Chapter 32
The city was noisier than Anna preferred. Even at night, it didn’t seem to quiet down, her senses alert to every strange and disruptive sound: carriages rattling over cobblestones, foxes screaming, drunkards shouting, passersby whistling without considering who they might be disturbing.
She had arrived late the night before and still hadn’t slept. She had tried, but the bed was unfamiliar, the room smelled peculiar, the coverlets were scratchy, and her mind was even louder than the constant activity outside.
The townhouse really must be in a terrible condition, she mused as she paused by the parlor window and stared out at the gated grounds of a church. Beautiful, but not at all comforting.
She missed Stonebridge. She missed the little chapel on the edge of the estate. She missed the peace and quiet. She missed the husband that, despite all he had said and done, she knew she loved. She missed home.
Having never been to the townhouse in London, she hadn’t realized that the carriage wasn’t taking her there until the driver stopped outside a whitewashed building. An old woman was there to meet her at the door and showed her up to the modest apartments where she now found herself.
“You’re to stay here until the townhouse can be properly arranged for you,” the woman had told her. “Something about some rot or some damp; I can’t remember rightly.”
Anna would have asked more questions, but the old woman wasn’t particularly forthcoming. And, by that point, Anna had been so exhausted in body and mind that she had just wanted to be alone behind a closed door.
Now, however, as she frowned at a blackbird pecking the church grounds for a juicy worm, she had to wonder why the driver had brought her here.
How had these apartments been ready for her?
Was it another property of Robert’s that she hadn’t known about?
How long, exactly, would she be expected to stay here?
Does it matter? She opened the window and inhaled the unfamiliar air, tinged with the aroma of horses and smoke.
The townhouse could stay in a state of disrepair, for she had no real intention of residing there.
Once she could muster the motivation, she planned to write to Benedict, to tell him that she would be returning to Pembroke House—her childhood home—and she would not be taking ‘no’ for an answer.
After all, she was a proper duchess again.
A mere baron had no right to refuse her request.
I shall be at home there again, in that place I used to love so much. She had no doubt that Benedict had changed some things, but the bones of Pembroke House would still be the same. Right now, it was the only place she could think of going, where she might not feel so utterly lost.
Just then, she heard the parlor door open.
Her heart leaped in alarm as she whirled around, but it soon settled again as she looked upon a familiar face.
“You came,” she said brightly, noticing the bouquet of flowers in his hand. “I know you said you would, but I did not know when. I thought I might have to stay here for weeks before you could return.”
The butler smiled at her. “I wouldn’t let you face your cousin alone, Your Grace.
” He closed the parlor door. “Together, we’ll find a way to ensure that he gives Pembroke House to you.
You’ll be in your rightful place, surrounded by only those who are loyal to you.
Now, come away from the window; it’s dangerous. ”
Anna sighed, relieved that she didn’t have to be alone in these noisy apartments anymore. Relieved to have a friend with her, though she wondered why Katherine was not with him. He had promised he would bring her as soon as possible.
“Even if my cousin just allows me some rooms, I will be content,” she replied, as Mr. Miller began to approach. “Where is Katherine?”
“Coming soon,” he replied. “She is gathering your belongings, and then she’ll be here. I would have helped, but it didn’t feel right for me to assist with your... personal things.”
Anna laughed softly. “No. Quite right.” She turned her gaze toward the window once more. “I suppose this is it. I am starting afresh again.”
“It shall all turn out well, Your Grace,” Mr. Miller said. “I promise. Now, tell me, how are you?”
Her brow furrowed as she watched a young lady and a gentleman stroll the pavement opposite, dressed in their finery, smiling at one another while a chaperone followed at a polite distance. A couple who clearly had affection for one another, in the midst of a courtship.
I never had that. Her heart twinged. First, she had been thrown into a marriage she didn’t want, to a cruel wretch who had died before she could experience the true extent of his wickedness.
Then, she had found a man she desired, a man she could love if he would let her, but theirs hadn’t been an ordinary courtship either.
“Your Grace?” Mr. Miller prompted, making her jump. He was far closer than she had realized and didn’t appear to be stopping. “How are you?” he repeated.
Curious as to why he felt the need to be so near to her, she shrugged. “Sad. Very… very sad.”
“Stonebridge Manor never deserved you,” he told her in earnest. “No one in that manor deserves you. But don’t be sad about what you feel you’ve lost. Instead, look forward to what you will gain. No matter what, Anna, you shall always have me.”
Anna faltered at the sound of her name from his lips.
Shocked by it, in truth, because he had never spoken to her so informally before.
Nor, she realized, had he ever come so close to her without her permission first. Even then, it was for a purpose, like taking her arm to help her or kneeling at her side to assist with gardening.
He had never been near her like this before, with a strange look on his face.
“May I have some tea, Mr. Miller?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly. “I would have done it myself, but I cannot find anything in these apartments, and I am so very parched.”
He stopped just in front of her, a smirk pulling at his lips.
“I’m not your servant anymore, Anna. Not in that way.
” He lifted his hand to her face, an unpleasant shudder running through her as he brushed his thumb against her cheek.
“You can have your tea later. First, I need you to answer a question, and I need you to be honest… Do you love the Duke?”
“What are we doing here?” Jeremy asked Katherine, as he looked up at the rather dilapidated apartments. “This can’t be the townhouse.”
“It’s not,” Katherine replied, her head bowed. “But this is where my brother asked the driver to take her.”
Jeremy looked to the driver himself. “Is that true? Is this where ye brought the Duchess?”
“It is, Your Grace,” the man replied. “The butler gave me the address. I knew it from before.”
“Before? What do ye mean?” Jeremy demanded to know, his discomfort shredding the last of his patience.
He had rested some on the journey to the city, but the jostle of the carriage and the racing thoughts in his mind hadn’t made for a particularly successful slumber.
The driver nodded up to the apartments. “The other duke, the one before you... He used to come here sometimes. He’d bring women here. All sorts of women, if you understand my meaning—women he wouldn’t want to be seen with in Mayfair.”
Jeremy didn’t recall seeing any mention of these apartments in the folder given to him by the solicitor, but if this was a secret hideout of some kind, used for conducting impropriety, then it made sense that it wouldn’t be included.
He narrowed his eyes, disliking the idea that Anna was inside that former den of iniquity.
And, apparently, not by her choice.
“Very well.” Puffing out a breath, he marched up the steps and raised his fist to bang on the door… only to notice that it was already open, standing a little ajar.
He pushed on through as Katherine caught up to him, the woman leading the way up a winding stairwell to the upper floor.
The door was again partially open, as if Anna had known he might come to fetch her.
He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that, but it was a comforting thought that strengthened his hope for a reunion as he stepped into the apartments.
Inside, he paused in the open space of a small foyer that extended into a long hallway. There were voices, both familiar, but one was high and frightened, while the other was low and commanding, heavy with threat.
“Get away from me!” Anna urged.
It was all Jeremy needed to hear to creep up the hallway until he came to a closed door. The voices were coming from inside.
“I’ll never be apart from you again, Anna,” came the butler’s reply. “This is what I’ve been waiting for, and though things haven’t turned out the way I planned, we can still be together.”
“I do not want us to be together!” Anna snapped; the scared pitch of her voice awakened a violence in Jeremy he had forgotten he possessed.
“I do not care what you want,” Paul replied. “I love you, Anna, and if you had just married me all those months ago, after Robert was killed, none of this would have happened. We wouldn’t be in this mess, and you wouldn’t be so confused about your feelings for me.”
Jeremy slowly rested his hand on the door handle and turned to Katherine, raising a finger to his lips. She nodded in reply, her face losing color.
“Feelings for you? I have none beyond friendship!” Anna retorted urgently. “And Robert died. He was not killed. I did not kill him to be with you, if that is the madness you are suggesting.”
Mr. Miller’s dark laughter prickled the hairs on the back of Jeremy’s neck.
“I wasn’t suggesting that, Anna. I know who killed him.
” He paused. “It was me. Of course, it was me. I killed him for you, so he would never get his hands on you, would never sully you. I could have killed the second one, too, but my sister had other plans.”
He spat out the last few words as if they tasted too sour in his mouth. As partial understanding dawned on Jeremy, he looked at Katherine, his eyes silently asking for confirmation. Had she protected him from something his brother had done? Had she known what he intended to do?
But Katherine’s head was bowed again and, this time, he knew he had no hope of her meeting his gaze. Perhaps that was an answer, in and of itself.
“What did Katherine do?” Anna asked.
Paul laughed coldly. “She saved him when she shouldn’t have done. She should have let him die, as intended.” He sniffed. “Apparently, she thought you were in love with him and had a sudden change of heart.”
“I do love him,” Anna shot back. “I love him, but I shall never love you. I have been grateful for your friendship, but I have never asked for your protection, and I certainly do not need to be protected from my husband. If anything, it appears that you are the only threat to me.”
She loves me…
Jeremy didn’t realize how much he had yearned to hear that. He was so afraid of it and what it would mean. Now, all he wanted was to lie with her in his arms and hear her say it to his face, so he could have the chance to say it back.
“I suppose so,” Mr. Miller said with a sigh. “I had hoped you would see sense, but… if you will not be mine, then you will be no one’s. I am sorry, Anna. I didn’t want it to end this way, but—”
Jeremy threw open the door and stormed into the room, his temper already blazing. But when he saw Mr. Miller’s hand caressing Anna’s cheek, it changed into something terrifying—something that would make him capable of anything if it meant protecting Anna.
The butler’s head whipped around, his eyes flashing with annoyance.
Briefly distracted, Anna tried to duck under Paul’s trapping arm, but her movement didn’t go unnoticed.
One moment, she was ready to run; the next, the butler shoved her hard in the chest…
and she tipped backward, falling through the open window.