Chapter 24 #2
Lord Murphy raised an eyebrow at me. “I assume, by your word choice, your father is dead.”
I lifted my chin, unwilling to let him know he’d hit a painful mark. “Yes, but that makes him no less a gentleman.”
He tipped his head causally to the side as if he might argue that point, but the sound of David’s chair scraping the floor stopped him.
David strode toward me. “I’ll have your dinner sent up to my room, Anna. You need to rest.”
Lord Murphy’s sharp eyes turned toward me—this time, perhaps, noticing my pallor—then back to David. “Did she fall pregnant?” That low laugh left his mouth again, sickening and blackhearted. “No wonder you needed a special license from the archbishop. Are you even certain the child is yours?”
I didn’t even see David move. He was standing in front of me one moment and was halfway to his father before I had a chance to react. As fast as his legs moved, his fist was faster, flying through the air and landing with resounding force on his father’s jaw.
Lord Murphy stumbled back, and one foot caught on the rug, toppling him into a sitting position on the floor. For seconds afterward, the only movement in the room was the rise and fall of David’s chest from his heavy breathing.
Then Lord Murphy interrupted the silence with cold laughter. “Do you know what the punishment is for striking a member of the House of Lords?”
“Report me,” David said, turning and striding back toward me. His face was cold, so unlike the David I knew. Gone was his gentleness and kindness, replaced by a hardness that made him nearly unrecognizable.
“Wait.” Lord Murphy’s voice had changed, transforming into a plea.
David stiffened but then turned.
Lord Murphy took a large cigar out of the breast pocket of his jacket. “Before you go, could you fetch me a candle? I’d like to smoke.”
Julia hissed, Garrett swore under his breath, and David grabbed my arm and propelled me out of the room.
We marched down the corridor at a speed nigh unto running.
When we reached the stairs, he didn’t slow but took them two at a time.
My breath started coming in gasps. My foot slid off the edge of one step, and I would have fallen if he hadn’t held my arm.
He whipped his head around, his face dark and thunderous, but when he caught sight of me struggling to right myself, the hard ridges and planes of his face melted away, shifting into the softness I was used to.
But this time, the softness was clouded with regret.
“Anna,” he said, his voice soft enough to crumble into dust around us, “I’m so sorry. ”
“No, I’m well. Of course I’m well.”
“No, you aren’t. You were confined to your bed just yesterday, and I’m dragging you up the stairs.”
“I’ve caught my breath. We can continue.”
But he shook his head, swept me up in his arms, and marched us up the stairs.
Instead of turning into my room at the end of the corridor, he turned the handle on his own door and kicked it open.
Without a word, he placed me gently on his bed, then returned to the door and locked it.
“You can’t stay in your room as long as he is in the house, and you won’t be left alone.
” He pulled a bell for service. “I’ll have Maren and Julia stay with your mother until we have your things packed. ”
“Packed?” I asked.
“Yes. Garrett’s friend in Lincolnshire said the cottage will be available whenever you need it.”
He was sending me away.
This evening.
“Will you be coming with us?”
I knew the answer before he gave it. “No, Anna. We always knew this arrangement would be temporary. It has accomplished everything it needed to do. We’ve found a safe place for you, and you also have your money. There is no need for the farce to continue.”
The farce. Our engagement, our marriage, and everything that had happened between us over the past weeks reduced to one very malignant but accurate word.
David winced, and I knew he could see the hurt that word had caused, but he didn’t apologize. Instead, he paced at the foot of the bed until a knock sounded at the door.
He carefully unlocked it and cracked the door open. Then he slammed it shut again, turning the key and swearing under his breath. “My father has replaced the servants.” He ran a hand down his face.
“He’s what?” Why would the man replace the servants?
David waited a moment, then listened at the door before opening it. He pulled me into the corridor. If he wanted to avoid the servant, he’d led us out too early, as the man was at the top of the stairs. David grabbed my hand and led me across the corridor into my room.
As soon as we were inside, my eyes flew to the adjoining door. “I can’t stay here,” I whispered.
“You won’t.” He closed the door loudly and locked it.
“Grab a few essentials—only what you can carry in your hands now.” He refilled the oil lamp sitting next to my bed and lit it while I grabbed my most utilitarian dress, an extra pair of stockings, and a few personal items. He nodded at my small bundle, his eye catching on the rock with the black stripe.
He left the lamp on my bedside table, and listened once again at the door. When he opened it this time, the servant was gone. He took the key from inside the door, then shut it and locked it from the outside.
“We left the lamp burning,” I said.
David nodded. “I’d rather he think we are in your room tonight.”
We padded back into his room. “Does he always send away your servants when he visits?”
“Because of his agreement with Garrett, he hasn’t visited for years, but he knows the servants here are faithful to me and Julia.
It is for the best, even though this does make planning more difficult.
He’d fire any servant that helped us, and as much as I like to pretend this house and estate are mine, they aren’t.
He’s only allowed me to manage it for a couple of years. ”
“What exactly did Garrett agree to?” I asked.
David locked the door and turned, resting the back of his head against it.
“Until about five years ago, Garrett did everything Father asked of him. He spent his days trying to be exactly the kind of son and heir my father wanted him to be. But no matter how perfect he was, Father managed to find fault in the smallest things and punish us. Then one day, Garrett must have decided he’d had enough.
He embarked on a wild year of willful rebelling.
He was rarely home, he befriended men of far lower station, and he even found ways to contribute to their causes.
He actively campaigned for members of the Chartist movement, when Father had voted and vehemently opposed universal voting rights.
It was a hellish year, even by our family’s standards.
“One day he came back and told my father he was going to marry the daughter of a working-class man. He didn’t love her, but he was determined to live his life in direct opposition of my father.
“After my father threatened the woman and she stopped contacting Garrett, my father and Garrett finally came to an agreement. Garrett would live life as my father saw fit in London. He wouldn’t marry anyone my father didn’t approve of, and in return Garrett made him promise to leave Tate Hall for Julia and me to live in and care for.
Father only agreed to it if Garrett promised to do the same. ”
“Why would your father keep you apart?”
“He wants to mold Garrett, to make him become his heir in every sense of the word. And he sees country life and me in particular as bad influences.”
“He gave up the life he wanted to free you and Julia from your father’s grasp?”
“Yes. And even though the world might think of Garrett as an exact replica of my father, he isn’t.
He is the kindest man I know, and any of my accomplishments came only because of what he is doing for me and Julia every day in London.
Julia and I can plant orchards and help families like the Mortensens because he has to live daily with that .
. . that . . . monster who calls himself a parent. ”
My comment about Garrett being like his father rang dissonantly in my ears. It was the absolute worst thing I could have said about his brother.
“You admire your brother a great deal, don’t you?”
He furrowed his brows. “Of course I do.”
“Is that why you are sending me away? So you can be like him and take the brunt of life’s burdens on you while I go live in safety?”
He pushed himself off the door and put his hands on my cheeks as gently as if I were a skittish foal.
“They aren’t your burdens, Anna.” His thumb traced a line from my nose to my ear.
“They are mine. I never should have married you when I have them to carry. I simply couldn’t say no to you.
I thought we would have more time together, but this marriage was always going to end.
It had to. I won’t let you make that man downstairs a relative. ”
“If I have to leave, then come with me.”
“And leave Julia?” His voice was husky.
“Bring Julia.”
He closed his eyes as if he were tempted. “I don’t think I can do that to Garrett.”
“Have you asked him?”
He shook his head. “No, because he would let me do it.”
“He is already sacrificing for you.”
“If I left, he would have to live here and care for the estate. Father is always worse in the country. In London, at least there are appearances to keep up.”
“He could hire a steward. Mr. Mortensen would be an excellent one.”
“My father would murder half the county before he allowed a tenant farmer to be his steward.”
“Then definitely not Mr. Mortensen. But someone.” My voice was shaking, but I didn’t care. My world was falling apart, and I had to find a way to fight for it. “Someone else could do it.”