Page 113 of To Wed an Heiress
He doesn’t want me. The words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t tell that brutal truth to Elizabeth.
“Love is not so easily found, Mercy, that you can afford to give it up.”
How could Elizabeth think this was easy? This was the most difficult thing she’d ever done.
Elizabeth moved to stand in front of her.
“I don’t want you to feel as I have this past year. My life is a burden, not a joy. Living is something I do because I don’t die.”
She didn’t have a chance to answer. Three raps on the door made Mercy sigh. She knew it was her father because that’s how he always knocked at home.
All she wanted was to be alone to grieve. She wanted to banish everyone, go to bed, and pull the covers over her. She might allow herself the first of her tears. How many years would it take to dispel her grief?
“Yes, Father?” she said, opening the door.
“Is Elizabeth with you?”
She nodded.
Elizabeth came to the door.
“Your sister asked me to give this to you,” he said, holding out an envelope. “I apologize that it slipped my mind until just now.”
Elizabeth took the envelope and thanked him.
He nodded to Mercy, then left, heading for the stairs.
She didn’t close the door. “Thank you, Elizabeth,” she said. “I know you want to go read your letter.”
Perhaps her father was right and she was becoming rude, but she desperately wanted to be alone.
Elizabeth tucked the letter into the pocket of her skirt. At the door she turned to Mercy. “You will think about what I said, won’t you?”
Mercy nodded. Not that any good would come of it. You couldn’t beg someone to love you.
Chapter Fifty-One
No more than five minutes later, Mercy heard a woman scream.
At first she wasn’t sure who it was, but when she emerged from her room it was to see Elizabeth standing in the corridor, holding the open letter in her hand.
She was crying, and at first Mercy thought she’d received some terrible news, but her face was radiant with joy.
“Mercy,” she said, her voice tremulous. “It’s a miracle! It’s a miracle!”
Mercy went to her aunt’s side. “What is it, Elizabeth?”
“Thomas. Thomas is alive. He’s alive!” She waved the letter in front of her. “He was in a prison camp all this time. He’s alive!”
Mercy hugged her aunt, tears coming to her own eyes. It was a miracle. For a year Elizabeth had believed that Thomas had been killed in the war and now he’d been returned to her.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said. “What are you going to do?”
Elizabeth smiled. “I’m going home,” she said. “I’m going to Thomas.”
Everyone around her was being blessed and while she didn’t begrudge them their happiness, Mercy wished a little of it would spread to her.
“I’ll have to ask James if I can travel with you.”
