The sound of their carriage pulling up outside signified that the time had come for Priscilla and Chloe to leave. The three younger girls turned to go back upstairs, effectively dismissing them, and Chloe moved toward the door.
But there was one last thing Priscilla needed to do.
“I’ll be out in a moment,” she said.
Chloe stared at her but then shrugged and slipped outside. There was nothing else to say—nothing either of them could do.
Left alone, Priscilla tilted her head back, taking one last look at the magnificence of the manor. She reached behind her neck and unfastened the clasp of the chain holding the pendant he’d given her.
She’d been oh, so tempted to keep it so she’d have something to remind her of a time when he’d almost loved her, but he’d given it to her believing she was Allison. And even though he’d said it wasn’t valuable, taking it was tantamount to theft.
She’d decided to leave it, along with a letter she’d struggled to write, on his desk where he’d be the only person to find them.
Rushing, but also careful to make as little noise as possible, she scurried back upstairs and around the corner.
But as she opened the door to his study, her knees nearly gave out. That woodsy clove scent that was uniquely his filled her nostrils. For a moment, she expected him to appear.
She hadn’t prepared herself to be assaulted by memories.
She forced her eyes to focus, and aside from a few empty glasses littering the room and some bits of mud trailing across the carpet, it was unoccupied.
She’d cleaned similar mud off her own boots the night before. How many times had he prevented her from falling as they’d climbed the treacherous path? She’d felt safe. Protected.
She blinked. Now was not the time to dwell on what had once been.
Intentionally ignoring the sitting area and all too aware that she was an unwelcome intruder, she crossed swiftly to his desk.
Dirt littered the surface, and she pictured him reclining there, arms crossed, scowling perhaps as he contemplated her betrayal.
Because she had betrayed him horribly.
And with a shaking hand, she placed her letter in the center of the desk and the pendant on top of it.
But then the hair on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end, and when she turned around, she found she was no longer alone.
Emerson stood in the threshold, his expression dark and his eyes stormy.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to leave this here.” She was embarrassed to have been caught but also relieved that she would see him one last time. Even if he was glowering at her.
It served her right that this should be their final encounter.
When he didn’t answer, she added, “We’re leaving.”
“I am aware,” he said, and she realized how much she’d craved his voice overnight. “I suppose you think I don’t pay attention to the goings-on under my own roof.”
“Of course not.” She shook her head. “I—"
“With good reason.” He sounded so cold. She had done this to him!
Her heart throbbed when he stepped inside and then ached when he made sure to steer clear of her. Spying the items she’d left behind, he scooped up the pendant, tossed it in the air, and then pocketed it.
Embarrassed by what she’d written in her letter, she bit her lip. “Please, don’t open it while I’m here.” She’d poured out her heart to him.
She’d thanked him and told him she’d never forget their time together. And then she’d told him who she was—who she really was.
She’d wished him well, hoping that someday he might forgive her.
But now, seeing him standing in his study, looking so unapproachable and hard, she doubted that day would ever come.
