“I don’t feel anything for them. No remorse. No sorrow. I’m just so relieved they’re not able to hurt me. Does that make me an awful person?”
“No. No, it doesn’t, Addie. You owe them nothing. They robbed you of so much, and you owe them nothing.” He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.
It was nearly dawn when Isaac arrived home. He did his best to keep quiet, even though he knew the cook and some of the other servants were already up and preparing for the day.
He was more exhausted than he’d ever been, and all he wanted was to go to sleep, but Mina and Lena had other ideas.
“Uncle Isaac, did you save Princess Addie?” Mina came out of the shadows and fell into step beside him.
“Did you get the bad guys away from her?” Lena asked.
“Well, I must say this is a surprise,” he said, putting his arms around them. “Does your mother know you’re awake?”
Mina shook her head. “We couldn’t sleep. We heard you talking to Mama earlier, and we were worried for you and Princess Addie.”
“Don’t you know it’s not nice to eavesdrop, Miss Mina?” He gave her a stern look but couldn’t maintain it for long. He finally smiled. “Addie is fine.”
“And were the bad guys caught?” Lena asked.
“They were.”
“Will they go to jail for a long time?” Mina asked.
Isaac hated having to tell them about the violence that surrounded the situation. He knelt down. “Look, girls, it was a very bad situation, and Addie’s two brothers were determined.”
“Are they dead?” Mina pressed.
Isaac looked at her and nodded. “They are. They cannot hurt Addie ever again.”
Mina squared her shoulders. “I’m glad.” Lena nodded in agreement with her sister’s statement.
“Will they go to hell because they did bad things?” Lena asked innocently.
“It’s not the bad things that send a person to hell, Lena. It’s not having Jesus as your Savior that separates you from God. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to God except through Him.”
Mina nodded. “We had that for our memory verse.”
“Hell must be a terribly awful place,” Lena said, looking worried.
“It is,” Isaac agreed, “but we haven’t any reason to fear it. We have asked Jesus into our hearts. We have put our trust in Him. We belong to Him.”
The girls nodded, and Isaac stood. “I think it’s time we got to bed. I’m quite worn out, and yet I’m supposed to marry Princess Addie in a few hours.”
“You will still have a wedding here at the house, won’t you, so Lena and I can see?”
“Well, maybe we can figure out a way to have you at the hospital. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh yes, please,” Mina said while Lena clapped for joy.
He put his arm around them and headed to the stairs. It had been a long and fretful night, but through it all, Isaachad known God’s presence and felt such peace as he’d never known.
He ushered the girls to the nursery, then headed down the hall to where his room was situated. After stripping off his clothes and donning his nightshirt, Isaac crawled into bed and sighed. With a prayer of thanks on his lips, he drifted off to sleep, knowing that in a few short hours he would acquire a wife. The love of his life.
24
Addie had just had her head bandages removed when a surprise visitor appeared at her door. Esther Danbury stood looking both apologetic and fearful.
“It’s not visiting hours,” the nurse said, collecting the discarded bandages.
