Sophie laughed as Christina laid out the letter. “I do not mean to tease you, my dear sister. You did look very grave when you returned to the ballroom, I must say. I would have expected delight in your expression rather than concern.”
Christina did not smile and nor did she respond. Instead, she looked down at the letter in her hand and felt herself shudder.
The words were stern, as if she were a child being spoken to by her father. They were cold, instructing her on what she was to do. They were demanding, unyielding, threatening that if she did not do as was asked, then the very worst of things would fall upon her.
She would be ruined – and all because she did not do as this letter had said.
“Christina?” Her sister sat up a little straighter, her voice seeming to come from very far away as Christina took in short, sharp breaths, an ache settling just below her ribs. “Is there something wrong?”
A hiss of air broke from Christina’s lips as she gestured to the letter, unable to say a single word nor take her eyes from it. Sophie rose to her feet in an instant, coming towards Christina and then picking up the letter. The moment it was lifted out of her sight, Christina felt able to breathe again, her eyes closing as hot tears began to push forward.
“Goodness, who wrote this to you?”
“It does not say.” Christina shivered again, her eyes still closed. “The seal bore no mark also.”
Before her sister could respond, a knock at the door brought them both to a pause. Christina forced her eyes open as the butler came in to announce the arrival of a visitor.
“Lord Coventry, my lady.”
Christina tried to stand, but the weakness in her frame was too great. She held out one hand to him as he came in, seeing the smile crack in an instant as he looked to her. “Coventry, thank goodness you came to call.”
There was no hesitation on his part, nothing to hold him back despite the presence of Sophie. With quick steps, he hurried to her, taking her hand and then bending low so he could look up into her eyes. “My dear Christina, are you unwell?”
She shook her head, pain racing up her chest and tying a knot in her throat. Was this to be the last time they would ever be in company together? This threat was severe indeed, and since she could not tell where it had come from, Christina feared that she would have no other choice but to obey it. No matter what she felt, this letter had to be followed.
Lord Coventry searched her face and then kissed her palm lightly, sending a wave of heat crashing over her, bringing a fresh agony to her heart. Was this to be the last time they would ever be together like this?
“Christina received a letter only a few minutes ago.” Sophie set the letter down on the small table to Christina’s right, and she watched Lord Coventry’s gaze go straight to it. “Let me go speak with the maid who brought it. Mayhap she will recall who brought it.” Her eyes, soft with sympathy but gleaming with a hint of steely anger, settled on Christina. “Will you be all right, Christina? I will only be away for a few minutes.”
She nodded, her fingers now threaded through Lord Coventry’s. Sophie quit the room at once, and tears instantly began to burn in Christina’s eyes. Sniffing, she shook her head, her fears beginning to grow like a weed.
“Might I read this letter, Christina?”
She reached for it, her fingertips tingling as if the ink had poisoned her in some way, the tremor still in her hands. “Yes. Of course.” She did not need to be reminded of what was alreadywritten there, the words running through her like cold water, chilling her to the bone.
Lord Coventry took the letter from her, his fingers brushing hers. Watching his eyes as they ran over the brief lines written there, she saw his jaw tighten, his eyes narrowing as if the letter itself was responsible for the darkness written there.
“‘I have seen you with Lord Coventry. He is not the right match for you, Christina’,” Lord Coventry read aloud, making her tremble with the dread each word had upon her. “‘You will stay back from him. You will end any connection so that you might look to me instead. If you do not, then you may consider your reputation torn from you. I will make certain of it.’”
The room felt too small as she dragged in an unsteady breath. “Someone has taken very poorly to the notion of our connection.”
“It is from the dance last evening,” he muttered, still gazing down at the letter. “Someone has taken note of it and has decided to write to you about what they now fear.” Lifting his head, fire burning in his gaze, his fingers pressing hers gently. “You do not know who wrote it, then?”
He stopped then, his gaze dropping to the letter in his hand, his brows drawing together. For a long moment he did not speak; when he looked up at her again, the fire in his eyes had sharpened into something colder.
“Forgive me, Christina. A thought has struck me that I cannot quite set aside. Three evenings ago — Lord Wickton hosted a dinner. I was not present, but he told me of it afterward. He said — with that sheepish laugh of his — that he may have let slip to several of his guests that I held an interest in you.” His mouth hardened. “I thought nothing of it at the time.”
Christina lifted her head a little, scarcely breathing.
“But the timing,” he said. “The letter was sent last evening. George is out of the house, his testimony locked safely in yourown writing desk — and yet the writer has moved swiftly enough to strike anew. Wickton’s dinner, a careless word, servants passing between rooms.” His jaw tightened. “Pennington has his connections among the serving class. We know it too well, you and I. It takes only one willing ear.”
A chill spread through her, sharper than the one the letter had brought. “You believe it was him.”
“I believe the shape of it is his.” Lord Coventry’s fingers closed around hers. “I cannot yet prove the hand that held the pen. But I mean to.”
She shook her head. “There was no seal pressed into the wax.” Her stomach dropped, and she released his hand, wrapping both arms around herself as if she wanted to find a way to hold everything that was unravelling in place. Her breathing grew quicker, her eyes closing tightly as sobs threatened to wrack her frame.
“Christina, my love.”
