“We don’t know that,” he replied with a sigh. “We don’t know what His Grace will do. We don’t know that he’ll ever wake up.”
“Do not say that!” she begged, as a sob wracked her chest. “Please, do not say that.”
Mr. Miller glanced down at her. “I just don’t want you to raise your hopes, Your Grace.” He turned his attention back to the shadowed path to the stables. “We’ll go to London, as planned, and all will be well. No matter what, I won’t let them punish you for this.”
She pulled away from him and stopped dead on the edge of the lawn. “Doyoubelieve me?”
“We don’t have time for this,” the butler replied, as he tried to reach for her again.
She stepped out of his grasp. “Do you think I did this? Tell me, and tell me honestly, or I shall not go anywhere with you.”
He was one of her most trusted friends, one of her most loyal servants, second only to his sister. Ifhethought that she had done this awful thing, then she had no hope whatsoever.
Katherine believes you…It was a small comfort, though it would not help. A magistrate wouldn’t listen to the testimony of a lady’s maid and take it seriously. Beatrice’s version of events, however…
He puffed out a breath. “Of course, I believe you, Your Grace.” He offered a sympathetic smile. “I know without doubt that you didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not doing this because I think you are guilty. I’m doing this to protect you.”
Anna hesitated, listening for any hint of doubt in his voice, searching for any on his face. But he gazed at her in earnest and held out his hand.
“I believe you,” he insisted.
In truth, she was just so glad to hear that someone else knew she wasn’t capable of such wickedness that she didn’t hesitate anymore. She took his hand and let him lead her on to the stables, even though her heart was still upstairs in her bedchamber, lying on the floor with pillows under his head. Still unconscious. Still waiting for the physician’s help.
“Will you stay in correspondence with Katherine?” Anna asked as he ushered her into the sheltered gloom of the stables. “Will you tell me if Jeremy survives?”
Mr. Miller walked toward the stable entrance, on his way to fetch a driver and to have the stablemaster prepare the coach. He turned to look at her, his brow furrowed. “You shouldn’t concern yourself with that, right now. Let’s just get you out of here and think about what’s next once you’re safe and away from this place.”
He vanished into the darkness, leaving her alone amid the animal scents and anxious nickering of the horses, with no idea if she would ever be able to return to her beloved home. And no idea if her equally cherished husband would make it through the night.
I cannot lose him,she prayed, her hands clasped.Please, I cannot lose him.
There was too much she needed to tell him, too many things she wanted to experience with him, and too much life she wanted to live by his side. As she stood there, tears falling down her cheek, she cursed herself for not telling him sooner, for not saying that, even if he could not love her, she could not help but love him.
Completely.
CHAPTER 29
What is that sound? Where am I? Are the festivities still going on?
Jeremy was dimly aware of voices around him, low and muffled, as if through a bathtub of water. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t open his eyes, or why his chest felt as if there was a heavy block sitting on it, but he sensed that something wasn’t quite right.
“Your Grace?” A clearer voice. Masculine. Vaguely familiar.
Jeremy’s eyelids flickered, faint shapes visible through the thin barrier of skin. Yet, he still could not quite open his eyes, as if they were somehow stuck.
“Who’s… there?” he managed to rasp, grateful that he was still able to speak.
A relieved gasp rattled in his ears from somewhere nearby. A feminine sound, but it didn’t belong to the woman he wanted to hear.
“Can you hear us, Jeremy?” a different voice asked.
Confusion swirled in Jeremy’s foggy mind. “Colin?”
“Yes! Yes, it is me!” the voice replied.
What on earth was he doing here? Surely, that meant that Jeremy must still be at the wedding celebrations… yet some part of him was certain that he had left the festivities a while ago. Yes, he had left when he noticed Anna sneaking out.
Anna… My wife, Anna…
