Lorraine looked to her with a sad half-smile and said, “Then you know something of my loneliness. Though I am pleased you at least had a sister to share your grief.”
“Stepsister,” Jane corrected, and Emmaline shot her another warning look.
Only it seemed to open Lorraine up a little more. “Then I suspect you both know a little something of my grief.”
Both the Moreau sisters nodded and for a few moments, they shared in silent grief before Lorraine added, “The only good thing my father ever did for me was ensure my brother never truly turned out like him.”
Stunned by the emotion in her voice, Emmaline leaned back. “How so?”
Lorraine turned a gaze sparkling with tears upon her and said, “The club is a heinous abomination and I wish it burned to the ground, but it did allow my brother the opportunity to keep me safe in France. He, after all, practically raised me in my father's stead, and with my father's gruesome business, it was no surprise I have often been a… shall we say target.”
Again, Emmaline thought of the children at the orphanage. More than that, she thought of what Lorraine might mean by target. In truth, Alex had made her feel so safe she had never even considered such things. But now, she did, and she couldn't help but wonder.Am I a target now?
Too stunned by the seriousness of the conversation, Emmaline had no idea what to say. When she glanced at Jane, it appeared she too had lost her voice.
She looked again to Lorraine when the young woman laid a hand over hers and squeezed. “My brother is an honorable, noble and good man. I am pleased he has at least found some comfort in you, Your Grace. He has written wonderful things of you. So much so I feel as if I already know you.”
Emmaline smiled, wishing that she could say the same of her.
Instead, she laid her own free hand on top of Lorraine's and said, “Well, now that you are here, we can get to know each other properly, I am sure.”
The two newly acquainted sisters stared into each other's eyes until a commotion at the front door down the hall caused them both to pull away from each other.
“Where is she?” Alex’s voice boomed down the hall.
It appeared not a single servant had time to answer before he came bursting through the drawing room door.
Still trembling from the conversation they had just shared, and fearful of Alex's anger, Emmaline struggled to her feet to greet him. Perhaps she might be able to calm him before he scolded his sister for dropping by on such a visit.
But before she could do so, Lorraine rose to her own feet, and the two siblings embraced with such ferocity that it took Emmaline's breath away.
Alex lifted Lorraine off her feet and spun her around, dropping her back in the same spot she had stood in before he exclaimed, “Lorraine, why did you not tell me of your visit?”
And as his happiness at seeing his sister became much more apparent, Emmaline realized she did not know her husband as well as she had believed.
Chapter 21
Upon hearing of his sister’s surprise return, an abundance of emotions had overwhelmed Alex. Surprise had turned to anger and horror which had then given way to excitement. It had been almost two years since his last seeing her and finding that she had blossomed into a most beautiful young lady was certainly something to behold.
Even better was seeing her with his wife. Emmaline alone was an astounding woman but together the women lit up every room that they entered. Around them, Alex always had a smile. And he was more than a little relieved that from their very first meeting, the ladies got on as if they themselves were related.
That fact had eased his anxieties somewhat though with his sister back in London, Alex could never entirely settle, even when in his wife’s bed.
Work became a lonely thing, leaving Sean behind most days in order to ensure that the women were safe and well-cared for, chaperoned wherever they might go. And to Alex’s dismay, they made no attempts to stay out of the eyes of the public, taking walks or riding in the park, visiting the modiste or shopping in general, even taking tea in whichever tearoom took their fancy on any given day.
His sister insisted that it was more likely to attract attention were she to not go out in public, after being seen arriving on the London docks by several busy bodies, but he would have preferred she not. Yet, both she and his wife were too beautiful to be kept from the world. And with his relationship with his wife blossoming so peacefully, he could not bear to rock the boat.
And so, as she laid in his arms each night after their wondrous lovemaking, he kissed her head and prayed that all he had been forced to do over the years would not come back to haunt him.
Most nights, he laid awake long after she had fallen asleep, stroking her hair or caressing her back, listening to her breathing. And it was the only thing that managed to calm him. She was there. She was safe. That was all that mattered.
But, one night, he laid stiff as a board, feeling the dread closing in on him. And it must have been palpable within the room for Emmaline raised her head from his chest, her eyes blurry with sleep, and asked, “Is everything alright, husband?”
Husband, he still could not grow used to that. Yet, it caused him to smile nonetheless. With a deep sigh, he forced a nod. “Yes, go back to sleep,” he whispered into the near darkness of the room.
But she did not go back to sleep. Instead, her hand slipped beneath the bed covers, stroking down his abdomen, playing with the small amount of hair there before she travelled lower. His breath caught in his throat when she took him in hand and started to stroke.
With gritted teeth, he gripped her wrist to stop her. “Go back to sleep.”
