Page 76 of Rescued from Betrayal
Melior laughed and the other two men grinned.
“I wanted you to have that before you left for London,” Lord Newhurst said, when her embarrassed laughter faded.
Nathaniel narrowed his gaze at him. “Are you not to travel with Al?”
“No, I believe I will be needed here in the very near future.”
Melior placed her hand on Nathaniel’s sleeve when he appeared ready to protest. “Mrs. Wayland came to visit your mother today.”
Nathaniel’s expression fell and he looked to Newhurst as if for confirmation.
He nodded.
Her husband sighed. “I had hoped she would have more time.”
“As did we all, but the mass in her chest is growing rapidly.”
Melior now understood the disparity in the woman’s appearance and its significance. She’d heard of other ladies dying from growths in their bosoms but this was the first she’d actually met.
“Very well then,” Nathaniel said. “Please send word, if… when… well, just send us word.”
That night as Melior readied for bed she could not help but think about her mother-in-law’s words. She had insisted she would see Mrs. Wayland soon. Did that mean she too expected to go the way of the earth shortly?
Baylor cleaned off the pins and put them in the small clay jar while Melior finished plaiting her hair. The maid had been quiet these last two days, going about her work with an amount of determination. Perhaps when she finished the cleaning Melior would have an opportunity to speak with Nathaniel about his mother’s statement. That is, if he’d finished whatever it was he’d wanted to speak with Eddie about.
The two men had left for the study right after dinner and eventually her uncle had followed, leaving her nothing to do but ready for bed.
“Will that be all, my lady?” Baylor asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
The maid curtsied and left, but before the door closed someone tapped on it. Melior smiled when her uncle edged it open.
“Might I speak with you?”
“Of course,” she said, slipping her arms into her wrapper and stepping out into the hall. “This way.”
She led him to the small sitting room where she had taken to storing some of her paintings. Her uncle smiled when he crossed the room to one of the paintings.
“I am happy to see that you are not letting your talent go to waste.”
“When have I ever been idle in forwarding my accomplishments?” She smiled.
“Never. I have not met another young woman so determined to master everything she has ever been taught… even if she did not care for it.”
Melior’s smile slipped from her face. “It was the only way I could be perfect.”
“Do you need to be perfect?”
“I thought I did. I hoped if I was good enough that Mother would finally approve of me.”
“Approve of you?” He raised one eyebrow.
She slumped into a stuffed leather chair. “I’d hoped that she would love me… like Aunt Lucinda did.”
Uncle Percy settled into the chair next to hers and grasped her hand. “I wish you would have had that. If only the Almighty had seen fit to send you to Lucinda and I.”
“I would have liked that.” She squeezed his hand.
