Page 35 of The Forsaken
Hugh shook his head. “Faye loved to ride and went out nearly every morning. A few weeks before the wedding was to take place, she tripped while in the stables. One of the stable boys had left a pitchfork on the ground and she didn’t notice it beneath the straw. She grabbed onto a post to steady herself and cut her hand on a nail. It wasn’t a deep cut and should have healed in a few days, but it festered. I fetched a physician from Newcastle, but the infection had spread quickly. She died within a week. Toward the end she was so delirious, she didn’t recognize anyone, not even Eleanor. The day after Faye died, Eleanor’s pains started. It was too soon and William feared she’d lose the babe, but Adam arrived safe and sound.”
“Poor girl,” Kate breathed. “Did you love her?” Hugh had spoken of Faye with affection, which led Kate to believe that he’d wished to marry her and hadn’t simply been complying with his brother’s wishes.
“I cared deeply about her. I’d known her all my life,” Hugh replied. “Marriage to Faye would have been no hardship. She was a sweet and obedient girl.”
“And did she love you?” Kate asked. She knew she was prying, but couldn’t help herself. She supposed she was wondering if Hugh was worthy of a woman’s love.
Hugh smiled wryly and reached for his cup of ale. “She loved Guy.”
“Did you not mind?”
“Faye and Guy were close in age, whereas I must have always seemed older and more intimidating. It was only natural that she felt more at ease with him, but Guy was too young to marry, and it was William’s wish that I marry Faye. We would have got on fine in the end.” Hugh glanced toward the window. “It’s well past noon. We’d best be on our way if we want to get home before dark. Are you finished?”
“Yes. Thank you. It was delicious.”
“Nothing like a good meal to lift the spirits, eh?”
Hugh paid for their meal and they headed outside into the sunshine. Kate was about to mount her horse when Hugh turned her to face him. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, smiling into her eyes. “We’ll get on fine, you and I. You’ll see. I’ll give you no cause to regret marrying me.”
I hope I can say the same, Kate thought as she forced herself to smile back.
TWENTY-TWO
JULY 2014
London, England
Quinn eagerly set aside the stack of party invitations when she saw Dr. Scott’s name pop up on the screen of her mobile. She and Gabe had dropped off the boxed remains and all the samples a few days ago when they’d returned to London, and Colin had promised to work on the skelly as soon as possible. He was up to his eyeballs in postmortems, he’d said, but his true love was forensic archeology, and he relished the opportunity to unearth someone’s past through science. Colin’s assistant, Dr. Dhawan, performed many of the tests, but Colin studied each skeleton in person, paying attention to every detail, no matter how minute.
“You two just keep tripping over bones, don’t you?” Colin had joked as he accepted the box and the half dozen plastic bags. “And you found a medieval sword. Now, that’s something I’d like to see.”
“I plan to show the sword to a medieval weapons expert we have on staff, but once he’s finished his examination, you are welcome to take a look,” Gabe offered.
“I’ll gladly take you up on that,” Colin replied. “I have something of a thing for medieval weaponry. I bet Logan would enjoy seeing it as well.”
“Does Logan like history?” Quinn asked. Her brother had never mentioned an interest in anything that took place before the turn of the century, so Quinn wasn’t sure. Their acquaintance was still new, and she was learning things about him day by day.
“If watchingSpamalotconstitutes being interested in history, then yes,” Colin joked. “Logan is more of a science fiction buff. He likes all those apocalyptic disaster and clones-take-over-the-world programs.” Colin shuddered dramatically and rolled his eyes.
“I can just imagine the epic battle for the remote at your house,” Quinn quipped. “Do I suspect Logan usually wins?”
“We compromise.” Colin chuckled.
“What does that entail?” Gabe asked.
“It means that we watchCall the Midwifefollowed byTorchwood. Everybody wins.”
“Sounds like you two have it all figured out,” Quinn said. “I’m more partial toCall the Midwifemyself.”
“Excellent program,” Colin agreed as he glanced at his watch. “Well, I have an autopsy in a few minutes. Good to see you both. I’ll ring you as soon as I have anything.”
“Thanks, Colin,” Gabe and Quinn said in unison.
Quinn answered the phone, her voice breathless with anticipation. “Colin, hi. Do you have something for us?”
“I do, indeed. Would you like to come by the mortuary?”
Quinn glanced at her watch. She was due to meet Gabe for lunch in an hour. Perhaps they could skip the meal and visit Colin instead. She knew that Gabe was as anxious for the results as she was. “Would noon be convenient?”
