Page 56 of An Arranged Marriage with a Cruel Earl
“She is very well,” Emmeline replied warmly.
“And your servants had a tolerable journey?” he asked after a few moments of quiet.
“Yes. Thank you.” Emmeline took a breath. She wanted to talk about something important.
They turned to go along a path that led up to the rose garden—the new gardeners were already at work there restoring the place—and she gathered her courage.
“Yesterday,” she began. She saw his pale grey-blue eyes widen in surprise, but she took a breath and continued. It was not her way, to be silent or keep secrets. “You kissed me.” She took a breath as he gazed at her in shock. “You kissed me, and it meant something to me. It was not just an idle dalliance. I would like to know if it is simply idle dalliance to you.”
“I...What?” Andrew blinked in surprise.
Emmeline held his gaze. “It is not pleasant when you, one moment, show me love and affection and in the next are as chilly as winter frost. I would like to know about that.”
Andrew gaped at her, as though the very last thing he had been ready for was honesty. “I...er...” he stammered. Then his expression changed from discomfort to something she would have called fear had it been another man. “Emmeline...you cannot understand. I am cursed. I cannot risk that you love me. I cannot risk loving you. I bring death to those I love.”
“What?” Emmeline stared at him. “Andrew. You cannot believe that. That’s arrant nonsense.”
His gaze narrowed. “You think I would believe nonsense?” he demanded. “I have seen it. My parents. My grandfather. I will not let you be next.”
Emmeline drew a breath to argue, but Andrew had already turned on his heel and was striding back towards the house. Pain and hurt stabbed into her.
He was telling the truth—she did not doubt that, not for a second. He clearly believed that he was cursed, that he would curse her were he to become close to her.
“What can I do?” she whispered.
Her first inclination was to ride. Take Starlight and ride away across the fields, spending the whole day out and about so that none of the family knew where she was. But Starlight was exhausted.
She ran blindly back to the house. As she ran up the stairs, Mr Pearson was coming down. He almost bumped into her.
“Your maid and gardener are settled, my lady,” he informed her.
“Good,” Emmeline said, feeling distracted.
“Should I inform his lordship?”
“He is not here?” Emmeline replied. She thought he had gone straight into the manor too.
“No. He has to ride to London this morning, my lady.”
“Oh.” Emmeline’s heart twisted. He could have told her that he was going to go out all day. Besides feeling hurt that he did not tell her, she also did not want to be shut in the house with the cousins. Perhaps, she decided swiftly, she could borrow one of the other horses and ride. She was just wandering down towards Lady Rilendale’s room, wondering if Starlight would object if she borrowed another horse, when she heard voices.
“...and she is a liability. We have to be careful.”
“Yes. An heir to Rilendale was the last thing we thought of.”
Emmeline rooted to the spot. She was outside the drawing-room and Lydia and Lord Epworth were in there. It was their conversation she could overhear.
“You need to move now, Ambrose,” Lydia said urgently. “While you can.”
“Yes. Before there is another heir. That could make everything much more complicated,” Lord Epworth replied.
“You’re second in line,” Lydia reminded him.
“Yes. I know,” Lord Epworth answered. “I will move fast. Andrew will get his just end. I assure you.”
Emmeline froze. They were talking about her. Her and Andrew! They were plotting to rid themselves of him. It was too obvious. Her own pain and anger were secondary to the need to warn him of a possible murder, and she had to warn him. She took a step forward and a floorboard creaked.
“Who’s there?” Lydia’s voice demanded.
