Page 7 of A Duke in Pursuit of Passion
They rode and rode until Ella finally felt as though the trauma of her dreams had been washed away. And by the time she was finished and returning to the house, she had made a firm decision; she was going to speak to her sister, and one way or another, they would come to some kind of agreement, some kind of apology between themselves that stopped her feeling quite so foul.
Leaving Bricker in the capable hands of one of the young hands, she headed directly for the manor and straight for her sister's room, determination practically sweating out of her pores. With both hands tightened into stubborn fists, she knocked on the door and waited.
When no answer came, she knocked again, this time opening the door just a crack. "Louisa, I must talk with you as a matter of urgency."
Pushing the door the rest of the way open, Ella felt dread grip her heart. Immediately, standing on the threshold, she sensed that something was terribly wrong. Even with the drapes still closed, the small cracks of light between them were enough to see that the bed was made.
Perhaps she got up early too,Ella thought desperately, though she already feared the truth. "Louisa? Are you in here?"
Crossing the room swiftly, she tugged open the drapes and turned on instinct towards the bed, hoping her first impression of the room had been wrong. Perhaps Louisa was still lying there tucked beneath the sheets after all.
But she wasn't and a fresh wave of dread clutched Ella's chest as she approached the note left upon the pillows.
The sense of coldness in the room, and the lack of her sister, caused her to shiver deeply, and she felt as though she might never get warm again.
Hand trembling, she reached for the note with her name scrawled across it. The handwriting was unmistakable. Louisa had left her this note. Just holding it in her hand, she could feel the weight of it, not the paper itself but the words within. Whatever was written there, the churning in Ella's gut told her she was bound not to like it.
Closing her eyes for just a moment, she sucked in a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for what came next. She had found several such letters over the years, ones from her sister suggesting she had quite fallen out with Ella over something or other, some toy that had been broken or a book they had failed to share, and Louisa was running away until everything was fixed between them.
Back then, Ella had not had to look far, merely the fields, the pond, or even the orchard at the far side of the estate, sometimes the small hamlet where the farmers and their families lived on her father's land. But that had been when they were children, and their disagreements had been so trivial. Even before she opened the letter, she could sense that this was far worse.
Even when she opened her eyes, her hands trembled so badly that she could barely unfold the piece of paper. But the moment she did, when she began to read, her heart sank deep into her stomach.
Dear Ella,
I did not wish for it to be this way between us, but you must understand, I am in love with Joshua, and no matter what you say, that is not going to change.
You can tell me that it is wrong and that I have gone about it the wrong way, but soon, it shall not matter, for it shall be too late to do anything to stop it.
As you read this, I am likely on my way to Gretna Green with my beloved.
Though I know you and Papa shall be angry with me, I hope that one day you shall both come to understand that it was the only way. Joshua assured me so, and I trust him with the entirety of my heart, body, and soul.
When I return, I shall be his wife, I shall be Mrs Joshua Giles, and I hope that you shall greet me as such so that I might know your forgiveness.
Please do not worry for me, sister, for I am the most content I have ever been, and all shall be well.
I hope to see you and Papa again soon, though in the meantime, I would ask you humbly to keep this to yourself.
All my love, Louisa
P.s I do hope you shall forgive me.
Even before she had finished reading, Ella was on the move. Having heard the carriage approaching in the forecourt just beneath her bedroom window the night before while she had been tossing and turning, Ella was almost entirely certain that her mother had returned from her aunt's.
She will know just what to do,Ella thought, clutching tightly to the letter and hurrying out of the room, almost barrelling right into Alice on the way down the hall.
"Lady Ella! Is everything alright?" Alice called after her, but Ella could not bring herself to stop.
Wafting the letter above her head, she called, "I must speak with my mother."
There was just one problem. The moment she turned the corner in the hallway leading to her mother and father's adjoining bedrooms, she came face to face with her father. Pale-faced as he was, he seemed far more concerned with Ella the moment he saw her.
"Sweetheart, what is it? What is the matter?" he demanded, and Ella discreetly tried to slip her sister's note behind her skirts. Her father was sick enough. "What is that you hide behind you? It is not another of your sister's foolish letters, is it?"
Ella's stomach clenched. Clearly, their father had not forgotten Louisa's flare for the theatrics either. But the lump in Ella's throat told her this was far worse than anything her sister had ever done before. This was far worse than disappearing into the wildflower fields or into the woods to climb a tree and read a book. This was absolutely preposterous.
"Ella, show it to me," her father insisted, shaking his head. "We both know your sister loves to cause drama. I am not so sick I cannot handle her disappearing off for a few hours to cool down from whatever disagreement the two of you have had."
