Susan shot to her feet.
It wasn’t a pet. She hadn’t even been close with that guess. It was the last thing she could possibly have anticipated. Her heart beat double-time, and her blood seemed to sing through her veins. It was the mostaliveshe had felt since leaving Heathmare, and the difference was stark.
“Leah.”
There she stood, looking pink-cheeked and happy. Healthier than Susan had seen her in years. It was shocking. The last time the sisters had been in the same room, Leah had been pale and tired, with dark circles under her eyes, skin and bones from the stress stealing her appetite. But right now, she looked like the sister Susan had grown up with. Happy. Whole.
Susan ran across the room and flung her arms around her sister, and Leah caught her, laughing. She embraced Susan tightly, and for a moment, Susan recalled what it had felt like to have an older sister around all the time. How comforting it had been to have someone who understood her, who wanted to protect her.
“When did you return to London?” Susan asked. “I thought you were far away from here?”
“I was,” Leah agreed. “But when I received Marina’s letter, I knew I had to come back. I had to see you.”
Horror struck through Susan’s momentary happiness. She whirled to face Marina. “You brought her back?”
“I had to, Susan,” Marina said. “You aren’t eating. You hardly sleep. And you don’t listen to me about any of it.”
“She thought you needed your elder sister,” Leah said gently. “And if what Marina has told me is true, Susan, I agree. It sounds as if you’re suffering greatly. You would have come for either one of us if the situation were reversed.”
Susan couldn’t answer that. The situationhadbeen reversed. Leah had been through horrible things, and Susan hadn’t saved her from them. It felt wrong, somehow, that Leah should be returning from the relative peace and safety she had found for Susan’s sake.
“Marina,” she said, “Leah went to Scotland because she could be safe there. Because her child would be safe there. You shouldn’t have brought her back, and certainly not for me.”
“Of course she should,” Leah said. “You can’t imagine I wouldn’t want to be here. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened?”
Susan shook her head. Unhappiness was building within her once more, though she wished heartily she could have denied it. She didn’t seem capable of pushing those feelings away. “I don’t want to talk about any of this.”
“Susan…” Marina wheedled.
But Leah nodded. “It’s all right, Susan,” she said. “You don’t have to discuss it if you don’t want to.”
Marina was wide-eyed. “She doesn’t? But… Leah, you know this is why I sent for you. Why I wanted you to come.”
“I know,” Leah said gently. “But if Susan isn’t ready to talk about what she’s feeling, we can’t make her do it. That wouldn’t be right or kind. And I’m happy to be here with my sisters regardless. It’s been such a very long time since the three of uswere together.” She turned to Marina. “I think tea is in order. And when your husband returns home, I would like very much to sit down and talk to the man who has stolen my baby sister’s heart.”
Marina giggled. Susan simmered. How could Marina be giggling at a time like this?
“Leah,” she tried. “It isn’t that I’m not happy to see you. You must know I am.”
“Of course I know,” Leah said softly.
“But you’re safer in Scotland. You must go back.”
“It’s all right. George doesn’t know I’m here. And even if he did, he is far away, off at the battlefront. There would be nothing he could do.”
“I can’t believe you still call him by his name.”
“You’d have me call him the Earl of Tropshire?”
“It’s less familiar.”
“It is,” Leah said mildly. “But it also gives him more respect than I want to offer. To refer to him by his title offers him dignity, and I don’t want to do that. For me, it’s better to think of him as simply… George.”
“Just a man,” Marina said, nodding. “I like that.”
“And we don’t need to think of him,” Leah said. “We don’t owe him anything. Certainly not our attention. He doesn’t know I’m in London, and I’ve left Joshua safely in Scotland just in case anything should go wrong, so George won’t get to him.”
“The very fact that you took such a step tells me that you’re afraid he might get to you!” Susan threw up her hands. “What if he has associates in London who are looking for you?”
