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“Thank you,” she whispered. Her voice was barely audible, but filled with gratitude.

Vivian smiled softly and gave Gemma’s hand a reassuring squeeze before withdrawing.

“Now, enough of such dark topics,” she said, her tone brightening as she glanced back toward the window. “It seems we might be in for a storm.”

Gemma followed her gaze, watching as the dark grey clouds continued to gather, casting a foreboding shadow over the estate.

She nodded slowly, her thoughts still lingering on the conversation they had just shared, but grateful for the change in subject.

The storm, it seemed, was only just beginning.

CHAPTER 9

Gemma once again found herself hesitating outside Frederick’s study, her heart pounding in her chest.

This time she had genuinely come to thank him, to express her gratitude for his intervention with Sister Agnes, but there was another feeling that niggled at her mind which she had been unable to shake and made her yearn to see him again.

Taking a deep breath, Gemma knocked softly on the door.

There was a brief pause before she heard Frederick’s deep voice beckoning her inside. She pushed the door open and found him seated behind his desk, the same way he had been the other morning before everything had changed.

Frederick looked up from his papers, his dark blue eyes meeting hers with that same intense, unreadable gaze. His presence filled the room and temporarily overcame Gemma, who nearly lost hernerve, but she silently reminded herself of the purpose of her visit.

“Your Grace,” she began, her voice quieter than she had intended. “I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier… with Sister Agnes. You did not have to do that.”

Frederick leaned back, observing her with a neutral expression. “It was nothing,” he said, his voice calm and a touch dismissive.

Gemma’s brow furrowed. His nonchalant response was frustrating her.

She pressed her lips together, considering her next words carefully. She hadn’t planned to stay long, but something in his demeanor kept her rooted to the spot.

“I shall be leaving soon,” she added, hoping to prompt something more genuine. “I do not wish to overstay my welcome.”

Frederick only nodded. “As you wish.”

She turned to leave but something stopped her. After everything that he had done, she couldn’t simply leave like this. She just couldn’t.

She glanced back, gathering her courage to speak her mind.

“Your Grace… I am deeply sorry about Helen,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

The moment the words left her lips, she saw Frederick’s shoulders tense and his gaze darken in a way she’d never before seen.

He didn’t respond, but the flash of pain that crossed his face told her everything.

“I…” she hesitated, stepping closer. “I do not mean to pry. I only… I do not understand why you do not speak of her. She was your sister.”

Frederick’s eyes narrowed and the room seemed to become colder.

“What right do you have to speak of her?” His voice was low and rough, a warning she would be a fool to ignore.

Gemma’s heart thudded painfully. She hadn’t expected this reaction, but she couldn’t back down now.

“Because she mattered. And the way she was treated, the way the ton simply forgot about her… is wrong.”

Frederick stood up abruptly, towering over her, his frame taut with barely contained fury.

“You think I do not know that?” he questioned in a harsh voice. “You think I do not remember how easily they discarded her? How they erased her as if she had never existed?”