A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby Mystery #8) - Anna Lee Huber Page 0,78

should have. But then, I might never have known how she and Philip truly felt about our continuing to act as inquiry agents. Trevor, too, for I could feel his stern gaze pinned on me. I’d known they were concerned for my safety, but they’d seemed to accept my aptitude for such pursuits, my need to seek the truth, in anything and everything. I couldn’t leave a puzzle unfinished, a mystery unsolved. What was my art, but a desire to capture the essence, the truth of another human being with naught but canvas, brushes, and pigments?

Now that I was to become a mother, it was only natural that their concern should also extend to the baby, but that didn’t seem to be what they were saying. The only word I could hear ringing in my ears was “unnatural.” Unnatural person. Unnatural woman. Unnatural mother.

I was already struggling with the concept of motherhood, terrified that I would be a horrible parent. Their words, their disapproving glares only fed the fears mounting inside of me.

“But surely you can understand—”

“You should leave,” I stated, cutting off my sister’s words, unable to listen to any more of her censure.

My words were met with shocked silence. One I felt compelled to fill, just to make myself clear.

“Now. Go back to Blakelaw House. Your children need you.” When still none of them moved or even spoke, I turned my head to find my sister blinking at me like I’d lost my senses. It set a spark to the tinder of my fury. “That’s what you wish to do, isn’t it?” I demanded, flinging my left hand out. “So go. Be with them.” My eyes narrowed. “You’re not needed here.”

Her mouth drooped and her gaze turned wounded, and it was all I could do not to snarl at her. She had no right to feel wounded. I was the one who had been insulted. But neither Philip nor Trevor seemed to understand that.

My brother-in-law’s features were tight as he rounded the bed toward his wife. “Come, Alana.”

She allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, her eyes locked with mine. It was only when Philip pulled her toward the door that her gaze dropped.

Trevor followed soon after, aiming a black scowl at me. “I’m not leaving Sunlaws, so you can hold your tongue if you’re thinking of trying to get rid of me as well. And don’t try to tell me you slipped down those stairs.” He leaned closer to jeer as he passed the bed. “I know better. You’re as fleet of foot as a deer, Kiera. And always have been.” The door slammed behind him.

I stewed, glaring at my feet for several seconds before lifting my gaze to Gage’s. His expression was maddeningly veiled, which could mean only one thing. He did not approve of what I’d done.

I pulled the sling over my neck and off my arm, tossing it aside as I sank lower in the bed.

“Are you in pain?” Gage murmured. “Or was all of that the laudanum talking?”

I narrowed my eyes to slits, gesturing to my abdomen. “Or perhaps it’s a result of my condition. Aren’t women in my state prone to overexcitement and irrational behavior?” I sneered, repeating one of the infractions the physician had charged me with the night before as he examined me.

He crossed to the left side of the bed and lay down beside me, crossing his booted feet at the heels and clasping his hands over his flat stomach. “I would have liked to draw that man’s cork, but seeing how he was ensuring my wife and child had not suffered greater injury, I decided I should refrain.”

I turned to look at him, some of my anger dissipating at his acknowledgment that the physician had been rude and condescending. However, that did not mean I was going to let his earlier comment pass without question. “Don’t tell me you weren’t offended by Alana’s criticisms. I saw that you were.”

He frowned up at the bed curtains. “I didn’t like it, no. But I recognize she meant well. She simply didn’t phrase her concerns in the best manner.”

“Do you agree with her?” I demanded to know.

He turned his head on the pillow to look at me. “We’ve discussed this. You know I do not.”

“But perhaps you’ve changed your mind.” I could hear the anxiety fraying the edges of my voice, but I couldn’t do anything to control it.

“I haven’t.” Rolling his long body onto his side next to me,