Page 76 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
The side door opened again, and Jasper was standing there, gazing at her.
“My love,” he said slowly.
They rushed to each other. And then, they were in each other’s arms, kissing frantically.
“It is done,” said Jasper, between kisses. “It is over, at long last. I am so very proud of you, my love.”
They hugged fiercely, for a moment. And then, they stepped back, gazing into each other’s eyes.
“It is, isn’t it?” she whispered, slumping against him. “It really is over …”
He led her gently by the hand back to an armchair. She sank down gratefully, still stunned. Still not entirely believing that Leonard Green had been arrested and would pay for his crimes. That he was no longer a threat to any of them.
Jasper crouched next to her, gently stroking her arm, his eyes fierce.
“You were brilliant,” he whispered. “Even I believed that you had changed your mind and were in love with him …”
She smiled faintly. “Do you think I could indeed be a thespian, then, and take to the stage?”
He laughed. “Yes, a thousand times over!” He paused. “Your plan worked, Susannah. It worked!”
Her smile widened as she felt again that mixture of triumph and elation, pushing upwards, overtaking her fatigue. The planhadworked. She had been fearful up until the very moment that she had come into this parlour that it wouldn’t. It had taken such courage and audacity, to pull it off.
A week’s worth of careful planning, from the moment the idea had come to her, after speaking with Amy. It had been a combination of two things that they had spoken about, over tea that evening, which had given her the idea.
They had talked about how Leonard could have been an actor; that he was putting on a performance. And then, they had talked about Sara, the maid, and how Amy had got her to confess to her theft.
It had all suddenly clicked into place in her mind. She needed to get Leonard to confess to his crimes. And to do that, she had to put on a performance. She had to pretend to be someone else – a woman who loved him and wanted to marry him – in order to gain his trust, so that he would tell her what he had done.
It had all fallen into place after that. Jasper and Amy had been reluctant at first, trying to think of other ways to contain the man that did not involve exposing herself to him, but she had known it was the only way.
She must get him to confess. And she had to do it with witnesses, who could attest that they had heard him. Witnesses who could then deal with him, quickly.
It had been Amy who had thought of the military camp, stationed three miles away, suggesting that they approach it, asking for assistance.
“Everybody trusts the word of a soldier,” she had said.
And so, the stage had slowly been set for the performance.
Susannah had written a carefully worded invitation to Leonard Green, inviting him for afternoon tea. The military officers had arrived earlier in the day and were ensconced in the room adjacent to the parlour, waiting for the confession, to arrest him. Jasper had joined them there, insisting that he could not stand it otherwise.
“I must be close,” he had said to her. “In case something goes wrong. I can listen to what is happening, along with the soldiers, and rush in if the man threatens you or does something else to endanger you.”
She hadn’t known if she could pull it off; her courage had failed her, many times. The only way that she could go through with it – to tell Leonard Green that she did actually love him, and wanted to marry him, after all – was to imagine that she was, indeed, an actor on a stage, merely saying lines to convince the world that she was someone else entirely.
It had been the performance of her life.
And now, at long last, it was over, and they could begin again.
The relief was suddenly so strong that she slumped against Jasper, sobbing quietly. He held her in his arms fiercely, stroking her hair, whispering soft words of comfort and love.
“You are such an admirable and unique woman,” he whispered. “To have conceived such an audacious way to finally catch the killer, and then to have had the courage to follow through with it, entirely by yourself … well, I have never met a woman so clever and strong.”
She smiled, drying her tears, staring at him.
“It is done,” she said slowly. “The threat is over, at long last. That was all that I wanted, Jasper. I don’t know anything about being clever, or strong, or admirable. I just needed to find a way that we could live our lives without being threatened.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “And I was tired. Sick and tired, of people trying to control my life. I needed to take a stand …”
“Well, you have certainly done that,” he said, smiling wider. “How does it feel?”
