by Heather Boyd
After considering, Blythe gave the bag up and her sister began pulling her possessions out again and put them away. But sadness trickled through her. The damage to their relationship was done. They were family and she did care that her sister and nephew were well, but she would never trust her again.
Mercy returned and stopped before her. “I should apologize for Mr. Randall, but I fear I will be saying I’m sorry all day and wear out my tongue. It was he who put the idea in Leopold’s brain about you going into the woods alone. I did not connect your actions with Adam and I am so sorry for that. I should not have forgotten you used to make up stories of the woods.” Mercy sighed. “I’m sure Leopold will do something painful to his brother for the misunderstanding, but this situation is as much my fault as Tobias’.”
“I’m sure Mr. Randall will mete out the required punishment. However, I may never be easy here again, Mercy.”
“I will restore your good name, I promise, and prove the whispers groundless.” When Mercy embraced her, Blythe suffered through the hug for several moments before she shrugged out of it.
“That may never be possible.” Blythe wiped her eyes as weariness tugged at her senses. She felt old, ancient and exhausted. However, she couldn’t rest until the whispers about her sanity had ceased.
Mercy’s fingers threaded through hers and squeezed. “Thank heavens we only had one brother. These Randall men are not above rough behavior. Quite different from our late husband’s in so many ways. I thought they would kill each other yesterday.”
Blythe had thought so, too, hence her decision to flee with the boy and spare him the horror of the fighting. “Leopold is very protective of you. A good trait for a future husband. Speaking of brothers, when is ours coming to Romsey Abbey to meet Mr. Randall? Have you written him?”
“Not yet. But I did receive a note this morning from him. Constantine has put me off again for the holidays, claiming he’s busy. I’m sure once I tell him of Leopold he will change his mind.”
Blythe nodded. Their brother supplied a ready stream of excuses against travel, blaming his three daughters’ delicate health most often for the delays. “He’ll come as soon as he learns. When is the wedding?”
“We haven’t set a date, but I’d like for Constantine to be here before the happy day. I’d like him to become acquainted with Leopold and Tobias, too. He’ll likely have a few things to say about me marrying again but he will see I’ve made the right choice.”
Constantine would rage when he found out Mercy was to remarry. While that was happening, Blythe planned to be elsewhere. “Are you going to tell him the truth about Edwin’s father?”
“I will.” Mercy’s fingers curled over Blythe’s arm and squeezed. “Do you mind very much? Neither of us had a say in the situation, but I would not change the past for all the world. I love Leopold so very dearly and, however unlikely it might seem, I have missed him these past years.”
Blythe shrugged, trying to dispel just how hurt she still was by the news. It didn’t change how she felt about Edwin, but it did make her feel on the outside of events. “Yesterday when we talked, Mr. Randall claimed to love you enough that he’d leave if it was in your best interests. However, if Tobias Randall isn’t the criminal threatening you and Edwin, then he’d better remain. Marriage will dispel the hint of scandal at having a bachelor in your household. At least he may be able to control his brother for the duration of his stay, too.”
“Tobias isn’t so bad.”
Blythe crossed her arms over her chest. “Really?”
Mercy had the grace to blush. “I concede Leopold’s younger brother may have a few more rough edges than I’d imagined, or even believed possible for that matter. However, I’m sure with the right prompting he may be able to speak without sounding so shocking.”
“You’re hoping for a miracle.”
Mercy chuckled softly and shook her head. “I know. Do you forgive me?”
Blythe sighed. What was the use of holding a grudge? She and Mercy had always been closest. “Fetch Dr. Heyburn to attend me again and we cease to be sisters. That man is incompetent not to have realized I was feigning unconsciousness.”
Mercy leaped at Blythe and squeezed her in a tight hug. “You fooled me for certain that time, Blythe. Part of me was hoping you were tricking us, but part of me was afraid that Mr. Randall’s entry through the window had been too much for your nerves. You haven’t done that in years and I don’t care to be scared like that again.”
Blythe untangled herself from Mercy’s grip with as much dignity as she could muster and finished unpacking her things. “I’ll say one thing about Mr. Randall, he does like to make a dramatic entrance.”
A male voice cried out in outrage through the wall from the next room. The little bottles of perfume on her dresser shook.
“Don’t. You. Dare,” Tobias Randall shouted.
“Just shut up and sit down,” Leopold Randall barked in return. “You know this must be done.”
Mercy looked at Blythe, a frown creasing her brow. “Sounds painful.”
A warm glow filled Blythe’s chest as she dragged in a deep breath then let it go. She smiled. “Sounds perfect to me.”
~ * ~
~ FORSAKING THE PRIZE now available ~
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About the Author
Also by Heather Boyd
Excerpt from Forsaking the Prize