Chapter Twenty-Eight #3
I sensed you were the sort of person to understand my position, but I was committed to the role of French ingenue and dared not break my cover lest the Rook pull me from the field.
I hated lying to you, but there are many things I’m not proud of.
How I ended up working for the Rook, for instance, is a story that will certainly be redacted, but on the chance he’s feeling magnanimous—
Here, a paragraph had indeed been blacked out that Sidney tried in vain to read, cursing under his breath. He could imagine the Rook tsking with amusement as he’d obscured that section.
Much as I resent my parents’ meddling, it was their intercession that saved me in the end.
I was swapped for a German prisoner and forbidden to leave the property without an escort …
which meant I ran away again but have kept my assignments closer to home.
My parents pretend not to notice as long as I turn up at the occasional function. The Rook last sent me—
The second redaction was longer, and Sidney gritted his teeth. He was surprised the Rook had allowed knowledge his friend was still an active operative, but perhaps therein lay the warning: She could yet be compromised if Sidney slipped up again.
In short, mine is a double life, and solitary at best, or I should have found you ages ago.
I know you’re not foolish enough to search for me; know that I am well and happy.
And while I am annoyed on your behalf that the Rook should not have told you all this himself, I am so very glad for an opportunity to write.
I think of you often—
Yours,
A
Sidney sank back, the letter loose in his hand. That Amélie—Amelia—should be alive, even if still an enigma, felt like an entire wagon of fireworks had ignited inside his brain. All those years of worry, for naught—
His hands clenched as the realization sunk deeper. The Rook could have told him—should have told him. But seeing it in her handwriting put him more at ease than any reassurance from that man ever would. The Rook probably knew that too, damn him.
He returned to the letter and tried to review the past six years in light of this revelation.
Those fading screams from the maze had woken him up so many times that they threaded through his consciousness.
It would take time to untangle and release the guilt, for the knowledge Amelia was safe to become reality.
But for the first time in a very long time, Sidney felt a slight shift in the pressure that built up under his skin when the past loomed too large.
Perhaps one day he would not need a distraction from the noise.
Gin’s chair scraped back from the table, and she walked to the window with feverish energy, the legal document clasped in her hand. Sidney followed her and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms instead of turning her toward him to interrogate the tear-streaked face. “What’s wrong?”
Gin swiped at her eyes. “Nothing, truly. You will think me ridiculous when you see—”
She choked again, but this time it sounded more like a laugh than a sob, and Sidney forced himself to be patient while she composed herself. With a deep breath, Gin handed him the document from her envelope.
“Here, read for yourself.”
Sidney unfolded the thick paper. It seemed old from the deep creases and faded signatures. But as he scanned the text, the import of the humble document hit him like a double-decker bus. “This is the deed to a property … owned by your mother?”
“The description says it’s a cottage in Oxford.” Her voice hitched. “And I inherited everything that belonged to her outright.”
“Then this is yours?”
“It would seem so.” Gin’s eyes turned glassy with fresh tears, and she fell against him, burrowing her face into his chest.
Sidney wrapped his arms around her but tightened his hold as the sobs racking her body heaved harder. “That’s a good thing, yeah?”
“Yes,” came the muffled reply. Gin pulled back, sniffing loudly, and Sidney found his handkerchief. She mustered a watery smile. “You are a very reliable boy for handkerchiefs. I appreciate that about you.”
It was a damned funny compliment, but he couldn’t rib her for it while makeup ran down her face. He took back the cloth and painstakingly wiped away the streaks of black she’d missed. “Is it because it belonged to your mum?”
Gin swallowed, but the steady, long breath she drew reassured him she was not about to collapse.
“Partly; I do still grow weepy over silly little things that belonged to her. But this … a house…” She looked up at him through her lashes.
“My conversation with the viscount the night we were at Chiseldon Park was not a pleasant one. The short of it is that it’s no longer my home, and I am declining further financial support from him.
” Sidney startled, but she held up a hand to forestall questions.
“It was my own decision. As you were already aware, he and I have never had a cordial relationship. This makes it simpler in some ways.”
A shadow flitted across her face as though there were more to the story, but Sidney held his tongue when Ginevra Bishop’s luminous green eyes focused on his with an intensity that took his breath away.
“What I most want to know now,” she said, “is how this document came into the Rook’s possession.”