Page 94 of The Rebellious Lady and the Phantom Lord
“Julianna Lethington,” he repeated in a hoarse whisper. “She’s alive. I know where she is.”
Twenty-One
Phaedra touched a hand to her grandfather’s cheek, fearing to find him feverish. But his beard-stubbled flesh felt cool. She could only suppose the blow had addled the old man’s wits.
“You mean you know where Julianna is buried,” she said.
Weylin caught her wrist with surprising strength, pulling her closer. “Not buried. Alive. Girl is alive.” Then he released her, closing his eyes as though the effort had been too much for him.
It was all Phaedra could do not to shake him. “Grandfather?”
At her sharp cry, his eyes fluttered open. “Never meant to hurt her. Carleton said we would only abduct girl ... keep her away until Ewan married you.” Tears glinted in the old man’s eyes as he paused for breath.
“Should not have trusted Carleton alone with the girl He ravished her. I tried to stop him. Too late. Girl went mad, lost her memory. Carleton wanted to kill her but I locked her in the garret.”
“The garret,” Phaedra repeated, unable to believe what she was hearing. So that was how the shepherdess had come to be left there. Julianna must have dropped it during her imprisonment. All the while James had engaged in his life anddeath struggle with Lord Carleton, his sister had been much closer than he ever realized.
“And then, Grandfather?” she asked. “You obviously did not keep her in the attic forever. Where is Julianna now?”
Her grandfather’s eyes hazed. She feared he meant to drift into unconsciousness without telling her anything more.
Phaedra caught his shoulders roughly. “Where? Damn you!”
Weylin made a feeble effort to shrink away from her, but at last, he said, “Found woman to care for her at cottage in Yorkshire. Made sure girl wanted for nothing.”
Nothing but her mind, Phaedra thought and the family whose love might have restored her. Phaedra nearly forgot that her grandfather lay wounded and broken himself as she reproached him, “And all these years, you’ve never told anyone, never tried to reunite her with her family!”
“Girl had no family left. I caught her brother James after he had murdered Carleton. Such a wild lad. I was afraid of his questions, his vengeance. I bullied Ewan into testifying. Made sure Lethington hanged. Then mother and other brother disappeared.”
Weylin closed his eyes as though he could shut out Phaedra’s reproach and his own guilty conscience. “After I’m gone you see money keeps paid. Take care of that girl until she dies.”
“Then tell me where she is,” Phaedra said. “What is the name of the woman looking after her.”
“Mrs. Link.” Her grandfather was tiring. Phaedra had to lean forward to catch his words. He mumbled the woman’s address and heaved a great sigh. As though he had eased himself of a vast burden, he fell back to sleep.
Aye, and so he had, Phaedra thought as she straightened. She felt the full weight of that burden settle upon her own shoulders. What was she going to do now? James would have to be told. And yet, how she dreaded his reaction!
To discover that his cherished sister had been alive all these years, her mind broken, taken care of by a stranger. It would only add more fuel to the fires of hatred that already burned in his heart. She wished that she could wait until James was more recovered before telling him but he had to know the truth about his sister.
As she approached his room, she found the door ajar. Gilly had just entered, bearing a breakfast tray. He was now clumsily attempting to arrange James’s pillows so that he could sit up and eat.
“If you could just be shifting yourself a bit,” Gilly said testily. “It would make things a damned sight easier.”
James winced as he complied. His muscular frame was swathed in the folds of a white nightshirt. The face she remembered, possessed of such lean strength and bronzed by the sun was wan Phaedra had to swallow back a lump that formed in her throat.
“You make a cursed rough nursemaid, Fitzhurst,” James growled at Gilly.
“And you are a damned surly patient, de LeCroix ... Lethington.” Gilly pummeled the pillows so hard that Phaedra expected to see feathers fly about the room. “Whatever the devil I’m supposed to be after calling you.”
“You can always try your lairdship,” James said with a wry smile, perfectly imitating Gilly’s accent.
Phaedra knocked lightly and stepped into the room. James’s smile fled immediately. For an instant an expression flared in his eyes, a raw hunger and despair. It quickly vanished as he hooded his gaze.
As Phaedra hovered awkwardly just inside the door, her heart strained toward him. She steeled herself, bidding him a brisk good morning.
“Ah, Fae.” Gilly said cheerfully. “You’re just in time to witness a battle the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Culloden. I’m about to force a bit of breakfast down his lairdship’s stubborn throat.”
Phaedra forced an overbright smile to her lips. “Oh, is he being difficult?” Her gaze flicked nervously to James. “How are you feeling this morning?”
