“I knew I could count on you!” Violet was all smiles and sunshine now, and as she began to babble about the new wardrobe her husband was providing her for when they went to London for the Season, Daisy stared at her sightlessly, her mind racing.
Flynn had only been gone for a month or so when she’d found the first letter from him in the waste bin near the table in the entryway where the mail was kept. Violet had carelessly tossed it away without even opening it. By then, she’d already caught Heath’s eye and decided she no longer needed to worry about the younger son when she might bring the future earl to heel.
Daisy had opened the letter, feeling no guilt for doing so, and his lonely words had brought tears to her eyes. He was far from home, and he thought he had left someone who cared for him behind, someone whose letters would help him to get through the ordeal he was soon to face. So, she’d written back, pretending to be Violet.
After that, she’d prowled the front hall every morning, making sure she was the first one to look through the mail when the post came and intercepting all of his letters before finally bribing one of the footmen to bring everything from him to her room. Those long, emotion-filled letters had become the highlight of her life, and she was certain the ones she’d written in return had meant the same to him.
How devastated he must have been to arrive home and find Violet married to his own brother! No wonder he had taken himself off to the dower house. What must he be thinking?
Oh, Flynn. I never wanted to hurt you.
“Was he badly hurt?” she asked suddenly, realizing that he only would have come home so unexpectedly if he’d been wounded. Ever since word of the Battle of Balaklava had reached home, she’d been so worried for him. And she hadn’t had a letter from him since though she’d checked relentlessly.
“Who?” Violet scrunched her face up in confusion.
“Flynn,” Daisy answered impatiently.
Violet waved a dismissive hand. “I think he was shot. Or was it a saber wound to the side? I can’t remember.”
“Shot!” Daisy cried. “Will he be all right?”
“He walked into the house under his own power. He seemed a little pale and wan, but I’m certain he’ll be fine.”
Daisy pushed herself to her feet again, determined to take action immediately. “I must go to him,” she said, more to herself than to her sister. “I must see if he is all right.”
“Don’t forget to make sure he doesn’t tell Heath about our... previous dalliance,” Violet called from behind her as Daisy rushed from the room.
Daisy ignored her and hurried to the kitchen. She could care less about what Flynn did or didn’t say to his brother about his relationship with Violet. However, she did need to find a way to tell him that the person he’d been writing to all these years, the person he’d truly gotten to know and, hopefully, fallen in love with, was not Violet at all.
Chapter Three
Flynn had just settledinto his bed for a much-needed nap when someone pounded on the door of the dower house. He sighed, gazing at the ceiling in impatient dismay. Since he’d taken up residence here yesterday, there had been a steady stream of servants sent to tempt him to come up to the manor.
He sensed they’d been sent by Violet, but he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t come herself. He needed to speak to her, needed to know what had happened, but had no interest in doing so in front of an audience. There were always servants lurking around in the manor house, so if she wanted to talk to him, she would have to come down here herself. It was the least she could do...
When the knocking continued, he bellowed, “Go away!”
