Page 70 of A Marriage of Convenience with a Rake
“I never want to hurt you,” he murmured.
“You didn’t and you will not, I am sure,” she said swiftly. He shook his head.
“I don’t mean that,” he murmured, cheeks reddening. “I mean...” he stammered, feeling silly about mentioning the curse following her wise dismissal of it the previous evening.
“You mean the curse?” Eleanor asked, looking steadily into his eyes.
“Yes,” he admitted. “Yes, I mean because of the curse.” Heblushed again, looking down at the hearthrug where he stood.
“I think there is no need to worry about the curse anymore,” Eleanor told him firmly.
“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked. For one moment, he thought she had somehow communicated with Aunt Tessa, who had told her about the charm, but then she smiled and lifted something out of the cupboard where she had been rummaging when he entered earlier.
“Look here,” she said softly.
He frowned, widening his eyes to read what she was pointing at. Though the lamps on the mantelpiece were lit and the curtains were open, it was still not easy to see.
“Edward Montague,” he read, frowning more deeply. He looked at her, puzzled.
“Yes. He was my great-great-great grandfather,” Eleanor replied, as if that made any form of sense. “This copy of the King James’ Bible belonged to him,” she added, gesturing at the Bible, which she had closed. “It was one of the first in print after King James made the translation.”
“Oh,” Sebastian replied, feeling confused. “That’s interesting.”
She smiled. “I think that solves our curse.”
“Our curse?” Sebastian asked, his brow creased again with yet more confusion. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”
“I mean,” she said, her cheeks reddening again as he smiled at her, “that Edward Montague was my great-great-great-grandfather. And I suspect, if I am not wrong, that it was someone in his family who cursed the Thornton line.”
“What?” Sebastian gaped at her. “How could you know that?”
It was her turn to look puzzled. Then she blushed and looked at her toes. “Sebastian...” she murmured. “I hope you don’t mind, but I, well, I took something out of your coat thismorning.”
“Out of my coat?” He stared in confusion. “Which coat?”
“Your evening coat. You left it in the hallway,” she explained, her cheeks still reddening. “I was tidying the hallway this morning, so the servants...” she trailed off and he nodded.
“Yes. I wanted to tidy, too,” he admitted. She chuckled.
“Yes. I lifted your coat and I felt something in the pocket, and, well, I was concerned that it might be a note from the bank or something valuable—something you would not want left lying about as a temptation for the servants. So, I took it out. I couldn’t help reading it.”
“There was something to read in my pocket?” Sebastian asked, confused. There had been no letter in there.
“Yes. Wrapped in a square of linen like a handkerchief, but much smaller,” she said, frowning at him in bewilderment. “You must recall it?”
“I...” he paused, then the memory flashed into his mind at once. “Aunt Tessa’s charm!”
“Charm?” she asked. Her own frown creased in utter confusion.
“Yes!” He chuckled, suddenly beginning to understand. “Aunt Tessa gave it to me. It was a newspaper article—I didn’t even read a word of it. She said that she thought it would keep you safe from the curse. She said she didn’t understand why. She just knew it would help ward it off somehow.” He stared at her, his heart soaring.
“She did?” Eleanor whispered; her eyes bright with tears. “That was so kind. And she was right. She was so right.”
“You mean that it broke the curse?” he asked.
“If there was one,” Eleanor demurred.
He laughed. “Yes. If there was one.”
