Page 30 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
They ascended the staircase, and then she was placed on her bed. The footman left, and Amy sat at her side, softly stroking her forehead.
“My dear,” she whispered, her brow knotted in concern. “Please. You must tell me what has happened. Are you sick? Should I send for the doctor?”
Susannah shook her head. She still felt weak, but the initial shock of it all was receding a bit now. She gazed at Amy steadily.
“I am not sick,” she whispered back. “I am horrified and appalled.” She took a deep, ragged breath. “That man is a lunatic, Amy. He is mad …”
Amy gasped. “What did he do to you? I heard you calling for me, but by the time I had arrived, he was gone, and you were collapsed on the floor …”
Susannah shuddered again. “He thinks himself in love with me. Still.” She hesitated. “He wants to marry me. He told me that he has waited for me all these years. That we can be together now, at long last, just as fate has decreed …”
Amy paled. “Oh, my dear. It is just as you feared. You told me that he had always held a torch for you and was most upset when you rejected his advances. You thought that torch still burnt bright for him …”
Susannah nodded. “Yes. That torch still burns bright. But it is a twisted thing. He will not listen to a word I say, that I have no desire to marry him, and never will. He scares me, Amy …”
Amy leant over her, stroking her forehead again soothingly. “All will be well, my dear. You have told him forcefully of your wishes. He will not dare to come again …”
But Susannah twisted away from her hand, her heart full of dread. “You do not know Leonard,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “He has vowed to come again. He has vowed that he will not stop until he makes me his own. He said some very disturbing things …”
She stopped abruptly. She didn’t want to speak of it aloud. She didn’t even know what any of it meant. Perhaps he had just been raving. Perhaps his mind had unravelled a bit, in his bitter disappointment at her refusal, and he had merely been rambling in an incoherent manner.
“What did he say?” asked Amy gently, gazing at her.
But Susannah turned away from her, towards the wall. Her heart had constricted in fear once again. She felt as if her skin was crawling, and her mind was spinning so frantically with his words that she couldn’t pin any of them down.
“Thank you for your help,” she mumbled. “But I would like to rest now, my dear. I am not sick, but I do require some time alone.”
“As you wish,” said Amy. Susannah heard the bed creak as the housekeeper got up, then the soft click of the door as she left the room.
She kept staring at the wall. His words were still spinning around in her mind, tumbling over and over, in a mad rush.
Suddenly, she sat up, her heart beating harder still. Leonard’s voice was as clear as a bell in her mind.
I have done everything for you. I have damned my immortal soul. If it weren’t for me, your husband would still be around, terrorising you.
Her blood ran cold. What did he mean? How had he damned his immortal soul?
She raised a hand to her throat, in horror. What exactly had Leonard Green done, to ensure that her husband was not here anymore so that they could be together?
Chapter 13
Susannah stared out her bedroom window, lost in thought. There was a soft knock at the door. She turned to see Amy entering, carrying a large tray, which contained a teapot, cup and saucer, milk, and some scones.
“Where would you like it?” asked the housekeeper softly, gazing at her.
Susannah shrugged. “Put it wherever you like,” she replied in an abstracted voice. She turned back to the window, her brow furrowed, gazing at nothing.
“What should I tell Mr Stone?” Amy’s voice was still gentle.
Susannah jumped a little. Jasper. He would be expecting her at the stables. If she did not go to see him today, he would think it had something to do with what he had done to her in the woods. That she was regretting it, or ashamed of it.
She sighed deeply. She just couldn’t think about it at the moment. There were too many other things clamouring for her attention in her mind. Her brain was still a whirlpool of confusion and horror after Leonard Green’s visit this morning.
She turned back to Amy. “Tell Mr Stone that I am not feeling well today, and that I will not be assisting him with the training of the horses.”
Amy nodded slowly. She hesitated for a moment.
“If you need anything else, just let me know,” said the housekeeper eventually. “I am worried about you, Susannah. You are not yourself at all.”
