Page 58 of Sacrificing the Untamed Lady Henrietta
Sincerest regards,
A Friend
Even now, the note made her hands shake and her heart race. This ‘friend’ spelled untold dangers. He had already attempted to crush her beneath a falling block of masonry. If he was so set on retaliation, she could only wonder what his next move might be.The gunshots? What if they were not mere coincidence? What if those shots had not come from the nearby hunters, but from the hand that wrote these words?She shook off the dark feeling, realizing she was likely being paranoid after the events of the day.
“What is that?” Ewan asked pointedly. “Another letter you have been hiding from me?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. I did not wish to worry you.”
Ewan’s frown deepened. “Why would it worry me? What does it say?”
Henrietta handed him the note and waited as he read it. A myriad of different emotions crossed his handsome features as his eyes flitted from left to right.
“You believe Mr. Booth was the one who sent this to you?” he asked, his voice racked with anger.
“I can think of no other who would hold such a vendetta against me, or who would know of the letters to the medical institutions. As they have found their way back to me—or rather, you—I should say that all suspicionhasto point to him.”
He nodded. “I am inclined to agree with you. You are clever to have made me promise not to do anything before the fact, for I have a sudden urge to ride over to Lord Averson’s residence this instant and strangle the life out of the insipid wretch.”
“You must not,” she urged.
“You have made me promise. As such, I will not make any move to strike Mr. Booth down. However, you must allow me to visit with Lord Averson, to keep an eye upon this villain myself.”
Henrietta frowned. “How would you do such a thing?”
Ewan gave a curious smile. “We must entrap him.”
“And my letters to the medical institutions? What are we to do with those?”
“If I catch sight of another one of these, deceitfully written by your hand, I will write to the institutions myself and tell them the truth.”
Chapter 23
That afternoon, Ewan left Henrietta to rest in her chambers and set off for Lord Averson’s residence. He did not want to put his wife in a box, but he could not quite forgive her for her recent audacity. Not yet, anyway. She would have to learn that she could not simply use his name in order to achieve her dreams, nor could she lie her way into such a position.
In truth, the discovery of the letters had made him question just how much he believed in her future hopes. Could a woman really ever become a physician? Even if she managed to gain a place at one of these institutions, would they ever take her seriously? He could not think of a single gentleman in his acquaintanceship who would be healed by a woman.
Perhaps, I am not as liberal as I made her believe.
He wanted her to have what she desired from life, but maybe seeking to become a physician was a step too far—a hurdle that not even Henrietta could overcome.Then again, if anyone were to prove the old goats at these institutions wrong, it would be my wife. She has already proven to be rather formidable and endlessly determined.He thought about her sitting in the dining hall in the ruined bridal gown and smiled at the memory.
He pulled up outside the Averson residence twenty minutes later, and walked up to the door. The butler answered, instructing him to wait in the drawing room as Lord Averson was fetched.
Through a sliver of a gap in the doorway to the drawing room, Ewan caught sight of Mr. Booth walking across the entrance hall. The very sight of him made Ewan’s blood boil.No man threatens my wife. No man.
“Ewan, my dear man, what brings you to my abode on this gloomy afternoon?” Lord Averson strode into the room. He looked tired with vivid dark circles beneath his eyes.
“Averson,” Ewan replied. “I thought I’d drop in on you, as I have a few amendments to make to our previous conversation. I see you have yet to rid your household of Mr. Booth?”
Lord Averson pulled a face. “In truth, I do so despise confrontation. I thought I would wait a few days before ridding myself of the man. We’re due to return to town at the end of next week—I saw no reason to release him prior to that. I hope you will forgive me?”
“Actually, I came to request that you keep him in your employ a while longer.”
“Has there been some change of heart? Were you mistaken?”
“Sadly not, although there have been some circumstantial alterations.”
“Oh? Pray tell.”
