Once Upon a Temptingly Ruinous Kiss - Bree Wolf Page 0,50

Harry inquired promptly.

“I mean,” Christina huffed out, her fists shaking with anger, “that Lady Hartmore is in conversation with a wealthy merchant, who wishes to marry into the peerage. I have no doubt that he is an awful blackguard. He does not deserve Sarah, and she would not have to marry him if her father had not gambled away their fortune.”

Louisa sighed for although she loathed Lady Hartmore, Sarah was a dear friend to all of them. “How do you know all this, Chris?”

Christina shrugged. “That does not matter. What matters is that Sarah cannot marry that man.”

A cautious look came to Juliet’s face. “Christina, you’re not planning to interf—”

“What if I am?” Christina interjected. “Someone has to do something!”

Juliet shook her head. “It is not your place. Let her parents see to her future.”

Christina’s face turned red, righteous indignation glowing in her eyes. She looked like a vengeful warrior goddess in that moment, ready to wipe out mankind with her wrath.

Catching Louisa’s eye, Leonora noticed her sister almost imperceptibly gesturing toward the door. At first, Leonora was confused, but the moment Louisa returned to the conversation, ensuring that their sisters’ attention was focused on her, Leonora understood.

Gently setting down her teacup, Leonora rose to her feet and first ventured over to the windows, pretending to look outside. Then she slowly inched closer to the door, careful not to draw anyone’s attention, most grateful for Louisa for keeping it fixed on her, on Christina, on anything but Leonora.

And then Leonora was out the door, quietly closing it behind her. She glanced up and down the hall and then swung the cloak once more over her shoulders. Careful not to make any noise, she retreated to the back of the house and then slipped out the door into the gardens. Quick footsteps carried her onward, along the hedge and then through the gap.

Leonora knew that Louisa was curious about her, about Lord Pemberton, about what had happened between them. The day they had first met, Louisa had seen with one glance that some kind of connection had formed between her sister and their new neighbor. Leonora had been taken aback by it as well and had been unable to put into words how that meeting had changed her. She had begged Louisa to give her time, and although Louisa had been disinclined to do so, she had promised.

“Are you well?” Lord Pemberton’s voice suddenly spoke out from in front of her, making Leonora flinch and pull to an abrupt halt. He stepped onto the path leading up to the house, his brows drawn down in concern. “You’re late. Very late.”

Leonora offered him a smile. “I’m sorry. My sisters cornered me. Apparently, they have taken notice of my disappearances.”

His brows drew down. “Then perhaps you should better return home. It is too great a risk for you to continue to come h—”

“No!” The word slipped from her lips with more vehemence and volume than she had intended. However, the thought that she would not be able to come here any longer, that she would not be able to see Lord Pemberton day after day had brought forth a deep feeling of loss, one she could not seem to bear.

Glancing over her shoulder, Leonora knew that they could not remain out here, and so she strode by him and into the house, aware that he followed close behind. She did not stop until they reached his study, that familiar place where she had faced her demons and done her utmost to fortify herself against them.

“Do you think they suspect anything?” Lord Pemberton inquired as he closed the door behind them. Curiously, it no longer unsettled her to find herself alone with him.

Not as it had in the beginning.

Leonora shook her head, then removed her cloak and draped it over the back rest of a chair. “They suspect something,” she told him honestly, noting the way his eyes narrowed. “They do not know that I come here. Only my grandmother knows. Louisa might suspect something. However, I never told her what we do here or even that I come here regularly.”

Lord Pemberton moved toward her, a frown upon his face as though he could see that she had not yet told him all. “Then, what do they suspect?”

Why Leonora felt awkward repeating what her sisters had said she did not know. Still, warmth rushed to her cheeks when she next spoke. “It seems they have taken notice of you watching…over me.” Her gaze wanted