Page 10 of Adoringly, Edward
“I am, aren’t I?” Barnaby’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “She’ll never find out until it’s too late.”
A seed of hope planted in his heart. “I need to borrow stationery. A lot of it.”
The barn door crashed open, startling the animals inside into a frenzy. Edward’s heart gave an enormous start as he reeled backward off the stool he stood on, barely catching himself on the smooth wooden door leading to his horse’s stall.
But then his stomach twisted with dread when he faced the fury in Clara’s face, her body a silhouette against the backdrop of the early morning sunshine behind her.
“Everyoneout!”she shouted.
Cedric and the stable boy scrambled for the exit in a shuffle of desperate feet. Edward gauged the distance between his sister and the safety of escape. Finding no way out of the entrapment, he backed up until his shoulders brushed against the stall. Walnut nibbled on his clothing as if trying to offer comfort and encouragement.
“You did this behind my back?” She waved an invitation wildly in the air with a white-gloved hand, and as she steppedfarther into the stables, he realized she wore nice clothing as if she’d gone out to see a friend. “Everyone knew about it before I did. You made me a fool!”
His sister moved too quickly to dodge. Her hand struck him across the cheek. Pain flared in his face. He lowered his gaze to the ground. When he found it difficult to form a coherent reply, she struck him again and again before shoving his shoulders and causing his head to hit the stall behind him.
The horse whinnied with agitation, pacing back and forth, back and forth.
Injustice and self-preservation reared within him, but he remained still and unmoving. Gentlemen did not hit back. He would not lower himself to what he suspected Clara’s husband had done to her before leaving his family behind.
“You arenothing!” Clara hissed. “You won’t live much longer. The doctor has confirmed it. So, step back and let me handle estate matters. It will be my responsibility when you are gone, anyway.”
Clara straightened her clothing and glared as she gestured to his raw cheek. “This is your fault. If you would stop sneaking out and doing things behind my back, I wouldn’t have to punish you.”
And then she spun on her heel, exiting the stables in a flurry of skirts, leaving silence in her wake.
A numbness crawled up Edward’s legs and into his chest as he forced himself to feel nothing. Not sadness or regret. Just…nothing.
He slipped into Walnut’s stall and began brushing the brown mare down, his movement remaining steady even as he heard hesitant footsteps approaching.
“Eddie?” Cedric asked in a quiet, worried tone.
Edward shifted his body so the horse’s neck hid his face, blazing on one side. This wasn’t the first time Clara had struckhim, and Cedric knew it. But what could a servant do to intervene in family affairs? At best, he would be fired. And despite how Edward threatened to sack him on occasion, he couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving. Because what would he have left if his only friend at the estate was gone?
“Wait outside,” he finally managed in a raspy tone. “Please.”
After a few more seconds of hesitation, Cedric did as he asked, leaving him alone in the stables.
At least, he thought he was alone before he caught faint sniffling in another stall. His eyebrows drew together, and slowly, he exited his stall and approached another, opening the door to find his nephew, James, huddled in the corner, tears trailing from amber-colored eyes, pieces of hay sticking out of his black hair.
Even at five years old, too much responsibility was placed on his shoulders. Edward remembered the feeling all too well. When he’d been a child, so much had depended on him and his health as the next in line for the title.
“Why are you upset?” Edward asked quietly as he joined the boy on a bale of hay as he continued to wipe his eyes.
“I hate it when Mama yells at you and hits you. She’s so mean.”
Edward said nothing, even though he agreed with the child. His sister was five years his senior, and she had only grown nastier and bolder after her husband had left the kingdom and abandoned his family years ago.
“She cares about you.”
The poor boy shook his head. “She doesn’t. She sometimes yells at me, too.”
Because she’s hurting.
But that gave her no right to treat them this way.
He pressed his lips together and hung his head. His eyes stung as he wrapped an arm around James’ shoulders and drew him into a side embrace. “I care about you.”
James sniffed into Edward’s shoulder. “I want a papa. I wish you could be my papa.”
