Page 59 of A Baron's Disguised Lady
Lavinia, too, was crying. She had not meant to upset him. It was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted Lord Bath to be guilty—for there to be some evidence: the cherry laurel, a witness, a clue as to his involvement. But Archie had taken her hesitation as a sign of loyalty—and perhaps even something more. She was about to respond, wanting only to defend herself against his cruel words, when Horatia stepped forward.
“Please… you’re both upset. We’re all upset. Goodness knows she was my daughter, the darling apple of my eye. To think of someone doing something so dreadful to her… oh, I can’t bear it. But the two of you fighting over the matter won’t help. You’veboth reached an intimacy between you these past few days…” she began.
But at the word intimacy, Archie’s eyes grew wide with horror. He recoiled, shaking his head, as though the very idea was anathema.
“Mother…” he hissed, and Lavinia shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she realized what a fool she had been.
She had believed her feelings for Archie were being reciprocated. That there was, indeed, an intimacy growing between them, one she was enjoying, despite the strange circumstances of its emergence. But it seemed she had been wrong in her assumptions, wrong to assume there was anything more between them than circumstance. She glanced at her mother, who was watching open mouthed, even as Horatia tried to remedy her words.
“Well… I didn’t mean… but the two of youaregrowing closer, aren’t you? Isn’t there something… oh, well… perhaps we’re all rather emotional,” she said, and now she, too, began to sob as Archie turned away.
“I can’t do this… I can’t think properly. All I want is to have Gwendolene back. I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened to her. My poor Gwendolene. So cruelly snatched, and now that damn fool of a magistrate won’t even believe… none ofyou will,” he exclaimed, then stormed off across the hallway into his study, slamming the door behind him.
Horatia was sobbing into Lavinia’s mother’s arms, and now Lavinia wanted nothing more but to flee. She did not wait for either of them to say anything, but took flight, hurrying across the hallway, through the drawing room, and out onto the terrace, sobbing uncontrollably as she went.
He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t want to love me.
She felt an utter fool for all she had hoped for. Her hopes had been shattered into a million pieces.
Chapter 20
Lavinia took refuge in the orchard. She wanted to be alone, and she found a place at the far end by the wall, where the oldest of the trees grew, their gnarled trunks and ancient branches twisting and turning above her, the fruit laden boughs almost touching the ground, and under which she sat, sobbing quietly into her handkerchief.
What a fool I’ve been,she told herself, dabbing at her eyes as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
It had not been Archie’s words that had hurt her, but his lack of them. When Horatia had mentioned the fact of their growing intimacy, Archie had recoiled. He had not agreed with his mother, or sought to apologize to Lavinia for the foolishness of their argument in the hope of making amends. He had said nothing, and that was what had hurt the most.
Lavinia knew nothing more could have come of their apparently growing friendship. Not until the truth of Gwendolene’s death was known and the perpetrator brought to justice. But she had hoped there was at least something growing between them. That Archie felt the same for her as she realized she felt for him.
But he doesn’t, and I shouldn’t have ever assumed he did.Knowing she had made a fool of herself, she had to wonder if the situation could ever be rectified.
She thought back to Lord Bath, and how different he was to Archie. It had been that difference… the stark contrast between Lord Bath’s sense of self-entitlement, and Archie’s gentle demeanor, that she had first found attractive. Behind his façade, Archie was everything Lord Bath was not.
“But now he thinks I’m in love with Lord Bath,”Lavinia whispered to herself, and she could only lament the cruel circumstances by which such an opinion had come about.
She wished she had never sought to defend Lord Bath’s presumed innocence. It would not surprise her in the least if he was guilty of murdering Gwendolene, and if it was discovered to be so, Lavinia felt certain Archie would never forgive her for being so cautious.
But if he is innocent…she thought to herself, for despite everything, Lavinia still had the slightest of doubts over the apparent evidence.
It would take more than they had to convince her, and far more to convince a court.
***
Archie drank the glass of brandy he had just poured himself in one gulp, pouring himself another and slumping down into achair by the hearth with a sigh. It had all been too much; the diary, the letter, the magistrate, and now this. He had not meant to get angry with Lavinia, nor to accuse her of what he knew not to be true.
She did not have feelings for Lord Bath—he knew that—and she had certainly not been defending him. But Archie wanted justice for his sister, and with the magistrate even refusing to conduct a proper investigation, the likelihood of Gwendolene ever being allowed to rest in peace was growing ever more unlikely.
“But I know he did it. Who else could it be but him?”he asked aloud, feeling certain he was right, even as the evidence was yet to be produced in its entirety.
He thought back to his encounter with Lord Bath in the woods on the day he had visited Doctor Airdale and take his sister’s medical notes. There had been no assumption in his mind as to Lord Bath and his sister having anything to do with one another. It was simply astonishing, and Archie could not help but wonder why his sister had not trusted him with her secret.
She always told me everything,he thought, but she had not told him that.
He felt terribly guilty for not having recognized the signs, if there had been any. He thought back to the weeks leading up to Gwendolene’s death. Had there really been no clue as to what was happening?
But there wasn’t. She just… faded away.
Hebrushed away a tear as he pictured his sister lying on her death bed.
