Chapter Seventeen #3
Lady Theodora waited but a heartbeat before adding, “I promised to marry Alexander when we were still in the schoolroom together. Unfortunately, we came close to destroying each other, and I was not always kind to Annalise, even after I learned she was Alexander’s lost sister and not a threat to my relationship with Marksman.
I was jealous and petty, for I feared sharing Alexander’s love.
I mean to earn her forgiveness by cherishing her brother.
” There was a long silence that Freya did not completely understand, but after an extended pause, the two ladies nodded to each other in some sort of unity of purpose.
“What of Miss Whitchurch?” Freya asked, momentarily forgetting the lady’s new title.
Lady Annalise again took up the tale. “We have come to believe this unknown assailant has not taken his failures well in settling some sort of grudge. Such has proven so with our Victoria. The woman who first assisted Victoria with young Ethan was violently killed in a close near Mr. Sustar’s shop.
Before the murder, a man, dressed all in black, bumped into Victoria on the street and knocked her bag from her hands.
The culprit later drove a set of long needles that he stole from Victoria’s bag into the older woman’s eyes, after he had killed her.
Graham believes it was a warning to all of us not to become complacent.
Duncan’s shooter is still out there. He has not abandoned his revenge. ”
“Do you believe the shooter today is the same man?” Freya asked in disbelief.
Lady Emma said, “How can we not? I am confident those in the other room recognize the similarities.”
“Could today’s stranger not simply be committing a crime based on opportunity, rather than some sort of revenge?” Freya asked.
“Think upon it,” Lady Theodora said with a frown of apparent disapproval. “How often do we hear of a masked man robbing a carriage in the middle of the day on a busy road leading to London?”
In truth, Freya had already considered what Lady Theodora asked. She simply wished someone to prove her wrong.
“What we are saying, my lady,” Lady Annalise declared with a lift of her chin in the form of a challenge, “is you must decide whether your admiration for our dear Lord Graham is strong enough for you to stand beside him in the worst of times.
Graham means to protect you from danger by denying himself the pleasure of knowing you as his wife!
“Each of us were rescued by our husbands, but we proved ourselves worthy by bringing hope for a future—a better future than any of them thought they deserved,” she emphasized.
“Lady Emma bravely confronted the man following her in Buckinghamshire. I shot the girl who I once thought to be my cousin to prevent her from killing Beaufort. Victoria physically fought with the man who killed her sister, while Theodora held Lord Almano at gunpoint in order to protect herself, her maid, and her father. What are you willing to do for Lord Graham? Our husbands have already known the emptiness of being a single in a world meant by God to travel two by two. Their parents were killed when they were just boys or they were abandoned with only Lord Duncan and his wife left willing to take them in, protect them, and raise them in a manner to serve their fellow man and the government. The Duncans addressed their fears, provided them with love and discipline and a plan for their futures. It amazes me how Lord Duncan managed not only his estates, but also those of his sons, until they were old enough to inherit.”
“I can say honestly, you must be prepared for moments of madness,” Lady Emma declared with a chuckle, “but, if you have been sincere with us and desire a home, you shall find one in this family, but that means you must devote yourself to loving Aaran Graham and even each of us. I am quite pleased with the idea of having each of these women as my sisters. Of our raising our children together—lots of children all around.”
Her Ladyship’s hand came to rest upon her midsection.
“Are you with child?” Lady Annalise squealed.
“We are not confident,” Lady Emma said with a look of longing at Lady Annalise’s expanded girth.
“Yet, we have hope. I owe you a debt of gratitude, Annalise, for explaining what all you learned from your grandmother and the two midwives you visited. I feel our prayers will soon be answered. Orson and I will call on the woman you recommended when we return to London to learn whether our hopes to be true.”
Lady Annalise rose quickly to embrace Lady Emma. “I shall say an extra prayer for you.”
“None of you may say anything, not even to your husbands,” Lady Emma warned with a laugh. “I promised Orson I would not speak of this until we knew with certainty.”
“Of course,” they all chorused, but as Freya looked on, she readily knew she wanted these women to be the ones she told of her own child when she learned such blessed news.
“Tell them of Aaran Graham’s child,” her mind announced.
If she proceeded along this path, she would lose her legal family, but she would gain one whose ties were deeper than any she had ever known.
Duncan’s motley crew was where she wanted to be.