Miranda had thought herself in love once, but she had been so wrong. How could she ever trust herself again?
Solway now rose with his champagne glass aloft. “I’ll second that sentiment, and add that ye ladies may always look to us should ye ever be in need of assistance. I’ll be escorting ye to London, but it is my heartfelt wish no’ to part ways afterward. With yer permission, I would very much like our friendship to continue and prosper.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Gwenys responded, “I certainly hope so.”
Miranda knew he was waiting for her to say something, but she merely raised her glass.
She saw the disappointment in his expression when she took a token sip of her drink so as not to appear rude, and then set it down.
How could she encourage him?
Perhaps if he were not a danger to her heart, it would be easier for her to be light and cheerful about the possibility of their forming a friendship.
They returned to the Lampton Inn shortly afterward. She and Gwenys bade the gentlemen a good evening and retired to their chamber. She caught Gwenys glancing at the door to the room numbered twenty, which was immediately next to theirs.
“Lady Wharton was so mean, Aunt Miranda. What distorts a person like that? Especially one who is given every advantage in life?”
“We won’t ever see her again, Gwenys. Do not dwell on her.”
“Do you think she will chase after Solway once we are back in London?”
Miranda’s heart gave a little tug. “I do not know, nor do I care.”
“That is so cruel of you, too,” Gwenys chided her as they entered their quarters. “He has treated you very nicely.”
“So did my husband before we were married,” Miranda shot back, slamming the door shut after them and immediately regretting it.
First of all, she did not truly believe Solway was like that wretch she’d once had the misfortune to call husband. Nor was she pleased that she had behaved like a petulant child just now. It was not like her ever to lose her composure. Unfortunately, despite all her efforts to fashion a good life for herself over the ensuing years, her husband’s betrayal still stung her badly.
But she could not forget that the Lawsons were Gwenys’s family, too. Indeed, her father was now the Earl of Lowery, having inherited the title upon the death of her deceitful wretch of a husband.
She should not be speaking ill about any of them. Despite Gwenys’s obvious love and loyalty for her, the fact remained that these men Miranda was thinking ill of were Gwenys’s father and uncle. They were her blood kin.
She also had to be careful what she said about the witch of a stepmother.
Gwenys’s father had remarried shortly after Gwenys’s mother had died. The new wife was a waspish woman, petty and constantly scheming to cut Gwenys out of her father’s life so that she and the stepdaughter could take precedence.
And men could be so foolish in this regard, for Gwenys’s father did not see this happening at all and often went along with his wife’s manipulative wishes. This was why Miranda had taken Gwenys into her home, determined to shield the good and loving girl from that intolerable situation.
Miranda hoped she would not prove to be just as awful to Gwenys in a different way. She could not allow her own hurtful marriage experience to interfere with her niece’s happiness.
Yes, she had to be very careful about this.
They helped each other unlace their gowns, and then Gwenys helped Miranda don her nightgown. Her ribs still pained her, which meant she could not raise her arms above her head without feeling sore. However, Tilda had efficiently bound her rib cage this morning before she and Solway had journeyed to Edinburgh, and those bindings were holding up well. “Sweet dreams, Gwenys. We’re to get an early start in the morning.”
“Sweet dreams to you, Aunt Miranda,” Gwenys said as they climbed into their separate beds.
Miranda blew out the candle and lowered her head wearily to the pillow. Her ribs had been mostly bruised and only one or two ever so slightly fractured, but the strain of pretending they did not hurt at all had left her exhausted.
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Something stirred her awake a few hours later, and she sat up with a grunt.
What had alarmed her?
She quietly lit her candle and held it up while looking about the room. A soft amber light fell upon Gwenys’s bed…Gwenys’semptybed.
Miranda gasped.
