristol. He had no idea where Castle St Clair was. Catherine had said only it was near the border so she must have found a ferry.
He could not bring himself to search Wansdyke for the portrait, to turn it upside down, to raid the galleries and tear the holland covers from undisplayed paintings that slept gently in the dark. He wondered if Sir Lyle had carried it with him to the Americas, or whether LaFrance still had it, perhaps safely hidden somewhere.
