The baroness took them into the sitting room and ordered a big pot of tea. Muriel brought it in and she and Ella stepped into the hallway to talk in hushed voices.
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Leah stared down into the cup of tea she clasped in both
hands, wondering how to make sense of this.
“I must apologize to you, dearest.” The settee sank as Lady Chesterfield settled herself beside Leah.
“For what?” She didn’t look up from her teacup.
Little rings of tea spread out from the tear that fell into her cup.
Lady Chesterfield laid a warm hand on Leah’s back.
“I did not consider many things in the way I assisted you. I assumed that you were as other young ladies of my acquaintance are— in search of a husband of rank and means. But I was quite wrong.”
Leah’s glance wandered upward. “No, you were doing what you thought was right. And I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, so I just went along with it. I should have told you that I had feelings for Avery before I even got here.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
Plucking the teacup from Leah’s hands, Lady Chesterfield gathered her into her arms again. “There is no need for it. In the end, my dear, all I have ever wanted was to be a part of your success. The tale of your friend Miss Marten sparked my imagination as nothing has since I dreamed of fairy tales in my youth.”
“You’ve been amazing, Lady Chesterfield.”
As Leah hugged her patroness, she closed her eyes.
Nothing had gone the way she’d thought it had, but she had been really lucky to find such a generous and kind friend. She just hadn’t wanted to move in with her. She’d sort have thought she would bring her true love home with her.
The fresh memory of Avery’s rejection wrenched a sob from her.
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“My lady?” Muriel appeared in the doorway. “You and Miss Ram have visitors.”
“We are not receiving,” Lady Chesterfield said calmly as she patted Leah’s back.
“But it’s His Grace, the Duke of Granville, and a servant. A male servant, miss. And he said something about the mirror.”
Leah’s heart leapt. “Does he have light brown hair tied in a ponytail? And hazel eyes and scars on his knuckles?”
Muriel’s head had only dipped in half a nod before Leah was running into the entryway. Completely ignoring the duke, she ground to a halt the moment she saw Avery holding a large object wrapped in brown cloth.
“Avery,” she whispered, the words seeming to emanate from her bruised heart. “You came.”
He set the object on the entryway table, slowly and carefully. The duke and Lady Chesterfield withdrew to the sitting room.
Leah fisted her hands at her sides to keep herself steady. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him and bury her face in his broad chest, but considering the way they’d parted last, she wasn’t sure she’d be welcomed. And another rejection from him might just break her beyond repair.
But then he turned, though his face was bruised and battered, and opened his arms to her.
With a glad cry, she ran to him. She clung to him as though they were adrift at sea and he was the only thing that kept her from sinking. It wasn’t really that far from the truth.
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between kisses that he dropped on her hair. “I am here,
I am sorry, I love you.”
“I love you too, Avery.” She turned her face up to him and accepted his kiss eagerly. For a moment, her hellish reality slipped away in the wonderful feeling of his body pressed firmly against hers, his lips and mouth possessing her, his arms holding her tightly. She tangled her fingers in his hair and kissed him with all the desperate passion she felt.
All too soon, he raised his head.
“I must speak with you,” he said seriously, though he never stopped touching her. “It is important.”
“If you’re here to tell me about the mirror, I know.
It’s broken. Ella came to tell me that Pawpaw is really sick, and when we tried to get back, it was gone.”
Darkness returned to blanket her, though it wasn’t nearly as dark as it had been before with Avery beside her. But even the presence of her true love didn’t change the fact that her grandfather lay on his deathbed and she couldn’t go to him. She pressed her cheek against Avery’s chest, taking comfort in the firm beat of his heart.
“Yes, it was broken, when Prachett…” He trailed off. Leah looked at him darkly but let it pass. “But Mrs.
Comstock and I have done our best, and we’ve managed to piece some of it back together.”
The words rumbled through her, and she raised incredulous eyes to his face. “What?”