Chapter 19
Nineteen
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Sadie didn’t need to rest. Now that she wasn’t swimming in other people’s thoughts, she felt fine. And without Nicholas right there, she could think clearly, too. Clearly enough that she remembered some of the things she had heard telepathically downstairs that she didn’t want to ignore.
First there were those dark thoughts that had sent her to the drawing room. Sadie wasn’t sure what to do about those. They hadn’t come from the dowager; she was sure of that much. They hadn’t seemed to come from anyone.
With all the talk of the forest being haunted, Sadie couldn’t help but wonder if the disembodied thoughts she had encountered came from a spirit.
They had certainly sounded malevolent. Sadie didn’t know enough about spirits to even guess if it was possible for her telepathy to hear one, let alone what to do if there was one haunting the manor.
She’d have to ponder that possibility later. Lenora’s distress at not getting to visit Valway was more critical.
The door to Sadie’s suite opened, and Pippa charged in. “What’s this I hear about you getting sick? What’s wrong? You don’t look sick.”
“I had a bout of dizziness earlier.” Sadie sighed. She was tired of all the lies. “I feel much better now, though.”
“I heard the baron personally escorted you upstairs.” Pippa’s eyebrows waggled. “Is that why you are suddenly feeling better?”
Sadie laughed, half at Pippa’s expression and half at herself and the entire situation.
Did she feel better because of Nicholas?
Yes. He had traced the glyph on her charm a single time, and now not even a hint of Pippa’s thoughts leaked into her awareness.
Also, no. She wanted to confide in him—he made it so hard to maintain her barriers—but she knew it would be a mistake.
Telling people about her magic was always a mistake.
She couldn’t let herself hope that he’d be different.
Except, in so many ways he was. He berated her for using the amulet, then revitalized it.
He told her the charm was dangerous, but offered to make her a new one if she could convince him otherwise.
He wanted to surround her with protections, yet never trapped her.
But the moment she told him she was a telepath, it would all change. He wouldn’t look at her with desire, but fear. He’d want to protect himself from her, not her from the world.
“Well?” Pippa prompted when laughter was the only response she received.
“He wants me to stop lying to him and takes every opportunity he can to get me alone to argue about it.” Then, to prevent more questions, Sadie went on the offensive. “How did you know anything had happened? I’ve only been back in my room for five minutes at most.”
“Gossip among servants might be even better than gossip at the tavern. You don’t have to wait for everyone to get drunk; they race to share everything they’ve seen and heard.
Abigail’s maid came scurrying in because her mistress is in a snit that the baron is paying attention to you instead of her. ”
“What about Lenora’s maid?” Perhaps Pippa could confirm what Sadie had heard in Lenora’s thoughts and give her a reason to broach the topic with Madeleine.
“I haven’t seen her today. Why? Did something else happen to Lenora? That girl has had the worst luck.”
“No, nothing happened to her.” Sadie debated what else to say.
This was always the problem when she used her magic—purposefully or not.
Since she had brought Lenora up in the first place, saying nothing else would be odder than a vague comment.
“I think she wants to go home, though. Not getting away from Marstede for the day might have upset her.”
Pippa nodded. “If her family’s carriage were still here, she’d have left directly after the bat incident, let alone the mention of demons and curses.”
“Do you know where she lives? How long would it take if she sent her family a letter asking to go home early?”
“They live in Linzen, so maybe a day to get the letter there, and another to get the carriage here? If her family sent it immediately, which they may not be able to do. Or want to. She’d be giving up a chance at a title if she goes home early.”
“Why is everyone so obsessed with titles?”
Pippa snorted. “Come on, Sadie. Can you honestly say you aren’t enticed by all this?” She threw out her arm, indicating the sitting room they stood in, which was nicer than their rooms back in Lamsdel by a large margin.
“The comforts and luxury don’t require a title, though. And it isn’t like Nicholas is active at court. There are probably richer men, with more influence, who don’t have titles that these women and their families could chase after.”
“But think of how satisfying it would be to introduce yourself as nobility.”
“As I told Madeleine, Lady Sadie is a terrible name.”
“But you won’t be Lady Sadie. You’ll be Lady Marstede.”
“I will not be Lady Marstede, Pippa. I’m not marrying Nicholas.”
She smirked. “We are barely into the second week of the month, and he’s clearly showing a preference for you.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“I’ll make a bet with you. If I’m right, then you have to help me open my own shop once you become a baroness.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Fine, but when I win, you have to stop pestering me to work at the tavern.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.” Sadie considered her friend. She’d mentioned wanting to run her own place rather than working for her parents forever, but she’d never mentioned a specific dream. “What sort of shop do you want to open?”
Pippa shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. Lamsdel doesn’t really need much that isn’t already available, but I don’t want to leave the village either.”
Potions. Sadie bit her lip to keep from blurting it out. What Lamsdel could use was a potion shop. But a potion shop required a water-witch.
If she learned to control her power, could Sadie take the risk of admitting to being a witch?
She wouldn’t tell anyone about the telepathy, of course, but if she wasn’t in danger of accidentally using her magic, no one would be able to guess her power.
It’d be a constant question she’d have to avoid, but that was no worse than hiding her magic completely.
Not that learning to control her power seemed likely at this point.
While Sadie was lost in her thoughts, Pippa kept talking. “I’ve put off deciding because I know I’m nowhere close to being ready to open a shop on my own, but I suppose I should start making plans. I only have a couple of weeks before you’ll be a baroness.”
“I will not. Spirits, Pippa, even if Nicholas proposes—which he won’t—I wouldn’t be a baroness immediately. But as it happens, I won’t be a baroness at all, so don’t worry about having enough time to make your decisions.”
Pippa’s lips stretched into a wide smile. “You didn’t mention the possibility of you saying no if he asked! I knew you liked him.”
Sadie gave up. Nothing she said would dim her friend’s conviction. She shook her head and moved toward the door. “You have fun living in your delusions. I’m going to talk to Madeleine about sending Lenora home.”
???
Nicholas made his way back downstairs and to the front parlor. The guests had all found other places to be, but his mother was still there.
“Is Sadie all right, dear?”
He plopped onto a chair facing her. “She has too many damn secrets for me to answer that question with any certainty.”
“Timmons mentioned you had been asking about her arrival. I hope you haven’t been pestering her about that, Nicky.”
Of course his butler had reported to his mother. Nicholas expected nothing less. “I’m not talking about who she really is, or why you invited a villager from Lamsdel to pretend to be gentry. She has bigger secrets, Mother. I wish she’d trust me to help.”
He wouldn’t spill even the little he knew, but he could tell his mother that much without fear she’d press for more.
“Give her time. She’s known you for what, ten days?”
“How long has she known Pippa Leander?” he prodded, wondering just how much of her background his mother even knew.
“Did you know Pippa wants to open her own shop? She told Maisie about it the other day. I plan to give her a nice bonus at the end of the month, since she is saving money to get started.”
And that was as much of an answer as Nicholas could expect from his mother. Not that he’d stop asking questions. “Speaking of secrets, what were you doing in here when we were all waiting for you in the foyer?”
“Waiting to see what everyone would do when I was late, of course.”
He thought back. Yes, the door had been cracked open before Sadie stumbled through it. He clucked his tongue. “Spying, Mother?”
“Researching my potential daughters-in-law. I told you I don’t want you to be miserable in marriage.
What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t test your prospective brides’ characters?
We need to know who would make an excellent Baroness of Marstede.
Knowing how your wife will react to delays and the unexpected is important. ”
Nicholas leaned back in his seat. “And what did you learn this morning?”
“That you, Nicky, have already made up your mind.”
“I told you that months ago. I’m not marrying for years.”
“Nonsense. You were in here moments after Sadie, despite having Abigail hanging all over you.”
“I was concerned for a guest under my care.”
“You were less worried when that bat attacked Lenora. Lie to yourself if you must, Nicky, but don’t try to lie to me.”
“Sadie is a mystery, that’s all.” Nicholas would continue lying to his mother for as long as he could.
Because he wasn’t lying to himself, Sadie intrigued him, but until she trusted him, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—let himself ponder what he wanted.
Not an answer he’d dare give his mother.
She was already convinced he wanted to marry Sadie.
“Abigail is a mystery, too, and you aren’t interested in figuring her out.”
He snorted. “Abigail is not a mystery. She wants a title. I am a means to that end.”