Chapter 26
The coach rumbled to a halt as Leah stepped down to the ground in front of her brother’s house. For a moment, she stopped and stared at the grand edifice, thinking how odd it was that the last time she was here, she was leaving on the arm of Mr. Bernard and headed for the fated Cyprian’s ball. It seemed as though that was a lifetime ago, so much had happened since then. The least of which was her brother’s involvement with trying to overthrow the Crown.
It was almost unfathomable for her to process, but as the door opened and a smiling Agnes came floating down the steps, Leah’s attention was cut short by her sister-in-law’s brilliant arrival. Gone were the dark circles beneath her eyes and the modest demeanor. She was a woman who had been freed from her bonds—and it showed.
She embraced Leah warmly. “I’m so glad you are here. No doubt it was the last place you wanted to return, but believe me when I say there was a reason that I wished to summon you here so hastily.”
Leah nodded her head and glanced at Matthew who gave her a wink of encouragement. The edges of her mouth twitched and she followed Agnes into the house and into the front parlor. Again, it was an odd sensation, because she had been entertained here just a few short weeks ago. This time, the reception was entirely altered. There was no chill to the air, no frosty greetings, just kindness and a sense of… relief.
Then again, there had been no love lost between Leah and her brother. They had been at odds since the day she’d been born. While she had never wished any harm to Henry, she did not approve of his actions either. Especially when Agnes revealed the vicar’s true nature. Now that her sister-in-law had the freedom to wear gowns of her choosing, the fashionable lowered necklines and puffed sleeves, it also heightened the dark bruises on the side of her neck that were no longer concealed.
“Did Henry do that to you?”
At her query, Agnes lifted a hand and absently brushed the marks staining her skin. “My husband was not a kind man most days,” was all she offered. “He had a temper that he blamed on everyone but himself. He believed that women had to know their place.” To Leah’s surprise, Agnes reached out and grasped her hand. Her eyes were filled with supplication. “You must forgive me for not coming to your aid with my brother, nor telling you the whole story of our association, but I was afraid for my life should I say anything, and for yours if you were to learn the truth.”
“I don’t blame you in any way,” Leah returned. “You were an innocent victim to their crimes, just as I was.”
“At least something good can come from all of this,” Agnes declared with a soft smile. She moved to the escritoire in the corner of the room and removed a paper that she brought back to her. “This is the address of the solicitor in London that Henry used.”
Leah read the name but shook her head. “I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”
“You are Henry’s sole heir,” she proclaimed.
Leah blinked. “What? But you’re his wife.”
“That may be, but he wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving me a single ha’penny. He has always had your name on his will, thinking that you wouldn’t outlive him, for one reason or another. Since it is unlikely that Henry will be with us for much longer after he committed high treason, I thought you should know that, while the manor house shall be left to the next vicar, you are welcome to sell off all the furnishings as you see fit.”
Leah blinked. “I—” She stopped, because words had abruptly failed her.
“There is nothing to say,” Agnes said firmly. “I am glad to leave this place with the few belongings I came with and return to family who will ensure that I’m properly settled as a future widow.”
A shiver crawled up Leah’s spine when she considered Henry’s demise, but she reminded herself that he was in a prison of his own making.
“While my brother has suffered the same fate, I can no longer worry about anyone other than myself and my future happiness. I married Henry at the behest of my parents. They were under the impression that a vicar would be a good husband. But all of us were fooled by his even demeanor. However, when my dowry was soon wasted and Henry began to show the man beneath the outer cloth, I knew I was in trouble. By then, it was too late.” She sighed heavily, her focus softening. “I don’t mean to lay all of this at your door. You have had your share of troubles, but I do know that you and Henry were not close, so don’t feel guilty for taking what will soon be rightfully yours. There may not be much for you, but perhaps it will help you get a fresh start.”
Leah thought of Harlan and how she was yearning for him. “I was rather hoping I might have found someone to share that burden with me,” she murmured.
Agnes smiled. “Don’t ever give up hope. It is all that we truly have that no one can take from us.”
Leah spentmost of the day with Agnes, and when it was time to go, she gathered her valise and told Agnes she would think about what to do with the rest. She had burst into tears the moment she’d spied her mother’s miniature in her bag, thinking that it might have been lost forever. If Henry hadn’t been caught in his part trying to overthrow the queen, it very well might have been.
She was grateful that Agnes was a kind, caring woman who held no bitterness toward her. She could have decided that Leah was guilty by association just being Henry’s sister. Following their conversation, she could rest easy knowing that things were amicable between them.
While Leah was still uncertain about her own future, she had to believe that when Harlan was well enough for them to speak, she would talk to him and see if she should stay in England or sell off her brother’s effects and perhaps, return to France. She would be nursing a broken heart, but she wouldn’t beg for Harlan’s love. He had to give it freely, or not at all.
Dusk was starting to fall across the valley as the coach departed. It had been a long day and considering the unease she’d been made to suffer wondering about Harlan, she found it easy to doze off.
“Stand and deliver!”
Leah awoke with a gasp, her hand flying out to catch herself before the coach lurched and sent her crashing into the window as it had before.
Instead of fear, her throat ached with unshed tears. If she didn’t know better, the voice outside sounded just like—
The door wrenched open and there he was.
She went from sadness to shock in the same instant. “Harlan?” She took in his mask and the dark clothing and wondered if she was dreaming.
But when she would have pinched herself, he climbed into the carriage and put his hands on her face. Bending down, he took her mouth for a kiss so sweet and sensual that it literally stole her breath.
