Page 108 of Rescued from Betrayal
Without thought he rushed after them.
Lord Caraway stood in the empty room staring at her. Melior waited, knowing whatever he had to say was completely deserved.
“I suppose I must thank you.”
Her head shot up. “No. No, you must not. I have brought you nothing but misery.”
“And freedom.”
She stared.
“You are not the first woman whose mother tried to convince her to corner me, and I am sure you will not be the last. But you are the first to save me, and for that I am exceedingly grateful.”
Melior nodded, the compliment hollow in her chest as she considered her own downfall in front of the man she loved. Her shoulders slumped. Nathaniel may never forgive her.
“Are you well, Lady Stanford?” Lord Caraway asked.
“I am, but I find I am too fatigued to continue at the ball. Please forgive me, but I must bid you farewell.”
Arms wrapped about her midsection, she rushed from the room.
“Melior,” Javenia called out.
She did not stop.
Javenia caught up and grabbing her arm, pulled her to a stop. “Where are you going?”
“Home. I need to go home.” Tears pricked her eyes. She needed to get away from here, away from the knowledge of what her words had done.
“Please wait, you do not—”
Melior shook her hand off, and grabbing fists full of her skirts, ran.
To her relief, there were several hacks parked outside. She found the first one, gave the driver instructions, and climbed in. Halfway down the street, she realized her mistake. She’d given directions to Kendall House.
The tears she’d held at bay began to trickle down her cheeks. She could not go there. She was not welcome.
With a lump in her throat, she called new directions to the driver. He appeared confused but turned the horses toward Broad Street. For better or for worse she’d have to go back to Nathaniel’s townhouse.
She did not speak to an astonished Herbertson when she burst through the door, nor was there any cloak or pelisse to give him.
Back in the room she’d shared with Nathaniel, she glanced about trying to find something to anchor her sea-tossed heart. Fear shivered up her spine at the realization that she might lose everything that had grown so dear to her.
Divorce rarely happened, but it was still a possibility. Actually with how short of a time that had elapsed, an annulment would be easy to acquire, especially since the marriage had never been consummated. Nathaniel would be well within his rights to request one.
Melior crossed to her reading box on the side table, seeking solace within its depths. But when she opened it, a familiar paper lay on top. Extracting the charcoal sketch, she tried to make out Nathaniel’s cherished features, searching for somerelief from the pain that threatened to tear her apart from the inside.
Between her tears and poor vision the picture was blurry, but she’d looked at the image so much she’d committed it to memory. The tilt of his right eyebrow as he’d gazed at her, the intensity of his marvelous eyes mirroring the passion she’d felt in his kisses.
She pondered on the hand that held her face in the picture. The same hand that cared for an ailing mother and stopped servants in their verbal tirades. They were the same hands that had so tenderly cared for her burn and held her when she cried the night she realized she’d been betrayed by all the women who should have been her closest confidants.
Melior did not know if he could ever come to love her again, but she would keep his love in this picture, saving this memory for herself, allowing it to hold her even when Nathaniel could or would not.
Setting the picture on her bed, she reached into the box for her spectacles, desperate to see his face more fully.
They were gone.
She lifted the book ofBelindaand felt around beneath wondering if she’d accidentally placed them under it, but no metal frames resided there.
