Chapter 28
Lucy had always claimed that she did not know her sister that well. They were only four years apart, had grown up in the same home for much of their lives, but in many ways they were strangers.
However, when she started to think about the best way that she might confront Amelia without her stepmother knowing about it, the solution became readily apparent. And it was only because she knew her the way that she did, that it had done.
“Are you certain you do not want me to come?” Marcus asked her for the hundredth time.
She smiled and shook her head. “I could not be more certain. Amelia is not some wicked villain, and she will not attack me. With you there, however, she is likely to close up or even run.”
“But –”
“Also, I do not want James anywhere near her,” Lucy said, her voice hardening. “Which is why I need you to stay here and watch over him…” She raised an eyebrow at her husband.
The two of them were sitting in a carriage, across from one another. Lucy sat closer to the window, looking at the park just beyond, while James was clutched to Marcus’ chest.
He grows more comfortable with James every day. He never complains. He never acts as if he does not want the child with him. If it is an act, it is a good one. Although, I suspect by now that this is his true self…
“As you say,” Marcus said with great reservation. He stroked James’ back as he looked at her, worry coloring his visage. “But if something goes wrong… scream. I will hear it, and I will come running.”
Lucy laughed. “My savior.”
“Your husband,” he corrected.
She attempted to roll her eyes at the comment, but it was forced. In truth, hearing him call himself such made her heart soar, and it was all she could do to continue to act as if Marcus might change back to who he was at any moment.
She was almost ready to trust him fully… any day now, she was certain. In fact, she suspected that once this rotten business was dealt with, she and Marcus would be ready to take that final step that they had been teetering on for so long.
Just then, as Lucy looked back out the window, she caught sight of Amelia. She was with two friends, and they walked together through the park as they always did on this same day every week. It was a standing get-together, and it had been now for years.
“There she is.” Lucy’s pulse quickened. “Wish me luck.”
“I’ll be right here,” Marcus said.
She looked at him and smiled. “I know you will be.” That smile held a moment longer, and then she climbed from the carriage and stepped into the park.
Just as she knew that Amelia walked this park every day, she knew the path that the young woman took. For that reason, she’d had the carriage park just down the way, leaving her to cross a small distance across the park until she stood right in the middle of the pathway.
She folded her hands and looked ahead, watching Amelia and her two friends approaching. They laughed together, looking as if there was not a care in the world between them. That was until Amelia looked ahead, saw Lucy waiting for her, and her face turned as white as a ghost.
Lucy just smiled.
The three girls stopped and Amelia spoke quickly to them. Lucy saw her indicated towards her, the two friends looked confused, but did not argue. Rather, they turned and started back in the other direction as Amelia steadily approached her.
If she had any doubt about Amelia’s involvement, it left Lucy in that moment. She had never seen anyone look so afraid, not to mention guilty. Why, she half expected Amelia to turn and flee.
“Amelia,” Lucy said pleasantly. “I thought I would find you hear.”
“L – Lucy,” Amelia stammered. “You… you’re awake!” She came to within two feet and stopped. No effort to embrace her. No suggestion at a kiss on the cheek. She fidgeted with her hands and her eyes looked everywhere but directly at Lucy.
“Surprised?”
“Relieved,” Amelia clarified. “When you collapsed, you have no idea how worried I was.”
“Not worried enough to come and check on me.”
“I meant to,” she said a little too quickly. “But I could not make it out without Mother finding out. She still does not know that I came to see you.”
“She had no idea?”
“None,” she said. “If she ever found out…” Amelia laughed nervously. “She might disown me.”
“Ah, so…” Lucy looked right at her. “You acted alone. I was wondering if you had, or if my stepmother was the reason.”
“Wh – what?”
“I am not going to accuse you, Amelia,” Lucy said with sadness, not even angry. Truthfully, there was a part of her that pitied Amelia, and never before had her stepsister looked so fragile. “I am not going to threaten you. All I want is to know why. Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” She laughed again. “I told you, I meant to come and see you but –”
“Not that,” Lucy cut her off. “Why did you try and kill me?”
The question cut through Amelia’s facade of confusion like a knife. Her face contorted with shock, then transformed to one of utmost panic. Her face somehow turned whiter, and she stumbled back, her mouth hanging open as the words she meant to speak failed to form.
“I… that… what…”
“You put something in my tea, Amelia,” Lucy said. “A sleeping draught, of some kind. What I would like to know is, did you mean for it to be so potent? Although I cannot imagine what simply putting me to sleep might have achieved.”
“Lu – Lucy, that is not… I had nothing to do… are you truly suggesting that I had something to do with what happened to you?”
“I am not suggesting it,” Lucy said calmly. “I am saying it outright.”
Amelia’s eyes were wide as she looked about the park as if for help. Or maybe she meant to run? Whatever it was, Lucy watched calmly as her stepsister descended into peril.
The lie formed, then faded. The anger rose on her face, then left. She furrowed her brow. She tried to laugh it off. She breathed heavily. She started to flush as pink as a rose in spring.
And then, finally, she broke.
“It is not what you think…” Her head dropped and her shoulders slumped.
“It rarely is.”
“I did not want to hurt you, Lucy. I swear that I did not!” She snapped her head up and looked pleadingly at Lucy. “It was only ever meant to make you sick. I was told… it would weaken you, is all. That it might make it so you could not leave your home for the rest of the Season.”
“Told by whom?”
“I would never want anything truly bad to happen to you,” she continued, speaking quickly now, tripping over her words. “And I was promised that you would be fine. Honestly. You must believe me.”
“Told by whom, Amelia? Who told you to do this?”
“It was your fault,” she began, her expression hardening. “You… you had to stick your nose in where it did not belong. If you could only have been happy for me. Why could you not have been happy for me?”
“Amelia…” Lucy took a gentle step toward her. “What are you saying?”
“You have always been like this,” she continued, trying to hold onto her anger. “Thinking you are better than me. Acting as if I am nothing – that is what Mother says. And I just knew that you would not stop. We both knew it.”
“Who? My stepmother? Did she make you do this?”
“I told you she did not.”
“Then who, Amelia? I will not lie to you. You are in a lot of trouble, but some of that might be relieved if you tell me why you did this. Who put you up to it?”
Her chin began to wobble, and her eyes started to well. “I cannot, Lucy. I… I promised I would not.”
“But you must.” Lucy closed the gap between them and took her hand. Amelia winced at her touch but did not look away. “I want to forgive you, Lucy. All I have ever wanted is for us to be friends. But I cannot do that if you do not tell me the truth.”
Tears started to fall down her cheeks and she sniffed.
“I told him what you had said,” she started softly, almost as if she spoke to herself. “How you warned me against marrying him, how you told me I should turn him away for my own safety.”
“Oh, no…” Lucy sighed with realization.
“He was angry, Lucy. He said… he said that if we did not do something that you would try and stop us. That you would do whatever it took to get in the way…” She sniffed again.
“He said you have always been doing that, how jealous you are, how you do not want me to be happy. But I want to be happy, Lucy. I want to be happy like you are.”
“Oh, Amelia…”
“He said this was the only way,” she continued, her voice thick. “That it would force you to stop trying to get in the way, at least until after the wedding. But I promise, Lucy! I did not know… I had no idea… he made it seem that you would only be sick. A fever, he said.”
It came together then, all the pieces that had been floating around in Lucy’s head, fitted together perfectly to form a clear picture.
I should have known, and now that I do, the truth is too obvious to deny… Amelia, I warned you about him.
“Lord Wembley,” Lucy said. “He did this.”
“He did it for us,” Amelia said desperately, her cheeks swollen and stained with tears. “So that we could be together.”
“And the letter?” Lucy said. “I take it he sent that too?”
“He told me that you and His Grace hated us, and that he had to ensure that you could not get in the way. Please, Lucy.” She took Lucy’s hand with both of hers and squeezed. “He loves me, that is why. He just wants us to be together. He wants us to be happy.”
Lucy took no vindication in this revelation.
In fact, hearing her stepsister’s words of pain and jealousy broke her heart.
It was ironic in many ways, how Lucy had always thought that Amelia was the favorite, given everything, treated as special while Lucy was always denied love.
In Amelia’s eyes, Lucy was her competition, and she was just as jealous of Lucy as Lucy was of her.
She did not do this out of malice. She did it out of a twisted sense of love. Tricked, is what she was, by her own heart and a man who did not have one.
“And you will be happy, Amelia,” Lucy said. “Only, not with Lord Wembley.”
“No!” Her eyes widened. “What… what are you going to do? Please, Lucy. He did not mean it! Please!”
“Amelia…” Lucy looked at her stepsister, sure to show her how sorry she felt. “You almost killed me. By the sounds of it, Lord Wembley meant to kill me. If you think I can forget this…” A shake of the head.
“Please…” She begged.
“If it is any consolation, you will be better off without him. And maybe, in the future, you will thank me. I do so hope that is the case.”
“Please!” Tears fell thick down her face as she clutched Lucy’s arm. “Please! Do not say anything. I am sorry, Lucy. I am sorry.”
“I know you are.” Gently, Lucy pulled her arm free. “And so am I.”
With that said, Lucy turned and walked back toward the carriage. Behind her, she heard Amelia begging and crying and calling to her, but Lucy ignored it. She felt sick with what she had just heard, she felt heartbroken. Most of all, she felt a sudden need to be with her husband.
He was not perfect. He still had so far to go. But he cared for her, he would be there for her when she needed him most, and he would do anything to protect her.
Now, it is time for him to prove this true. Lord Wembley needs to be stopped, my stepsister needs saving, and I can think of no man better suited to the task.