Page 12 of The Lady in White
“We are not in love. We were not married or betrothed at that time. Our worlds were completely separate, and our paths had never crossed. There is no betrayal in this, and there is no jealousy. You had a life before we met. Likely one that involved more women than simply Caroline Farris. And I daresay when our year is up, there will be women after we part ways,” she offered with a very matter-of-fact shrug.
It irked him—the notion that she was completely unbothered by the idea of him with another. And while it had been his wish to live apart, he wanted her to be at least somewhat aggrieved by the fact. “Indeed. You are remarkably rational about these matters, and that is why I find your account of your interactions with thisspiritto be credible. But I would hope that it is not Caroline. I would hope that she has found peace.”
“Perhaps this is why she is not yet at peace,” she suggested. “If we can uncover the truth of the events surrounding her death, it might ease her soul.”
Moving towards the table where she sat, he took the chair next to her and began perusing the assorted letters. Most of them were innocent. A few of them hinted at the passionate kisses he had shared with Caroline. But mindful of how innocent she had been, things between them had never progressed beyond that.
He had often written back to Caroline on the same stationery she had sent to him, turning it sideways and writing overtop ofand in between her large, flowery scrawl. It seemed as though a century had passed between that time and the present. He certainly felt a century older.
“What children we were,” he mused.
Louisa opened the journal, turning it to the last entry and passing it to him. “That is the most damning entry.”
Picking it up, he scanned the entry. And his blood ran cold.
Loathsome Terrence has come home. No doubt he’s heard that Douglas and I intend to marry when he returns from London next week. He’s here to pester poor Uncle James about his share of the estate. If he were left all the money in England, he would manage to spend every last drop. ’Tis simply his way.
I’ve taken to avoiding him. I eat my meals in my room. I spend as much time as possible away from the house. I go riding. I take baskets of food to the poorest of the tenant families. Most of them will not accept it because it comes from Rosehaven. Superstitious nonsense, really. I’ve looked for the lady in white countless times and have yet to see her. It’s likely one of the baker’s shameless daughters sneaking about to meet a footman... or Terrence.
How I hope that Uncle James will give him enough money that he will once more go back to London and leave us here in peace. His presence disrupts the entire household.
The entry was dated three days before the fateful ride that had ended in Caroline’s tragic fall. Six days before she died. And he hadn’t realized that Terrence had been there the entire time. His cousin had told him that he’d arrived only shortly before he himself had, and he’d taken him at his word. He had been too distraught to do anything else.
“I should have been here,” he said. “If I’d been here, she would not have felt the need to hide from Terrence. She would not have been without someone to protect her from him.”
She shook her head. “For what it is worth, he would have simply found another way. He wanted to ensure that you were on equal bachelor footing when your uncle died. That was the only way he could be certain that the will wouldn’t be changed, and he would have had allies in this house then just as he does now. The woman in white that I saw my first night here... I believe it was the maid, Fanny. I saw them together in the corridor today. They were very familiar with one another, and not simply in the liberties he was taking. Beyond that, they seemed to be well-known to one another.”
He knew the maid she spoke of, and he also knew that the girl had only come to work there six months earlier. The butler had stated she was his niece, though that had always seemed a rather dubious claim. To his knowledge, the man had never acknowledged having any family at all.
“Then we send her packing immediately.”
“If we do that,” she protested, “then we give up any advantage we have. For the time being, until we know precisely what he’s planning, we need to go on as if nothing has been discovered about his past crimes.”
“So we just pretend to be lost in newly wedded bliss and oblivious to everything else going on?” he asked.
Louisa’s answering blush told him, without her needing to say a word, that she was thinking of the kiss they had shared that morning. It had never been far from his mind. Even when he’d been tending to other things, that awareness of her, of how much that simple kiss had stirred his desire for her, had been ever present.
“I think bliss might be a bit of a stretch. After all, everyone is fully aware of your reasons for marrying me,” she replied.
“What the world thinks of us isn’t important, Louisa. All that matters, at least for the next twelve months, is how we deal with one another. I want to kiss you again, but only if you want that too.”
She was silent for a moment, staring into his eyes. Whatever she saw there must have swayed her, because she simply launched herself into his arms. And he was selfish enough to accept all that she offered.
Chapter Ten
She hadn’t meantto quite literally throw herself at him. But she couldn’t regret it because kissing him felt like a little bit of heaven. When his lips touched hers, she could forget about Terrence and whatever schemes were afoot. She could forget about the ghostly presence at Rosehaven.She could forget that everything between them was only temporary.
His arms had closed around her, but his hands were far from still. They moved over her back, her shoulders, her hips. And everywhere he touched her, she burned. The pins fell from her hair, one by one, as he plucked them free. When the mass of it was loose, he buried his hands in it.
But Louisa was not content to be a passive participant. She explored his body as well, marveling at the firmness of his flesh which was so very different from her own. Then he was pulling back from her. Immediately, she missed the heat of that kiss.
“I’m sorry, Louisa. I didn’t intend for things to go quite so far,” he explained, his voice roughened and his breathing a bit ragged.
“Do you regret that they did?”
“I should,” he said. “But I won’t lie to you.”
“My only regret is that you stopped,” she admitted, her voice little more than a whisper. “It is our wedding night, after all.”
