to anyone, Cecilia. Only Haslemere knows the truth. Isabella will bear the brunt of Leanora’s betrayal of my brother, and now she’ll be made to bear the shame of her mother’s madness. I thought only of protecting her.”
“From me, Gideon? You thought you had to protect Isabella from me?”
Gideon flinched at the question, but he met her gaze. “I know you’d never hurt Isabella, but I also know you’re keeping secrets from me, Cecilia. You’re no housemaid, are you? You didn’t come to Darlington Castle to polish silver and scrub floors. Even so, I still trusted you with my own secrets. But I couldn’t trust you with Isabella’s when I don’t know who you really are.”
His words tore into Cecilia, claws raking across her heart, but what could she say in reply? Weeks ago, when she’d first arrived at Darlington Castle, Gideon had called her a liar, and he was right. As much as she’d grown to love Isabella, she had no claim on her secrets.
When she didn’t answer, Gideon turned toward the window, away from her. “Leanora has always been selfish and unpredictable. She was a spoiled belle when she and Nathanial first married, and over the years she’s grown more unstable, and more volatile. I knew she was unbalanced, but this…I never imagined she’d go this far.”
“But you did suspect she’d come back someday.” Cecilia pushed the words through numb lips. “That’s why you turned the sitting room into Isabella’s bedchamber, and put Amy in there with her. To protect Isabella from Lady Leanora.”
“I thought Leanora would try and take Isabella away from me, yes. Not because she wanted her. Isabella has never been more than a means to an end for Leanora. She would have ruined her if given the chance.”
The thought of Lady Leanora having control over Isabella chilled Cecilia to her bones. “Is that why you sent her away from Darlington Castle? To protect Isabella?”
“I never sent her away. A few weeks after Cassandra’s death, Leanora came to me demanding money so she could escape Darlington Castle for a new life as a merry widow. I agreed to give her the funds she demanded, but only if she left Isabella behind with me. A few months later, she was betrothed to Aviemore, and I hoped we’d seen the last of her. God only knows what’s happened to him.” Gideon’s blue eyes were bleak. “Leanora didn’t put up much of a fight over leaving Isabella.”
“She didn’t come back for Isabella. She’s been roaming freely through the castle since she returned to Edenbridge. If she’d wanted Isabella, she could have taken her at any time.” Cecilia swallowed. “She came for you.”
“As if I could ever…she was my brother’s wife, and Leanora expected me to…” Gideon’s hands clenched into fists. “Leanora never gave her daughter a second thought. Her own child. All those months I lived in fear she’d take her from me, but she never wanted Isabella.”
A half-sob tore from Cecilia’s throat at the despair in his voice. She reached for him to caress his cheek with her fingertips, but he flinched away from her. “Tell me about the secret passageway.”
Lady Leanora’s body had been found outside the locked stillroom door, her fingernails torn and bloody from clawing to get out. “One end of it lets out into the dressing room in Cassandra’s bedchamber. From there, she could get anywhere inside the castle. I kept wondering why the door between Isabella’s and Cassandra’s rooms were always unlocked, despite your orders. Leanora must have had a key.”
Gideon braced his arms against the windowsill, his head dropping down between his shoulders. “This would have broken Nathanial’s heart.”
“All those vicious rumors, all those lies about the Murderous Marquess.” Cecilia knew Leanora was responsible—she’d said so herself—but even so she could hardly believe anyone could be so hateful. “How could she have done such a thing?”
“Far more easily than you’d ever imagine.” Gideon turned to face her, a bitter laugh on his lips. “I know what Leanora is. I’ve always known. As soon as I knew she was the White Lady, I should have realized what she was capable of. God knows what she might have done, who else she might have hurt—”
“You tried to stop her, Gideon. You and Lord Haslemere spent every night for weeks searching the grounds for her. This isn’t your fault.” Unable to stop herself, Cecilia rushed to him and took his face in her hands. “Leanora’s madness, the things she did…how could anyone imagine she’d