“I watched my husband grow more desperate. He had plowed through his fortune and the handsome dowry I brought to the marriage. When he was out riding, I rummaged through his papers and discovered a letter from a Mr. Ross, one of the trustees. It was clear that Farnborough intended to dispose of me in order to access the trust. I feared for Julia’s life. I hoped to escape and then remove her from the school. But I failed.” She rubbed her eyes. “My loyal maid, Annabel, helped me escape. We left in the middle of the night, but Farnborough discovered me gone a few hours later and came after us. He discovered us at an inn some miles away and crept into our room and struck me down. When my maid disturbed him, he climbed out a window, believing he had killed me. Then, Annabel, to whom I owe my life, found a means to get me safely here to Meredith, traveling on a tradesman’s wagon.” She smiled. “She has since married the fellow, and they have a farm over yonder.”
“He must believe you’re dead, hence the fake burial.”
“He couldn’t be sure, but he never knew about Meredith, you see. Because I knew how cruel he could be, I never told him about her.”
Ash and Thea stayed to dine with them as Lady Farnborough made tentative plans for her and Julia’s future.
“Then I don’t have to go back to that horrid school?” Julia asked, her voice wavering.
“Never again, my dear,” her mother said.
Julia sagged in her chair. She looked so exhausted, Thea’s heart went out to her.
“Then I must caution you to stay put until we have dealt with your husband,” Ash said.
“But what can you do, Lord Grainger?”
“Farnborough will answer for this, have no doubt,” Ash said, avoiding her question. “I will write when I have news.”
The fear that Farnborough would strike again, which had been subverted by this wonderful discovery, returned, and sheer terror engulfed her once again.
When they departed, declining the offer of a bed, night had fallen, and a sliver of a moon shone down from the star-studded sky. Thea didn’t want to be alone. If only Ash wouldn’t leave her. Farnborough was on both their minds as they sought an inn for the night.
“I wonder what the sleeping arrangements would have been,” Thea said, knowing Ash would never have agreed to stay there. “Miss Bannockburn would have insisted I have her bed.”
“And I that sofa,” Ash said with a grimace. “My spine hurts to think of it.”
“Do you have a bad back, like my father?” She asked with an innocent expression, longing to return to lightness and happy times when they laughed together.
His blue eyes gleamed as he raised an eyebrow. “My back is fine, thank you. As you will discover after we marry.”
The meaning of his words sent a thrill rushing through her.
They found the local inn, a respectable two-story building, which appeared to be well run, the footman neatly dressed and eager to serve.
As the coach disappeared around to the stables, Ash tipped the footmen who brought in the portmanteaus, then with his arm around her, escorted her into the vestibule. “I shall request a chambermaid to sleep on a truckle bed in your room.”
Disappointed, Thea gave a huff of disapproval. “That is not necessary.”
“I believe it is.”
Was he mindful of her reputation, or was it her safety? She could hardly argue with him here with people moving around them. Resigned, she waited while Ash reserved two bedchambers and paid for accommodation and a good meal for his staff.
Disheartened, although why she should be baffled her, Thea changed into her nightgown. She washed, brushed her hair, and climbed into bed.
The chambermaid, Betty, settled down in her truckle bed. A short time later, her snores filled the room.
Thea smiled into the dark. How wonderful to see Julia and her mother so blissfully happy.
The maid snorted loudly in her sleep.
Thea frowned. Here they were, miles from home, and she couldn’t help wishing they might have spent tonight together. Ash needn’t be so protective. A woman doesn’t always want to be safe. Thinking about him and what they might do if he was with her kept her wide awake. She didn’t anticipate sleeping with the room filled with the chambermaid’s snores, but eventually she did for a few hours, waking to the cock’s crow after an unsettling dream where she and Ash made love, the details of which remaining frustratingly obscure.
Ash joined her in the dining room for breakfast. “Did you have a good night?”
“No,” she said grumpily. Then she remembered the dream, and her cheeks flushed. “The chambermaid snored.”
“Oh?” He laughed. “I am sorry.”
