She met Alex’s eyes, the darkness of the night pulling down on her. Christopher was still threatening him, even after everything. Alex could have died and George was near death. She had no idea what to say at a time like this. How could one move forward after so much pain?
“Thank you,” she managed, “for all you’ve done for my brothers.” Two more tears fell in unison down her cheeks.
Alex cleared his throat. “I should have been the one who took that bullet. All of this is my fault for thinking I could steal you away.” As he so often did, he raked a hand through his hair. “What can I do for you? How can I help?”
She knew too well what had to happen. “I fear”—she started to sob—“you must leave us forever. No matter our love for each other, Alex, it isn’t worth death.” She gestured back to the door. “The cost is too great.”
He tried for a weak smile on his downcast face. “But I love you, Charlotte. I do not wish to leave.”
“We have torn my family apart,” she cried. It was the thought that had been pushing against her brain, and no matter how much she hated it, she had to follow through. “Please go. We need to act for them, not ourselves. I am so sorry.”
His heavy eyes filled with tears. He held her close and kissed her on the forehead. For one intimate moment, she felt his love, his care, his strength.
And then he stepped back, and it was gone. He offered only a tired, sad, lopsided smile. “I decided to accept the clean shirt this time.”
Only now did she notice the bloodstained cloth draped over his arm and his newer linen, which must have been from George’s room.
He reached his ungloved hand for hers and caressed it. The warmth sent comfort through her, and she looked into his eyes, knowing his touch was nothing more than a farewell. He released her fingers. “Goodbye.”
Before she could even gather words for a reply, he was down the steps in the direction of the stables.
When she knew he was gone, she stumbled down the corridor and into her room, slumped against the window sill, and let the darkness envelop her, carrying with it the agony, the weight, of all she’d lost and the threat of even more heartbreak if George did not recover.
Chapter 35
Moxham waited for Alex withanxious eyes at the door of the stables.
“We are to leave immediately,” Alex said. He tried to hide the pain in his heart and the tears in his eyes. Just like when he was a boy, when all his hopes and dreams had been shattered, the only thing he could do was press on and get away so the grief couldn’t chase him down. “I’ll tell you my plan while we ride.”
Moxham nodded, then hefted himself onto Cobalt’s back. Alex climbed up behind him.
“I am sorry I put you through all of that,” Alex said. They rode toward Alnwick at a slower pace on account of the weight.
“I would stand by ye no matter the situation,” Moxham said behind him.
“I know you would, but standing in those woods, my life in jeopardy, I have realized I haven’t been deliberate enough in my efforts to make changes in the mines.” Alex sighed and turned north. “I know now that I can’t do that under Cartwright’s watch. I was blinded by the wages and positions I could obtain.” He heaved a sigh. “And more than that, I never should have come back here. I love Charlotte with all that I am, but she has bid me leave to protect her family.” He shook his head. “The best thing I can do to give her some semblance of peace is to leave her alone forever.” Saying the words out loud only cut the wound open anew, and as sensible and safe as he knew it was to do as Charlotte had asked, he hated every part of it.
“Jenkins,” Moxham said, “if ye love her, there must be some way—”
“Just hours ago, I thought that too.” He drew a hand over his face, feeling sweat and blood starting to dry there. “But it can’t be.” Anger and sorrow welled within him, and he gritted his teeth, wondering how much of his agony Moxham noticed.
They rode on in silence until the first shadows of city buildings came into view, silhouetted by the rising sun. “Now, listen closely. When we get to the apartment, I will leave straightway. I am going to settle things with Cartwright once and for all. I cannot work for that man any longer; I cannot countenance his deceit. I intend to tell him all I learned about your Mags and who knows how many others who have gone missing or been injured and never been taken care of. Every minute I am employed by him is just more time contributing to his deceit. There must be some way to expose him, but it cannot be while I work for him. I should have left years ago.”
They rode on steadily, and Alex tried to stifle his sigh. “I will no longer be able to employ you, Moxham, but I have enough saved that I can give you this month’s wages. You can also stay in the apartment I rented for Charlotte and myself. I want you to take your time looking for a position, and maybe one for Margaret too. Now that you can read, I think you can find something with a high enough wage to provide better for you both.”
“But, Jenkins,” Moxham replied, “what will happen to ye?”
Thoughts of Alex’s destitute future started to creep in like a fog, but he pushed them away. “Don’t worry about me. I will find something else. Perhaps I’ll move to Town and start fresh.” He sighed. How could he be so self-centered even now? A much bigger problem weighed on his mind. “If George Roylance doesn’t fully recover or, heaven forbid, dies from infection, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”
“No.” Moxham shook his head, his voice a low rustle. “If that man dies, it will be his brother’s fault.” He sucked in a tight breath. “That man is pure evil.”
At Moxham’s words, Alex felt his blood start to simmer. The predawn light filled the sky, bringing with it illuminated resolve. Terror and guilt about George consumed him, searing into him like a firebrand. He had to leave this place. He was in control of so little now, but the one wrong he could right was his employment.
He’d started in the mines out of a dire necessity to live. He’d worked himself out of the worst positions because he was terrified of dying. But he’d stayed at the mines as the assistant to Mr. Cartwright because he longed for the kind of life he once knew.
Charlotte’s sad eyes played in his memory. Christopher had said that Alex wanted the land, and he hadn’t denied it. Because part of himhadwanted that land, wanted the prestige in Cartwright’s eyes and financial security it could bring, the lucrative potential it possessed.
But how wrong that had been. He loved Charlotte, but in that moment when her eyes had pled with him, he had failed her.
