Redemption of a Fallen Woman. Joanna Fulford
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made sure to pack all the necessary clothing before we came. I put it in the bottom of my own box. I thought it less likely to be searched. The weapons are concealed in the usual place.’
‘Well done. What would I do without you, Concha?’
The maid regarded her steadily. ‘I think the boot is on the other foot. But for your honoured father my mother would have hanged and I would have perished. His compassion saved us both and gave us the chance of a future.’
‘Some future,’ said Elena. ‘Look where your loyalty has brought you. Your mother is dead and you …’
‘We have been through many trials together, you and I, and we will come through this. After all, we have escaped captivity before, and we have been threatened by experts, no?’
‘True.’
‘Remember El Lobo and his bandit thugs, to say nothing of the French?’
‘How could I forget?’
‘Well, then, how should your relatives intimidate you now?’
Elena grinned. ‘You’re right, of course. I …’
She broke off as her companion gave her arm a warning squeeze. Darting a glance along the path, she fully expected to see one of her aunts approaching. Instead it was a very different figure that hove into sight, a lean and virile figure whose presence caused her pulse to quicken. She drew a deep breath, collecting herself. Then she rose to greet him.
‘Lord Henry. What a pleasant surprise.’
Surveying her now Harry thought he could say the same. The blue morning gown became her well, emphasising the curves of her figure and enhancing her warm colouring and the lustrous coils of dark hair. This close proximity did nothing to abate the admiration he had felt at their first meeting, on the contrary. London had its share of beauties, but none who held his attention and certainly none who had such a very kissable mouth. She aroused sensations he’d imagined long dead. He caught himself there. This woman had no interest in him and anyway she was destined for a convent. All thoughts about her physical charms were completely inappropriate. Feeling distinctly guilty now, he adopted an expression of polite attention.
‘It seemed too fine a day to remain indoors. I hope I’m not disturbing you.’
‘Oh, no, not at all.’
‘This is a pleasant garden,’ he went on. ‘I don’t wonder that you should choose to sit out here.’
‘I prefer to be out of doors as a rule.’
‘So do I.’ He paused, unwilling to lose her company but not wishing to overstep the bounds of propriety either. He was well aware that the place was visible from the house and that if he invited Elena to sit with him it might well be misconstrued. Something more subtle was required. ‘I wonder if you would care to walk a little way.’
Elena hesitated but then inclined her head in acquiescence. ‘As you wish. Concha, you will accompany us.’
Harry hid a grimace. The maid was entirely de trop but, under the circumstances, an inescapable encumbrance.
As they set off Elena was careful to keep a foot of clear space between them. Concha fell in behind at a discreet distance. If anyone were to observe them from the house it was all above reproach. They strolled a little way in silence, though from time to time Elena shot a sideways glance at her companion. His proximity made her feel self-conscious—aware of his closeness to her fingertips, a feeling so unaccustomed that she felt unwontedly awkward.
‘I regret the need for a chaperone,’ she said then. ‘It isn’t because I don’t trust you.’
He smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘It’s just that I must be seen to observe the required forms of behaviour. My aunts …’
‘You don’t have to explain. I understand perfectly.’
She gave him another sideways look. ‘Do you?’
Unwilling to reveal his knowledge about her past, he slid over it. ‘Your admission to the convent is to take place very soon, I collect.’
She nodded. ‘My uncle has arranged it.’
The words jarred and aroused a sense of impotent anger. Suddenly he wanted to find out more, to hear Elena’s side of the matter.
‘And how do you feel about the new life you are about to enter?’
‘As a man might feel on learning that he is to be imprisoned for the rest of his life.’
The words confirmed what he had suspected from the conversation at table the previous evening. It made the implications all the more unpalatable.
‘Then you have no vocation?’
‘No vocation, or even a belief in God any more. However, that makes no difference to my family.’
He heard the suppressed anger in her tone, saw it in her eyes. He could well understand it too. More than ever the whole business seemed criminal.
‘I’m truly sorry. Is there nothing that can be done to change their minds?’
‘They are quite resolved and will not bend.’
‘They might show some compassion.’
‘They have none. I am twenty-three years old, unmarried and with no prospect of being so. I am therefore a liability they mean to be rid of, and a convent is the ideal place. The method is respectable, discreet and permanent.’
He knew she was right and, even though it was none of his affair, he could not help but feel pity for her predicament and disgust for the perpetrators.
Elena lifted her chin. ‘I think that you have heard quite enough of my woes. Let us speak of something else.’
‘Certainly.’
‘Tell me about your brother, the one whose death has occasioned this visit. I think you must have been very fond of him to travel so great a distance.’
‘Jamie was the brother I looked up to most. He was a hero to me when we were younger. I wanted to be just like him.’ He smiled wryly. ‘It always seemed like a big pair of shoes to fill.’
The smile, albeit transitory, suggested hidden warmth behind the cool English reserve. She sensed there was more here than met the eye and was intrigued.
‘Have you other brothers and sisters?’
‘Two sisters and three brothers, although Jamie is gone now and the youngest, Edward, died at Waterloo.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It was a terrible blow to all the family, but our father took it hardest. He’d already lost Jamie, you see, and when he received the news of Edward’s demise … well, it affected the balance of his mind.’
‘It must have been a terrible time for all concerned.’
He sighed. ‘It was. Because his body had not been found there was always a little gleam of hope that, somehow, a miracle might happen and Jamie might come back but, as time went on, hope began to fade. Eventually we had to face the facts, of course.’
‘But you have not given up hope of obtaining the proof you need.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I have not. As for the rest, it’s still hard to accept. I always thought I would know if he were really dead, that I’d feel it in my heart. I suppose that was just a form of denial. A foolish one at that.’
‘Not foolish at all, only human. There is not a day goes by that I don’t think about my father.’
The empathy evident in her look and tone touched something deep inside him. These were things he had never discussed with anyone, until now. Being accustomed to keeping his stronger emotions out of sight this unwonted openness