“My father did not have a natural death. Mystepmother poisoned him.”
“Poisoned? Those are huge allegations.” Heinclined his head, mulling the likelihood. “How is it you’re alive?Where have you been all these years?”
Alexandra plunged in. “After my mother died,my father hired Molly Elwins as my wet nurse, her own child astillborn. She stayed on as my nanny and we became very close. Myfather, Baron Sutherland was lonely, and in his despair easilycharmed by Ursula Andrews, andunaware of his new wife’scharacter.
“Molly grew suspicious when my father diedsuddenly despite his robust good health. She later eavesdropped onmy stepmother, learning Ursula had poisoned my father, and thenplotted to kill me. Before my stepmother could perform her evildeed, Molly and Samuel whisked me away in the middle of the night.We hid in southern England under an assumed name.”
Nicholas stood. His chair snapped to thefloor. “Are you sure?”
Alexandra nodded. “Recently, I found atrapdoor in the kitchen and discovered a Bible gilded with gold andfar too costly for a sea captain to possess. My surname, AlexandraSutherland, not Alexandra Elwins was written in the first few pageswith a long line of antecedents. I confronted my adoptiveparents.”
Nicholas let out a low whistle, righted thechair and paced about the room. “Hard to believe you are theSutherland baby and have been alive all these years.”
“When Molly and Samuel revealed whathappened, I became furious with the secret they had kept fromme.”
He ran his palms down the rough coral brickof the window frame. “You were confused. To feel betrayal andresentment is a normal reaction to news like that. I should know, Ishouldered similar feelings toward my father. But why did you go toyour ancestral home, knowing the past and the danger?
“Rebellious and foolish,” he answered forher. “There is more to the story. Tell me.”
She turned away. The dull ache she carriedin her chest grew sharp just thinking about it.
“I’m not here to judge, but to help you,Alexandra.” He turned toward her. “We are alone and must help eachother.”
She swallowed, her voice dropped to awhisper. “Molly had gone to London to visit a friend and on achance meeting ran into my stepmother. Lady Ursula had Mollyfollowed, hired a thug, and watched while the criminal strangledMolly.”
Nicholas swore. “I remember Lady Ursula andWillean, I have seen them at parties. She doesn’t seem like amurderer.”
“She is the epitome of brutality. Later,when Ursula caught me in the library, she bragged about the murder.Told me she had been enraged when Molly would not disclose mylocation, but since she had me, her problem was solved…and she wasgoing to kill me. Her son, Baron Willean Sutherland, mystepbrother, held a gun leveled at my chest.
Suddenly cold, Alexandra rubbed her upperarms. “My life literally flashed before my eyes. I rememberedWillean tripping me, pushing me down the stairs, holding my puppyover the second-floor balcony and threatening to drop her, puttingcockleburs beneath my pony’s saddle to make her throw me.” “Oh,God.” Her voice cracked. She shuddered, blinked back the tearsbuilding behind her eyes.
Nicholas crossed the room.
She swiped her cheeks with the back of herhand. She didn’t want him to see her cry. To see how weak shereally was. “B-but for some reason, Willean refused to kill me andsuggested another, crueler solution. He paid to have me put aboardtheSantanas.”
As she said those last words, the truehorror hit her and the door to the years of tears she’d held backsuddenly opened. Tears slid unbidden down her cheeks.
Nicolas cursed and yanked her into his armswhile she wet his shirt with her tears. To think after all theseyears, the daughter of Lord Sutherland was alive.
“Molly is dead because of me. She protectedme. And Samuel, I love him so much. I lied to him about where I wasgoing.”
He smoothed his hand over the back of herhead. “Cry all you want. You are not responsible for Molly’s death.Your stepmother killed Molly.”
They stood there for an eternity, everybreath, every thought intertwined.
“I admire you, Lady Sutherland.”
She halted at the use of her title and hergaze snapped to his face. “You believe me?”
He wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yourstory is too extraordinary not to believe. My own stupidity was tobelieve you were a thief. Why did you never tell me?”
She toyed with the mother-of-pearl button onhis shirt, driving him mad. “You are a stubborn man bent onbelieving what he wants to believe.”
“There is that,” he said. He was an idiot.He’d had questions, but had let his all-important titled existencebe his guide, not his gut.
She moved away from him as if realizing theimpropriety of their closeness. He desired to snatch her back inhis arms, yet hesitated, respecting the distance she sought. Heleaned his shoulder against the uneven wall of the cottage, and,frowning, he reconsidered.
She was not a thief. She was an innocent andhe took great delight in that notion.
