Page 22 of Devil at the Gates
How had she gotten here? Why was she alone? Hadn’t she fallen asleep in Redmond’s arms in the library? Disappointment settled in a pit in her stomach. She had hoped that Redmond would have stayed with her after what transpired between them.
“Harriet…” The mournful call of her name lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.
“Who’s there?” she asked, her body shaking as lightning flashed once more and thunder crashed against the manor house, making the bed frame rumble around her.
The pearls winked and sparkled like frozen drops of dew on the black velvet. She blinked, wiping her face with her hands.
Then she saw it. Saw him.
A man in the corner was watching her. He was beautiful, but the sight of him filled her heart with such anguish she never wanted to leave. He raised a hand as though to touch her, even though he was across the room.
Harriet couldn’t breathe. She clawed at her throat, and the beautiful man, now wreathed in shadows, looked on, watching with sorrowful concern. She reached her hand toward him, gasping for breath.
Then she wasn’t in the Pearl Room anymore. She was in another bedchamber. One with more masculine furniture, but it wasn’t Redmond’s room.
A woman appeared before her, wearing a dressing gown and shawl. She stood facing the man who’d been in her room.
“Do you think he meant it, Thomas?”
She recognized him now. Thomas, Redmond’s brother. Harriet watched the man embrace the woman. Love was evident upon their faces. A pure, honest love that made Harriet’s heart ache.
“He meant it. Red loves me, and he would do anything for me.” Thomas cupped the woman’s face in his hands. “But I’ve hurt him, Millicent. We have hurt him. What we did, what we’re doing, is wrong.”
“I know, but he agreed to seek an annulment. The scandal will be terrible, but isn’t it better to be together? We can face anything.” Millicent curled her arms around Thomas’s neck, and he stroked her dark hair, cradling her against him.
“I want you,” he said to Millicent. “But I cannot lose my brother. He’s been like a father to me ever since ours died. I cannot leave him alone after this. Let me speak to him again.” Thomas cupped her face and kissed her passionately before leaving the bedchamber.
Harriet, invisible to them as if she were the ghost, was drawn by unseen forces behind Thomas down the corridor to another room. Redmond’s room.
“Red?” Thomas eased the door open when no one answered his knock. “Red, please, I need to speak with you.” The bedchamber was empty. Thomas quietly slipped down the main stairs and headed toward Redmond’s study, but he froze when a cold draft caught his attention. He moved into the main hall, where he caught sight of the open front door. The lightning outside revealed a tall, distant figure. It was Redmond, and he was walking in the direction of the cliffs.
“Millicent! Wake Mr. Grindle and Mrs. Breland. Red’s headed for the cliffs!” he shouted back up the stairs, hoping Millicent would hear him.
“What?” Millicent appeared at the top of the stairs. “Oh heavens, I’ll wake them at once!” She vanished from sight. Harriet, still bound up in this infernal dream, followed close at Thomas’s heels as he raced across the rain-soaked grounds toward the distant cliffs.
“Red!” Thomas shouted as he raced through the violent rainstorm.
“Stop him!” Millicent’s cry joined his as Redmond took a decisive step over the edge.
Thomas grabbed Redmond’s shirt from behind and pulled him back away from the cliff, stopping him from plummeting to his death.
“Red, what the devil are you thinking?” Thomas demanded, shaking his brother hard.
“Redmond… Don’t ever do that again, please.” Millicent touched his cheek as she started to cry.
A moment later, the ground beneath their feet shook and crumbled away. Millicent vanished from sight. Thomas and Redmond fell onto the ground, narrowly avoiding her fate.
“Millicent!” Thomas lunged for the edge, but Redmond dragged him back.
“No, you can’t.” Redmond pinned him to the ground. “She’s gone.”
Suddenly Harriet was drawn into Thomas’s head, seeing and feeling what he felt.
Thomas’s heart stopped at the words. Time ceased to have meaning. Just moments ago—a lifetime ago—he had believed he would be with her forever, And he had believed that he would find a way to win back Red’s trust. And now…the love of his life was dead.
Thomas stared at his brother, wanting to hate him for coming out here. Millicent would still be alive if not for him. But the rage faded as misery overwhelmed it. Red had only come out here to die because of what Thomas and Millicent had done to him.
“I’m sorry,” Red murmured. “I’m so sorry.”
