by Ruth Owen
Her silence dragged on. It appeared he was not going to get an explanation from her —or one jot of forgiveness. Until this moment he hadn’t realized how much he’d hoped for it. But, with or without her forgiveness, his course was set.
“My behavior was unconscionable,” he continued, ignoring the ache in his heart. “I cannot change what had happened, but I can make some measure of amends. This Sunday, I will instruct the vicar to read the banns. The marriage will take place within the fortnight.”
“M—marriage?!” She pulled out of his arms and stared at him in shock. “You cannot be serious.”
Her disbelief rankled his already sourly tested ego. He crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at her with every ounce of his Trevelyan pride. “I can assure you that I am most serious. I have no intention of dismissing my responsibility to you. I have wronged you. Marriage is the only honorable course of action.”
Sabrina felt as if her heart were being cut into a hundred pieces. Honor. Responsibility. But not one word of love. She recalled the near-proposal Edward had made to her as they stood on the cliffs, seven days and a lifetime ago. He’d spoken of finding a treasure beyond price, of loving her more than anyone, even Isabel. Now she was merely damaged goods, a blot on the noble escutcheon of his family name. She’d thought he couldn’t hurt her any more than he had last night.
Rina breathed the only word her anguished soul could utter. “No.”
His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed to gleaming slits. “Don’t be a fool. I am offering you the protection of my name. You deserve that. If nothing else, you saved my daughter’s life.”
“If nothing else,” Rina cried, her voice choked with unshed tears. ” ‘Tis nice to know you value my virtue so highly.”
“That’s not what I—oh, for God’s sake! We must wed, and soon. You have no choice. I might…I might have gotten you with child.”
A child! Instinctively, her heart leapt at the thought of his seed growing inside her. But the joy died almost as soon as it was born. He’d have no more love for a child made between them than he had for her. He would see this babe as another responsibility. Another grievous error.
She would not let him hurt the child that might be inside her. she would not let him hurt her any more than he already had. “Your concern for your possible off-spring is touching, my lord, but a bit surprising. It is common knowledge that you did not show the same consideration to Clara Hobbs, when you got a child on her.”
He went still, his jaw pulled so tight that she thought it might crack from the strain. When he spoke, his voice was so bitterly harsh that she could barely recognize it as his.
“You are right. It is common knowledge that the Hobbs girl’s child is mine. And no self-respecting woman should marry a man she believes has done such a dishonorable thing. I shall bother you no further with my proposals.”
He let go of her and strode past her out of the hall, but just as he was about to turn the corner he glanced back. His look lasted only a few seconds, but it was long enough for her to see the hollow, haunted sorrow in his eyes.
“I thought you were different from my wife. But if you can believe such things about me, then you are very like Isabel indeed.”
Sabrina waited until the thundering sound of his boots had disappeared. Then she collapsed into a nearby chair, put her face in her hands, and gave herself up to an abyss of grief too vast for even tears to heal.
Thursday afternoon Lady Amy stormed into Sabrina’s bedchamber. “He is a booby! A thickheaded, blue-footed booby!”
Rina glanced up from the window seat, where she had been attending to an exhaustive inventory Mrs. Poldhu had made of the pantry. “Come again?”
Amy plopped down on the cushion beside her, her blue eyes blazing with a passion Rina had never seen in them before. The girl gripped her periwinkle ribbon sash, winding it over and over around her hand. “The king of lummoxes, that’s what Charles is.”
“You saw him? But I thought he was in Truro.”
“As did I, but when I visited Clara today she told me that he had returned. Apparently, he found the supplies he needed in St. Petroc. So I did as you suggested. I put on my prettiest dress, and went to see him. I tried to find you before I went, but you were not in your room.”
“I was on a picnic with the children. I wish I had been here. I would have gone with you.”
“Perhaps it is best you didn’t, since the man is such a lummox.”
Sabrina’s heart fell. She had been so sure of the doctor’s affection, so hopeful that Amy would have the love she longed for. Honestly, I could strangle Charles. “Oh, my dearest, I am so sorry. If the man had an ounce of sense he would be madly in love with you.”
Amy’s gaze dropped to her lap, and the hand winding the ribbon stilled. Her voice was soft as rose petals as she answered. “Actually, he is madly in love with me.”
Rina shook her head. “But, if he loves you, then why is he a lummox?”
“Because he is so misguidedly honorable,” Amy cried, rolling her eyes heavenward. “You would not believe what I had to go through to get him to reveal his true feelings.”
Sabrina took a thorough look at her friend, noticing subtleties that she’d miss before. Amy’s usually immaculate hair had been hastily pinned up by her ivory combs. Her porcelain complexion was heightened by a decidedly ruddy glow, and there was a tiny bruise at the corner of her mouth that could have been caused by a man’s ardent kiss. A few days ago she might have missed the telltale signs. But those few days had given her a lifetime’s worth of experience—in love, and in loss.
Protectively, she circled Amy’s shoulders, all too aware of the part she’d played in this. “Darling, did you…I mean, did he—?”
“No, he did not,” Amy interrupted, her dejected look showing that the retention of her virtue was clearly not her decision. “But he kissed me. And he—oh, Pru,” she cried, hugging her arms tightly around her waist. “You cannot imagine what it feels like to have someone you love, and who loves you, hold you in his arms.”
I believed I did. Since their meeting in the hall Edward had spent almost all his waking hours at Wheal Grace. She’d caught barely a glimpse of him, and when she had his expression had been harsh and distant, without a trace of emotion. She should have been grateful that he was avoiding her. instead, she felt more wretched and lost than ever.
There’s no sense in crying over a poor hand, Rina-lass. You play the cards that are dealt to ya.
The memory of Daniel Murphy’s words sobered Sabrina. Good or bad, she’d been dealt her cards, and there was no sense wishing for anything different. She stuffed down the unhappiness inside her, and turned to Amy. “I am glad things have worked out for you and Charles.”
“But they haven’t. He will not have me. He told me that I was meant for better things than to be the wife of a poor country doctor. He says I should marry a man who can give me a life of wealth and ease. But I don’t want a life of wealth and ease. I want him.”
Tears pooled in Amy’s eyes and the anguish in her expression nearly broke Rina’s heart. Sighing, she drew the girl against her chest, and began smoothing her mussed, golden locks. “Don’t cry, darling. Charles may be a lummox, but he is an intelligent lummox. I’m sure that eventually he will realize that you would make a fine doctor’s wife. It just might take a little time.”
“I do not have time. Charles is going away. He said that he could not bear to be near me, knowing that we can never be together. He has already applied for a position at a Welsh mine, and plans to leave the beginning of next month.” She lifted her tragic gaze to Rina. “Prudence, what shall I do? I love him more than my life.”
Rina shut her eyes, remembering she had spoken the same words to Cassie when she’d “confessed” her love for Edward. His indifferences to her had not changed that feeling a whit. She understood what a fragile and breakable thing the human heart was, because hers had been broken into a million pieces. She could not stand idly
by and watch the same thing happen to Amy’s.
“Don’t worry, my dear. I will talk with Charles. He values my opinion. Tomorrow I shall call on him and tell him that I believe you will make an exemplary doctor’s wife. Everything will work out, you will see.”
It was a lie of course. In a couple of days Rina’s opinion would matter less than dust. But she could give Amy those days, those few precious moments of hope.
She thought back to the night she’d spent with Edward. Sometimes a few hours of hope was all that heaven allowed.
Rina made good on her promise. The next morning she had her horse saddled and rode over to the infirmary. But Charles was not there. A note posted on the door indicated that he was out seeing to a burn at the mine, and would return by the afternoon. Disappointed, she turned to young Toby, who had ridden with her. “It looks as if I have made a wasted trip.”
“Not ‘tirely,” the lad supplied. “Mrs. Poldhu writ down some recipes for Miss Clara’s mum. Wouldn’t let me leave the kitchen without promising to deliver ‘em personal.”
Considering how jealously Mrs. Poldhu guarded her recipes, Rina was surprised she hadn’t sent along an armed guard with the young man. “Well, then, you must deliver them at once,” she said as she remounted her mare. “I would not like to think what Mrs. Poldhu would do if her recipes fell into the wrong hands. I will meet you on the road back to Ravenshold.”
“Don’t ya want to come with me, miss?”
Rina worried her lip. She cared for Clara, and knew the girl would welcome a visit. But after the accusation Rina had made to Edward—an accusation which the earl did not deny—well, facing the mother of Edward’s child exceeded even Rina’s courage. She shook her head and turned her mount in the opposite direction of the Hobbs’s cottage. “I must return to Ravenshold. But be certain to tell Clara that I hope she is well, and that my good wishes go out to her…and the babe.”
She started across the field beyond the village. It was a fine summer day with a cool west wind to stir the air. A rabbit sprinted into her path, and stared at her for a moment before darting back into the underbrush. Birds of all size and voice chorused in the nearby woods. The whole world brimmed with peace and contentment—except for Rina’s heart. Tomorrow evening she and Quinn would be miles away with the Dutchman in her saddlebag. Her charade would end, and she would no longer have to care about what happened to Amy, Clara, or Clara’s baby. And yet, Rina would care—deeply, and for the rest of her life. She could shed Prudence’s name but she could not shed her love for the inhabitants of Ravenshold. Even if one of them no longer loves me.
“Prudence!”
The call shook Rina out of her musings. She glanced up and caught sight of Lady Rumley riding toward her out of the woods. Rina clicked to her mount and turned the reins in the lady’s direction. “Cassie, ‘tis good to—but what is wrong?”
“No—nothing.”
Underneath her elegant sable riding hat Cassie’s face was as drawn and pale as a ghost’s. Concerned, Rina sidled her horse closer. “I am your friend, Cassie. If something is wrong, please tell me.”
“You know me too well,” the lady replied with a tremulous smile. “Oh, my dear, the most dreadful thing has occurred. I was on my way to Ravenshold to tell Lord Trevelyan, but I fear I lacked the courage and turned back. You see…Paris and I are leaving Fitzroy Hall.”
Rina owned that it was an unexpected piece of news, but it hardly seemed like a confidence that Cassie would need courage to divulge—or that would engender such devastation in her countenance. “I know everyone at Ravenshold will be sorry for your absence. I hope you will not be gone too long.”
“That is just it—we are not coming back. You see, I believe that my beloved brother is…the saboteur.”
“Paris?” Rina stared at Lady Rumley in shock. She had no love for Fitzroy, but the thought of the pompous dandy as a cold-blooded assassin was ridiculous. “That is impossible. He has known Edward since he was a child. He almost married Amy. You must be mistaken.”
“I only wish I were. But after Amy rejected him and we left Ravenshold, Paris began saying things in his anger—coarse and dreadful things that raised terrible suspicions in my mind. Last night I screwed up my courage and rifled through his private papers. I found…” She swallowed, and twisted the reins torturously in her gloved hands. “I found proof that he had been dealing with a pair of villains in St. Petroc, and that they had conspired to seed the Wheal with rotted timbers, and to cause certain accidents to occur to the inhabitants of Ravenshold…including cutting your horse’s bridle.”
A cold chill squeezed Rina’s heart. Cassie’s words matched the discussion she’d heard between the two ruffians in the alley of St. Petroc. The evidence pointed to Paris. And yet…“Cassie, I cannot believe that your brother would do such a heinous thing. Besides, the incident with my bridle happened almost two months ago, well before Amy rejected him. He had no reason to wish ill to the Trevelyans.”
“He has a great many reasons. My father spent his life traveling the globe to find a cure for our afflicted mother. In doing so he depleted much of his fortune, and ended up borrowing heavily from Edward’s father. The former earl was…well, he was not known for his charity. He called in many of the debts suddenly and took most of my father’s lands and estates. My father died a few months later, a bitter, broken man.”
Rina recalled Quinn telling her the story of Charlotte’s betrayal at the former Lord Trevelyan’s hands. If the earl had ill-used one of his own, she could easily imagine him taking advantage of Cassie’s father, whose only crime was loving his wife. “But Paris was to wed Amy, at least until a few days ago. Her dowry would have returned much of what your family had lost. Only a madman would jeopardize a family he wishes to marry into.”
Cassie went still. When she spoke, her voice was so cold that it brought winter to the sunny afternoon. “You know that my mother was ill, but I never told you the nature of her illness. Soon after my birth she was diagnosed with advanced melancholia, which grew even worse as the years passed. For over a decade she has been sequestered in an institution—hopelessly insane.”
“Oh, my Lord,” Rina breathed. As a girl on the London streets she’d seen a woman who was carted off to Bedlam. She was tied up to prevent her from scratching her own eyes out, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. The horrible sight had haunted Rina’s dreams for months. “You poor darling. What you must have gone through to keep this secret. But you did not have to go through it alone. I’m sure if the earl knew, he would help.”
“As his father helped us?” For an instant Cassie’s usually serene eyes flashed fire, but the ire died in an instant. “Forgive me. Edward has shown nothing but kindness to Paris and myself, which makes my brother’s actions all the more despicable. That is why I am taking him away from here—to distance him from the people he sought to harm.”
“But what of his crimes?” Rina cried, her own ire rising. “His actions almost cost Edward his life—and the lives of Sarah and David, too. I cannot let him walk away, Cassie. Paris must pay for his crimes.”
“You are right. But I thought if I could take him away from this place—perhaps find some treatment for his disease—he might escape my mother’s fate…but that is not to be.” She lifted her chin, looked at Rina with serenely tragic eyes. “I suppose that is why I told you, when I could tell no one else. I knew you would help convince me to do the honorable thing, because you yourself are so honorable, and have no secrets shadowing your life.”
Rina had secrets, all right—secrets so dark and devious that they made Cassie’s lies shine like the sun. Murderer. Fugitive. And, by tomorrow, thief as well. She had no right to pass judgment, on Paris, or on anyone. As long as Edward and the children are safe, that’s all that really matters. “You will…take him far away from here?”
Cassie pressed her fist against her lips, stifling a sob of joy. “Oh, yes, I shall,” she promised tearfully. “And if he ever so much as look
s in the direction of Cornwall, I will contact the authorities immediately. Paris will understand that. In time, I believe he will thank me for it. And you, too, my dear friend, Prudence.”
Lady Rumley wheeled her mount toward Fitzroy Hall, but before she clicked to her horse she stopped, and pulled back on the reins. She glanced around to Rina and paused, seeming to think twice about what she was to say. “I suppose this is none of my concern, especially since I am leaving today. But I must know. The other day in the sitting room, when we were trading secrets… ‘Tis Edward you love, isn’t it?”
Rina swallowed, then gave a quick nod. It would have done no good to deny it. Cassie would have seen the truth in her eyes anyway.
Cassie’s face brightened into an angeli, portrait-perfect smile. “Then I wish you all the happiness that I wished for Isabel, on the day when that sweet lady graced our shore.”