Robert matched my expression. “You must be eager to rest after the long journey.”
“I am eager to be in my home,” I responded.
The carriage slanted as we began the climb to the castle. “Soon, my dear, soon.”
We drew up alongside the castle’s main entrance, greeted by the staff. I entered the foyer, allowing the sense of comfort to wash over me. Buchanan collected our outerwear. Movement drew my eyes upward as I removed my gloves. I glanced to the balcony above. Annie stood overlooking the floor below. Her tattered and dirty red dress hung around her frame. Her dark hair remained as mussed as the first day I witnessed her specter. Perhaps she had missed me in my absence, I pondered.
I stared at her, making eye contact. Robert, noting my fixed stare, followed my gaze. Before he could inquire about my behavior, the doors to the drawing room burst open. A young, dark-haired man emerged from the room beyond. Even from a distance, he smelled of liquor.
He stumbled from the doorway into the foyer toward us. He eyed Robert, then me. His lips curled into a scornful sneer as he returned his glare to Robert. “I see you’ve brought the harlot back after I warned you…” he slurred.
“You’re drunk,” Robert hollered at him. “Get out of this house before I throw you out.”
“No, Robert,” he argued, “we’re not finished with our discussion.”
“We are quite finished, Edwin, now get out.”
Edwin struggled to focus his gaze on Robert. “But we’re not. Not until that strumpet is out of this house!” He lunged toward me. Robert placed himself between us and Edwin fell against him.
Robert shoved him back. “Get out, you drunken dolt. You are not welcome here until you understand how to behave. In particular, how to show the proper respect to my wife.”
Edwin teetered on his feet but managed to remain upright. He scoffed at Robert’s last statement. A grimace settled on his face. “I shall have what is rightfully mine, Robert. Not you, nor her,” he shouted, pointing his finger at both of us, “will stop me.”
Robert lunged toward him, but Edwin leaned away, escaping his grasp. He held his hands up in defeat. “Fine. I shall leave.” He spun on his heel, coming close to losing his balance and sprawling across the floor. Righting himself, he stalked from the castle.
Robert faced me, searching my face in an attempt to discover my reaction. “I am sorry, Lenora. My brother is…”
“Angry and upset,” I finished for him. “And drunk. He is lashing out, nothing more.”
“He does not deserve your generosity. You are gracious to a fault. Still, I shall make every attempt to ensure you do not endure any more of his poisonous hostility.”
“You defend my honor quite well,” I assured him.
“I am certain you would like to rest after our journey,” Robert responded. “If you prefer to take dinner in your suite, I do not object.”
“If you prefer it, I shall. Though I am capable of attending dinner despite the travel.”
Robert smiled at me. “Then I shall see you for dinner, my dear,” he replied with a kiss to my forehead.
Before ascending the stairs, I glanced to the balcony above. Annie no longer stood overhead. The outburst between Robert and his brother, Edwin, must have frightened her off. Perhaps I’d find her waiting for me upstairs. I navigated to my bedroom, finding it empty, even of ghosts.
I left the room behind after discarding my purse in favor of climbing to my tower room. As I entered, warmth washed over me. A fire blazed in the room’s fireplace. Buchanan, anticipating my affinity to be in the room after my journey, must have ordered the fire be lit upon my return. The thoughtfulness brought a smile to my face.
I retrieved my book and fur blanket, curling on my window seat. The book lay in my lap as my gaze fell to the landscape outside. I had missed the moors even with their colorless winter landscape. My mind processed the encounter with Edwin earlier. It was the second of such encounters. Neither was pleasant.
My mind flitted to the first clash with Robert’s brother. Days after our wedding, Edwin appeared at the castle, riding furiously to our door on his jet-black steed. His dark, curly hair, a match to Robert’s minus the graying bits, was unruly on his head after the hard ride. I witnessed his frenzied ride from this very room.
He dismounted and raced to the main doors, throwing them open. Curious, I descended from my hideaway, overhearing the argument occurring in the drawing room.
“… demand to know if this is true!” a voice unknown to me shouted.
“I owe you no explanations, brother,” Robert’s voice responded.
Brother, I pondered, as the argument continued. “You owe me a hell of a lot more than that, Robert,” the voice countered, heat entering it.
“I owe you nothing! And with your crass behavior, you shall have no more from this estate.”
“You are cheating me out of my inheritance.”
“I am doing nothing of the sort. How dare you accuse me of this? You received what was due you from this estate. You are owed nothing more.”
“Do not expect you can swindle from me from what is rightfully mine. I shall challenge any will that contains her name!”
“Lenora is my wife. No court will agree with you.”
“Wife or not, she is a woman. So, I stand to inherit the bulk of this estate upon your death…”
“That is where you are wrong, Edwin,” Robert retaliated. “My chosen heir will inherit the bulk of my estate, not you.”
“Your heir? Oh!” Edwin exclaimed, letting out a callous laugh. “The reason for the rushed marriage is revealed! Are you sure the little slut is carrying YOUR child, Robert?”
A loud crash emanated from the room. I jumped at the sound as I stood at the bottom of the staircase. Another harsh laugh. “My, we are sensitive about this. I suspect you do question if she has made you or some other
