“Two-and-twenty is hardly an old maid,” Jane scoffed. “You would be inundated with offers of marriage.”
Bridget laughed, but inside her heart cracked. The truth was that if she ever wanted to marry and have a family, she would have to leave Villa De Lacey and Nate behind. But the alternative was to grow old while living in Lady Luxton’s shadow.
Just then, Bennett appeared with a silver tray in his hand and stood on the shore a few feet from Nate. Nate stepped out of the water, put Edmund down, and took an envelope off the silver tray Bennett held. Bridget watched as he opened the envelope and read the letter enclosed within. She saw the color drain from his face as he finished reading, and her chest tightened. Had something happened to Henry?
She stood and went to him. “What is it? Is something the matter?”
Nate dismissed Bennett and then turned his attention to Bridget. “It’s my brother,” he said. “He and the countess were both killed in a carriage accident.”
Bridget gasped.
“I am summoned to London as the new Earl of Westerly.”
