Bitter Oath (New Atlantis) - By Nhys Glover Page 0,64

know it.’

‘You have been home?’

‘No. But somewhere else where I spoke to a reliable authority who explained to me how we can make this work. Your father will not approve of us. I was assured of that when I arrived. So we will, with the help of your dear sister here.’ He indicated Portia with a graceful sweep of his hand. ‘Her betrothed, and Augusta and her husband, fabricate a death so that we can run away to the New World together.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Portia, from the other side of the room. ‘Are you mad? My sister barely knows you. Why would she run away with you in such a fashion?’

But Liv wasn’t listening to her sister’s indignant retort. She was already in his arms, standing on tiptoe so that she could kiss his beloved mouth. He didn’t deny her, and as Portia exclaimed at the intimacy of the kiss, they held each other as if they would never let go.

‘In October?’ she asked, once they were able to draw apart. Then she stood in his arms, her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat time with her own.

‘Yes. Until then I will stay, if I can give your father cause to allow it. Then we will go.’

‘Liv, for heaven’s sake. You cannot be considering this. He is an impulsive youth!’

‘Just as you are?’ Liv turned to focus on her sister. For once, she felt like the young one, and Portia was behaving like the mother. She could just imagine how this might seem to her baby sister. A strange young man with a mysterious past comes to their house to read a journal. After half a day, and a cursory look at the journal, he goes to his bedroom where Liv is searching. For ten minutes they are alone together, and then, when next Portia sees her, she is different, changed in some inexplicable way. A visit to the library to see the young man results in his expulsion, and Liv’s utter despair. Now he turns up out of the blue again with wild plans to stage her death so they can run away together. Liv would be incensed by such carry on, if she were Portia.

Gently, she broke from her husband’s arms, and went to Portia’s side. She reached out and stroked her cheek, meeting the grey eyes that were filled with so much confused rage.

‘Darling sister, I know this seems highly unusual, to say the least, but believe me when I say that there is nothing sudden or rash about what is happening here. I love this man, and he loves me. And though I will miss you, as I would a limb, there is only one way I can be with my heart. I know this, as well as I have known anything to be true in my life. Please help me.’

Portia’s fury abated and was replaced my sorrow. ‘But I do not want to lose you, Livy. You are more mother than sister to me. If you go to the New World, I will never see you again.’

‘I know, dear heart, I know. But you will soon be married, and will make a new life of your own. Do you want me to stay here, a lonely old maid, with nothing to comfort me but my books and grandfather’s specimens? You know I have had many opportunities to marry. I have turned them all down because I never loved even slightly, any of my suitors.

‘But I love Rene more than life itself. And though it may appear we have known each other for such a short time, it is not the truth. He left yesterday because we could find no way forward for us. But he is back today because he has discovered a way we can be together. And I can assure you, where he will take me is a place where I will be happier than I have ever been. It is my one chance at love, Portia. Will you not assist me in that?’

The tears were pouring down her baby sister’s pale cheeks now, and the hands that clung to hers were shaking. Wordlessly, she nodded. Liv smiled her gratitude, and hugged the slim girl. But Portia was a grown woman now, not a girl, she realised with a start. And her response was that of an adult.

‘If this is truly what you want, Livy, I will help you.’

‘Thank you. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Now, I