The Vanishing at Loxby Manor by Abigail Wilson (grave mercy .TXT) 📕

forcing me to face him. “What happened?” His voice wasa whispered mix of pity and dread.

“Oh, Piers, he didn’t take everything, but at the same time he did. Please don’t make me say it aloud.”

His arms went lifeless at his sides as he fought to make sense of what I’d revealed. “I knew something was wrong. I’ve feltit since I arrived. Darling, I—”

We both froze, as he’d not used the term of endearment since before I left for Ceylon. An accident of course. But what hadbrought it to his mind now?

I stared into those familiar blue eyes, glossy with unshed tears, and my heart contracted. Piers Cavanagh, the man I’d loved,then loathed, but never stopped thinking about, felt sorry for me. He’d never look at me the same way again, not as an ardentsuitor or as a close friend. I was a victim now, damaged goods—another person in his life whom he must handle with kid gloves.

It was all I could do to continue. “I-I never meant to tell you, certainly not in this way. I don’t even know what you thought or felt about me two minutes ago. I only know where I left my heart. Rest assured, it is not your public scandal ensuring nothing will ever happen between us; it is my private one.”

My emotions hit a boiling point, and I whirled away, my shoulders careening into the plants as I escaped to the house. I’dlearned long ago it was best to cry in private. But as I fled the garden, I found myself compelled to take one last look back.

I had known from the start there would be no chance of romance between the two of us; however, no one could have preparedme for how I would feel when I saw the expression on Piers’s face—the moment he realized the same thing.

Chapter 24

I lay down to sleep that night trapped within a body that didn’t feel like my own. It had all the right moving parts of course,but as I slid the silky covers along my skin, I barely felt them.

Piers knew everything now.

I stared at the shadowed beams in the ceiling as a crack of thunder rattled the windowpane. The whir of heavy rain followedall too quickly, filling my bedchamber with an uncomfortable hum as the angry gusts beat against the walls.

I wasn’t afraid, not exactly, but each rolling pound of thunder sent my muscles twitching, the very fabric of the storm abreathing reminder of my unsettled mind. I buried my head in my pillow. Why had I ever thought to come to Loxby Manor? I’dspoken with such authority to my mother, declaring my return to East Whitloe would be a haven. At the time I believed Loxbythe only place I could find what I’d lost in the tea fields of Ceylon—the promise of hope.

But my journey back to Britain had not gone as planned.

Searching for Seline had driven Piers and me round and round in circles, and it would be nothing but painful to have to face him now. I’d delayed my search for a governess position for too long. It was time to start looking at options. Perhaps Mrs. Cavanagh might know of a family. In the morning I would finally broach the subject with her.

However, when I descended the stairs the following day and entered the drawing room expecting to find her present, I was metinstead by an argument between Avery and Piers. I checked at the doorway, immediately thinking better of entering, but Averyhad already seen me.

“Charity.” He motioned me into the room. “You are just the person to talk some sense into my brother.”

I’m certain my face must have blanched, for a tingle spread across my cheeks. I had to fight hard to avoid Piers’s steadygaze.

Avery didn’t bat an eye. “Piers had the gall to suggest I forgo joining the two of you on your visit to Rushridge. Believeyou me, I know what lurks beyond such a suggestion. He only means to keep me away from Priscilla, and I won’t stand for it.”He crossed his arms. “And after I kept your prior relationship a secret. It’s the outside of enough.”

Shock unhinged my tongue. “You mean you knew . . . about us?”

“Well, of course I did. And I wasn’t the only one. Seline and I had the two of you pegged months before I happened upon youin that alcove.”

My head felt light, my eyes a blur. Avery had seen the kiss. I reached for the back of a chair to steady myself.

Piers’s voice came out cool and calculated. “That’s enough, Avery. You needn’t be crass.”

Avery huffed as he turned back to me, belatedly reading the expression on my face. “I beg your pardon, Charity, but you understand,don’t you? I’ve known Priscilla for years. She has a way of getting under my skin, and I can’t seem to shake her. In fact,I don’t mean to. I don’t care what Mother says. I think we suit quite well.”

I gave him a weak smile. “If only the world were as simple as that—a place where you could follow your heart free of all the complications that come with it.” I was careful not to look at Piers. I could only guess what was churning in his mind.

Avery seemed a bit put off, stomping to the door to open it. “Well, at any rate, I’m coming with you today whether you twolike it or not. We can ponder the intricacies of the heart as well as all the other secrets of the universe another time.”

We opted for horseback on our journey to Rushridge, and I must say, I did tolerably well avoiding any intimate moments withPiers both in the stables as well as the open fields. Every fiber of my being wanted to know what he thought of my confession,but I’d grown tired of the burden of hidden pain.

With what little interaction we did share, I found Piers decidedly more subdued, but with Avery present the stifling embarrassmentor the pitiful looks I’d fully