Page 56 of An Unwilling Earl
“You can forge a future that was heretofore denied you.”
Her eyes held a defeated quality that he didn’t like to see. “It’s too late for that.”
“It’s never too late to take a different turn.” He found his hope sliding away, and he hated himself for hoping in the first place. And what in the hell was he hoping for anyway? He’d already determined he wasn’t going to marry her.
Marry Miss Morris.
For God’s sake, Armbruster needed to get out of his head.
“Maybe five years ago, three years ago, or even three months ago, things might have been different,” she said. “But not now.”
“Why?” He slammed his hand down on his desk, frustration and anger boiling over. Damn it, but she was being so obstinate, refusing to open her eyes and see the possibilities.
“Because it is!” she shouted back, her face suddenly pink with… Anger? Regret? God, why did he hope it was regret?
“It’s not. It’s never too late.”
“You have such a simplistic view of life.”
He felt as if he’d been slapped. “I watched my wife die and then my son. There was nothing simple about either of those things. But what I do have is optimism and the belief that you can change your own destiny. You have that same optimism, or you wouldn’t have fled your aunt’s house and made plans to go to America.”
She huffed out a breath, and he felt as if the conversation had derailed.
“Do you really think I fled because I had this absurd hope for a better future? Because I wanted to change mydestiny? I fled to save mylife.” She yelled the last word and pounded her chest with her fist. Her color was high and she was breathing deep and she never looked more beautiful to him, but her words made him cold and fearful.
“Why were you scared for your life, Charlotte?”
She passed a hand over her eyes and dropped it to her side. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“If you’re in danger I have a right to know. I brought you into my house, and I have people here to protect as well.”
“No one knows I’m here. You should be safe.”
“Should be?Should, Charlotte? What the hell does that mean? And you’re wrong. A lot of people know you’re here. Armbruster, Chadley, Mrs. Smith, Sarah, Suzette. So, you had better tell me what kind of danger you are in and, by association, I am in.”
She pressed her lips together.
“You can’t suddenly be silent now.” He was seething, and he realized he hadn’t felt this high emotion for a long time, since the early days after his family’s death. It felt good. It made him feel alive.
Damn it, he wanted to help her and he would. Whether she wanted it or not.
“You can trust me,” he said softly.
“I know that.”
“Then why don’t you want to?”
The minutes ticked by while she gathered the courage to tell him. Jacob grew lightheaded while waiting, then realized he was holding his breath in anticipation. What could have frightened her so much that it had chased her into the rookery for weeks?
“I think I know who is killing those women.”
She said it so softly that he didn’t catch the first part of it. The only thing he heard was “those women.”
“What did you say?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I think I know who is killing those women.”
Everything came together with sickening clarity. She wasn’t running from her aunt. She was running from a killer. A person who had murdered multiple women.
