“Letters?” Somehow no sound came out with the word.
“From your father.” He took one step closer and possessed himself of both her hands, which he held very tightly. “I have no idea if they were kept, Susanna, or what their contents were. But ought you not at least to see Lady Markham?”
There had been letters-one of them for her.
Disclosing
But as quickly as shock had come, panic followed on its heels.
“It would be as well if they have been destroyed,” she said, pulling her hands free again and going back to the seat to rescue her gloves. “There is no point in trying to go back after all these years to rake up an old unhappiness that drove a man to his death.” She fumbled to pull on the gloves. “It can only cause more unhappiness for the living.”
“Have you ever
He did not explain his meaning. He did not have to. Of course she had never let go of the past. How could she? Those things had happened and her suffering had been dreadful. The past was a part of her. But she had moved beyond it. She lived a life that was secure and meaningful and happy when compared to the lives of many thousands of other people. Nothing could be served by going back. It was too late.
“William Osbourne wanted to be heard,” he said. “He had something to say.”
“Then he should have
“You loved him,” he said softly.
“
“Then forgive him,” he said.
“Why?” She was swiping angrily at the tears that were spilling from her eyes, her back toward him.
“It is what love does,” he said.
She laughed-a shaky, pathetic sound.
“All the time,” he said. “
If he just knew. If he just
“Very well.” She spun around to face him. “Let us go, then. Take me to them. Let us ask about the letters-and their contents. But know in advance, Lord Whitleaf, that it may be a Pandora’s box that will be opened, that once it is open it will be impossible to close it again.”
“But this does not concern
She stared at him and then nodded curtly.
“Let us go, then,” she said.
“
“Now I really,
“Me too,” he agreed. “We should have gone and built a cabin on the top of Mount Snowdon when we had a chance, Susanna.”
He offered her his arm and she took it.
19
He
And there was a world of difference between the two types of love.
He loved her, yet much of the time she disliked him and even despised him.
If there
He was going to leave Bath early tomorrow morning, and nothing was going to stop him this time. He could hardly wait to be on his way, in fact. If he had not committed himself to this afternoon call, he would start his journey now, this afternoon.
They had walked all the way from Sydney Gardens in silence.
“This is the house,” he said at last after keeping his eyes on the numbers. And he stepped up to the door and rapped the knocker against it.
He would have taken Susanna’s arm again, knowing how nervous she must be feeling, how reluctant she was to make this call, but he did not do so. His mother and his sisters had overprotected him, and it seemed that without realizing it he had learned to do the same with other people-especially the woman he loved. She did not want his support or protection. She did not need them either, dash it.
The ladies had just returned from shopping, the manservant who opened the door informed them. He would see if they were receiving visitors. He glanced at the card Peter handed him and raised his eyebrows before turning away.
Two minutes later, they were being ushered into a small drawing room abovestairs, and Edith was introducing a thin, fair-haired, bespectacled young man to Peter as Lawrence Morley, her husband. Then she turned to Susanna, two spots of color high in her cheeks.
“You
Susanna hesitated before placing her hands in Edith’s, but then Edith pulled her into a tight hug.
Lady Markham, meanwhile, was standing quietly farther back in the room. She had nodded to Peter, but now her eyes were fixed upon Susanna.
“All these years,” she said when Edith stepped back, her eyes shining with unshed tears, “I have feared that you were dead, Susanna.”
“No,” Susanna said, “I did not die.”
“Miss Osbourne, Lord Whitleaf,” Mr. Morley said, “do come and have a seat closer to the fire. You must have walked here-I have not heard a carriage in the street.”
“We have been strolling in Sydney Gardens,” Peter explained as they all sat. “It is a beautiful day.”
“For November, yes,” Morley agreed, “though it is a little nippy even so, I daresay.