Page 68 of So Wild A Heart

“Yes. I confess I am a little tired myself. I haven’t danced that much for years. But I could hardly turn down that nice young doctor, and of course…” she grinned like a schoolgirl confessing a secret, “it is always magical dancing with your father.”

Miranda, who had danced with her father many times, found it an indication of Elizabeth’s considerable love for him, that she could deem his dancing magical.

Elizabeth took another gulp of the chocolate. She had taken a handkerchief out of the pocket of her skirt, and she was worrying it between her fingers now, twisting and pulling and wadding it up. Miranda’s gaze went down to the poor abused bit of linen.

“There is more, isn’t there? That isn’t all that brought you here.”

“Well…oh, dear. I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say it.”

“I know you will say I am being foolish.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Well, I—I—I’m just so worried!” she broke out finally, and Miranda realized with dismay that the older woman’s eyes were swimming with tears.

“Elizabeth, please…” She leaned over and laid her hand over her stepmother’s hands, to still them. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No!” Elizabeth laughed a little shrilly. “It’s not I who is in trouble. It is you!”

“Me? Whatever do you mean? I am doing quite well, I assure you.”

“No. No, you aren’t. Miranda, I think—” She turned her hands up and clutched her stepdaughter’s, squeezing them as if they were a lifeline. She stared into Miranda’s eyes, her own gaze filled with acute pain and fear. “Miranda, he is trying to kill you!”

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Miranda stared back at her stepmother blankly. “What? Who? What are you talking about?”

“Your husband. Lord Ravenscar.”

Miranda’s jaw dropped. Had Elizabeth completely lost her wits? “Dev?” she finally gasped.

“Yes. Dev. Miranda, think!” The light in Elizabeth’s eyes was a little unnerving. Involuntarily Miranda thought of the mad old man who had barged into their house in London, ranting about Devin murdering his granddaughter, and she shivered.

“There have been several attacks on your life since we came here,” Elizabeth went on earnestly.

“What? Elizabeth, what are you talking about?”

“You fell from that balcony.”

“Because I was foolish enough to lean on a railing that had been eaten by woodworms. That was all.”

“What about when you went riding and the chunk of rock almost killed you and Joseph.”

“That was an accident, too,” Miranda said soothingly.

“How can you say that?” Elizabeth replied agitatedly. She finished off the cup of hot chocolate, her hand trembling so that the cup rattled in the saucer when she set it back down. “You could have been killed either time.”

“Yes, but I was not. And there is nothing to say that they were not simply accidents.”

“Two such ‘accidents’ in a row!” Elizabeth’s voice rose to a squeak. “Don’t you see? He is trying to hurt you. Get rid of you. The man is wicked!”

“Elizabeth!” Miranda straightened, her face growing cold and set. “I cannot allow you to speak that way about my husband.”

“He has blinded you to his faults. I knew he would.” Tears sprang into her stepmother’s eyes.

“Elizabeth, please…” Miranda said more gently, putting her hand on Elizabeth’s arm in a soothing gesture. She knew that she should not allow her stepmother to anger her with her comments about Devin. It was obvious that something was affecting Elizabeth’s mind, and Miranda told herself that she must be gentle with the woman. “You are upsetting yourself over nothing. I know that Dev had a bad reputation, but that is not who he is. He is a good man. I am sure of it. He would not try to kill me.”