Page 99 of An Inconvenient Vow

Sabina opened her mouth to point out that Isemay had not addressed Leland as one would an enemy, but her sister held up an admonishing finger.

“Am I to tell this tale or am I not?” she asked with dignity.

Sabina closed her mouth and inclined her head. “You are.”

“Very well then. I am sure I do not need to describe to you my feelings on this occasion, how my bosom burned with impotent rage. How I hungered and thirsted for revenge, yet knew, just knew the villain would escape without punishment, despite the fact that you, my savior, would be forced to endure a lifetime of suffering being married to one such as Sir Jeffree!”

Sabina felt her face grow hot. “Nay Isemay…” she protested, but again, her sister held up her hand.

“You will allow this is my tale to tell, sister.” Sabina pressed her lips together and nodded her assent. “After the occasion of your visit to Tipton Hall with your new husband, I realized how hopeless the situation was. Up until that point I still clung to a desperate belief that you could somehow be freed from your predicament. That hope died in my bosom after seeing you together. I realized there would be no escape for you, sister. Sir Jeffree made it quite plain that he would not countenance any separation. How bitter were my reflections that I should be the cause of your downfall.”

Isemay dashed a hand across her brimming eyes and Sabina reached out a hand to her. Her sister glanced at it but did not take it. “I know how much you suffered under the yoke of your first marriage, Sabina.” Her voice shook. “I could not forgive myself for being the cause of another period of such misery in your life. Not after your providential deliverance from the first.”

Sabina shook her head, but Isemay was staring down at the tabletop. “The burden felt almost unbearable that morning after you left. I felt utter despair. Mother and Father simply did not understand my feelings on the matter. I had to get away from their inane comments.” Her lip curled. “Mother would not stop speaking of the fine gowns and jewels that would now be yours. Father was almost as bad, saying it might have worked out for the best.”

“Neither of them understood that your life stood in ruins! I ran out of doors. You know how I always feel comforted by wild places, and I am not really sure why, but I felt if I could only get to Langley Woods I could preserve my sanity. I could scream and rail at the cruel fates and the iniquity of men and none would hear me or judge me for my fury.”

“I saddled up Top,” she said naming her father’s gray mare, “and I rode like a fiend all the way, almost to Morecotte indeed, but I did not wish to see that knave Hendry or his henchmen, so I stopped instead at the Maiden’s shrine at White Leaf Oak instead. I said a prayer there, then tethered Top in the grove before entering the wood to lose myself for a few hours.”

Isemay fell into brooding silence a moment. “You may guess what I wished for,” she said, directing a glance at Sabina then giving a short laugh. “Nay, not what they advise us women to pray for. Not for acceptance or strength to abide that which we cannot change, but for vengeance.” Her eyes burned at the memory.

“I asked the Maiden to give me vengeance for the wrong done to me, but I did not really think she would grant me my wish,” she admitted softly. “I should have had more faith.”

“Vengeance?” Sabina echoed in alarm.

Isemay nodded. “I am not sure how long I wandered in the wood before I stumbled on it. Maybe an hour or so, my heart festering in poison, almost choking on it. I felt like I was drowning.”

“It?” Sabina prompted when Isemay relapsed once more into silence.

“The body,” Isemay answered.

“Whose body?”

“Hmmm?” Isemay looked up. “Oh, Leland Ellis’s.”

“He was dead?”

Isemay nodded. “Or so I thought. He was lying there, completely lifeless, crumpled and torn, his skin quite gray and splattered in blood.”

Sabina raised a hand to her mouth. “But how…?”

Isemay shrugged. “I neither knew nor cared. In my dreamlike state, it seemed perfectly natural to find him there like that. An answer to prayer.” Samuel gave a low moan and covered his eyes with his hands.

“Samuel was still not involved in this point?” Sabina asked sharply, nameless dread forming in the pit of her stomach.

“Not at all,” Isemay answered simply, and Sabina was relieved to see Samuel’s eyes peering through his fingers were guileless as ever.

He shook his head. “I was still in ignorance at this point and wish to gods I had remained so!”

“What did you do?” Sabina asked quickly, seeing the irritable look Isemay flashed at Samuel.

“What else?” her sister continued. “I gave my heartfelt thanks and started gathering wildflowers, leaves, and twigs to cover his broken body. I felt exultant, ecstatic. It was only as I was covering his face with dandelions that I noticed him draw in a ragged breath. That was when I realized he was still alive. You may imagine my feelings at that point.”

Sabina found she did not want to imagine Isemay’s feelings.

“The goddess was testing me to see if I was in earnest,” Isemay sighed. “I stood there an age, just gazing down at him. His breathing was shallow, so shallow. I knew that if I just did nothing, left him exposed to the elements for even one night, he would be dead upon the morrow.”

Sabina covered her mouth with her hand and Samuel interrupted at this point.