Page 39 of Snowbound Surrender

The clock on the mantel chimed eight, and Nicholas frowned. Usually, the sounds of the household stirring would have reached him by now. He must have slept deeply.

He dressed quickly, eager to see Arabella again, to reassure himself that yesterday had not been some fevered dream born of longing and desperation.

On the way downstairs, he encountered Sarah in the corridor, her arms full of linens.

“Good morning, Sarah,” he greeted her. “I trust your mistress slept well?”

Sarah’s face went very pale, and she clutched the linens tighter to her chest. “Oh, Mr Morley, sir, I... that is...”

“What is it?” Something cold began to unfurl in Nicholas’s chest. “Where is Lady Lushington?”

“She... she’s very ill. Taken to her bed, she has, with instructions for complete rest and darkness.”

Nicholas frowned, the whispered words he’d overheard drifting back to him.

“And how long is she expected to be indisposed?”

“A…a couple of days, sir. She’ll be right as rain after that, I daresay.”

“I cannot see her?”

The flare of horror in Sarah’s eyes told him everything. “No, sir! She can’t see anyone, like I told you?—”

“Because she’s not in her bedchamber, is she, Sarah?” Nicholas lowered his face to hers. Of course, this wasn’t the maid’s fault, for she was protecting her mistress. He tried to suppress his devastation. “She’s left this house, hasn’t she?”

Sarah said nothing, lowering her eyes while her cheeks flamed.

“Your mistress has gone somewhere to meet someone, hasn’t she?”

Sarah swallowed. “

“I can’t tell you, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

Her platitudes washed over him for now his mind was reeling, connecting fragments of that overheard conversation, pieces of a puzzle that suddenly formed a horrifying picture.

I must leave as soon as possible.

Before anyone discovers what I’ve done.

So… she had played him. Again. Used their shared passion to distract him while she prepared to run. Run where? Toher mysterious lover? A man who would shield her from the consequences of whatever crime it was that she had committed?

“Sir?” Sarah’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Sir, are you well?”

Nicholas laughed, a harsh sound that made the maid flinch, for it was true that the wall was now supporting him and he truly felt he was about to be ill. “Well? Am I well?”

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let her make a fool of him twice? Yesterday afternoon, her passionate declarations, her tears, had all been an elaborate performance to keep him from asking too many questions, to ensure his compliance while she made her final preparations.

“Sir, please, you don’t understand?—”

“Oh, I understand perfectly,” Nicholas said, his voice deadly quiet. “Your mistress is very accomplished at deception. I should have remembered that.”

He turned on his heel and strode towards the breakfast room, leaving Sarah staring after him with obvious distress. But all he could think about was the expression on Arabella’s face yesterday as she had whispered of love and forever… with such perfect, calculated sincerity.

The breakfast room was empty save for Lady Fenton, who looked up from her morning correspondence with a bright smile that quickly faded when she saw his expression.

“Mr Morley? Whatever is the matter? You look quite?—”

“When did Lady Lushington leave?” he asked without preamble.