He smiled. “There you go being all serious again. Despite you having corrected me about your age, I still maintain you are far too serious for one so young.”
He consulted his fob then looked back at her. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded. Indeed, she was. Food had been the last thing on her mind in the cascade of events today.
“Let’s go see what cook has in the kitchen. If we’re lucky, she hasn’t put everything away yet.”
He held out his arm, and she grinned then curled her arm around his.
“Tomorrow...well, tomorrow promises to be a busy day,” he said as they left the sitting room. “We may as well enjoy a quiet evening. It may be the last one we have for a long while.”
Chapter Fourteen
Robert woke to insistent knocking. He glared at the offending door and promptly cursed it into oblivion. And then he realized. He was alive. Wondrously so. In the dark, predawn hours, he had feared he may not see the light so great was his pain.
He stretched cautiously, awaiting the agony to crawl over his body. To his surprise, he felt only mild discomfort.
“Come on, Robby, wake up,” Ridge called as he knocked again.
Robert grinned and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Good days were few and far between. He’d only experienced one in the last two weeks. But so far he was blissfully pain free, and he wanted to experience every single minute of this magnificent day.
He tottered a bit as he stood, but he caught himself on the bed posters. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he called as Ridge knocked again.
His heart lighter than it had been in months, he quickly pulled on his trousers and yanked a shirt over his head. As he started to leave the room, his gaze settled on the letter he had begun the night before.
He stood frozen in front of the small desk, staring at the quill and ink.
“I’ll be just a minute,” he said, raising his voice so that Ridge would hear.
He waited until he heard Ridge’s footsteps fade down the hallway then he sank down in the chair. It wasn’t any easier to write what he must today than it had been last night. But he felt he owed his father and mother to provide some explanation.
Grief intruded on his euphoric mood, and he buried his face in his hands. He slid his hand upwards until they tangled in his hair, and he swallowed convulsively to try and squelch the tears that stung his eyes.
Life wasn’t fair. But he wouldn’t waste a moment of it resenting the inevitable. Some things were just easier to accept when you knew you had no control over them.
He had spent a lot of time hating God before he realized the futility of such an action. And in his quieter more reflective moments, he actually drew comfort from talking to God in a non accusatory manner. And maybe this was his punishment for betraying his brother. Much like Cain and Abel.
He forced himself to pick up the quill, and he continued where he’d left off the evening before. Each word tore at him a little more. By the time he finished, his hands shook, and his writing was nearly illegible.
He dropped the quill and blew over the ink to dry it. After a moment’s hesitation, he folded and sealed the letter then wrote his father’s name on the front. He would have the letter delivered once he had departed for Spain.
Chapter Fifteen
“I wish you were coming with us,Beti.”
India took in Udaya’s concerned features, and tried to smile comfortingly at her. “It’s better this way and safer for you, Kavi and Ridge’s brother.”
“But not for you,” Udaya said, her expression stern.
“The viscount and I will be perfectly safe.”
India rose from her dressing table and surveyed the trunks scattered on the floor. Two were packed, but the rest were empty. Those would be loaded onto the ship to America. The rest would accompany Kavi and Udaya to Brighton.
Heaviness weighed on her heart. She turned around to face Udaya once more and smoothed her hands over the wrinkles in her trousers. “Why don’t you and Kavi stay here?”
Udaya’s gaze narrowed and she walked forward to place her hands over India’s. “What bothers you,Beti?”
India shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. She had been a fool to allow her friends to accompany her in the first place. Danger faced them from two directions. She had no idea what awaited them in Spain, but if someone would threaten her father’s life in order to obtain the means to reach the city, she couldn’t imagine her companions would be safe from harm either.
