Lady In Distress (The Langley Sisters Book 3) (3 page)

“Since when do you blaspheme?”

He fell in beside her, and Bella did not look his way, instead concentrating on walking correctly as Doctor Abernathy had taught her to. Carry your weight evenly, Isabella, walk slowly, and keep your strides small so you do not over extended your leg. Take big, deep breaths every few steps and this will help you to focus. Of course, each breath meant she inhaled a lungful of frigid air, but still, it felt good to be outside walking again. Pushing her face into Will’s scarf, she warmed her icy cheeks.
 

“I apologize, it was rude of me to speak that way. However, I need to walk every day and you have no need in the future to concern yourself with accompanying me, as Sally is a more than adequate companion, I assure you.”

She heard his hiss of breath and Bella swallowed her small smile. He did that when he was displeased.
 

“Shouldn’t you be resting after such a long carriage journey?” The words were snapped out and Bella couldn’t remember when he had last spoken to her like that. It seemed more than she had changed in the past few months.

She’d only heard snatches of conversation about his years away with Will, but she had come to realize that in India, Luke had been more Will’s equal than servant. There, he’d learned the value of money and business, and how to lead men. He’d arrived back in England a different man, but upon his return, had chosen to slip back into his old ways, much to Will’s disappointment. However, now it seemed he had decided to fill the vacancy left by Freddy’s departure as Will’s man of affairs. She wondered why.

“I am not the invalid I once was, Luke, and you need to understand that. I want to now lead a full life.”

“And this includes entering society.” His words were flat and emotionless.

She’d thought about that, thought about the dreams she’d had that included pretty dresses and attending balls. She had once believed it out of her reach, but now…now she still wanted it, if only for one season.

“I would like one season, yes.” Bella kept her words calm, even though inside she was a mass of nerves. She’d known this day would come, when she had to put into practice what she had planned while in the clinic, yet it was still hard. She loved this man and wanted a life with him, but she also wanted to enter society. Did that make her shallow, or just another young woman wanting to fulfill a long sought-after dream, and one she had thought out of her reach for so long?

“I see.”

“No, you don’t. You see my words as an end to my love for you, but they are not, they are merely a postponement.”
 
There she’d said it out loud. She loved him, and he could make what he wanted from that statement.

Looking down the road, she inhaled a small, sharp breath of air. There was a small bush standing on its own just before the bend. She would walk to there and back, and pray she would keep her composure until she returned to her room. But before she reached the bush, a hand grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. Blue eyes looked down at her, intent and focused.
 

“Explain that to me.”

Stay calm, Bella
.

“Do you believe it wrong of me to want to enter society when you cannot?”

His sigh was tired and dredged from the soles of his feet. “I do not, and after what you have endured, I even understand why you want it. But I also know what you will see and who you will meet. I know that I may lose your love and never reclaim it.”

He put two fingers on her lips as she started to speak. “But I also know that I would never stand in your way, if that is your wish.”

The anger that rose inside Bella nearly made her breathe flames. How dared he doubt her. “Do you believe my love is so fickle that a few months spent amongst strangers, dancing and being a lady, will banish it? Am I such a shallow person then, Luke Fletcher, that the love that has burned in my heart for many years can be extinguished in a matter of days? Will my head be turned so easily by a handsome, rich man?”

“Bella—”

“You’ve never reciprocated my love. Not once have you promised a future, or talked as if we could ever have one. Yet you stand there judging me. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps someone will sweep me off my feet and I will forget about the surly man who has occupied my heart for far too long!”

Bella pulled her arm free and continued slowly down the road with Sally. She kept her back straight and her arms swinging, just as Doctor Abernathy had told her to.
 

“You know my feelings, Bella.” He took her arm once more.

“I have no further wish to discuss this, Luke. I will enter society, and we will see what happens, and after…if I have not fallen madly in love several times, fickle female that I am, then we shall see how you feel.”

 
He made a sound that spoke of his anger, but she ignored him. Turning at the little bush, she started back towards the posting house. It was so quite out here. Beyond the fences on both sides of the road she could see fields and hills. She’d come to love the small part of Scotland that she’d lived in briefly. Loved the thick brogues of those she met and became friends with at the clinic. She would miss them dearly, but was also longing to see her sisters and her home.

“You will see the difference once you enter society, Isabella. The things you will have to give up to be with me. I cannot ask that of you. You will be shunned and set aside. Invitations will stop arriving.”
 

“Well, that is a decision I will be informed to make after I have entered society. So, like I have already stated, we will talk on the matter no further.”
You foolish, bloody man! How could he think her love for him could ever be lost?

She shot a quick look at his face and saw the anger and confusion. Luke was not a man who liked to discuss his feelings or emotions and Bella almost felt sorry for him…almost. He had doubted her love, and that hurt.
 

“Yes, I think that is an excellent plan. After all, I may wish to marry another,” Bella said.

“You will not!”

She gave him an innocent look. “But you have just stated that it will be hard for me to give up the luxury of life in society to share yours.”

“You are already talking like every other empty-headed debutante whose sole purpose is to flaunt themselves in the London ballrooms in the hope of catching an eligible, rich peer.”

The disgust in his tone cut through Bella but she did not show it. How dare he judge her when he had made the choice to put the distance between them? More than just her leg had changed in the last few months. She had lived without him, and had realized that to do so she needed to be strong, even if inside she was hurting. Before, pain had ripped away her strength and left her weak and needy, but now she was stronger she could hide her emotions.
 

“Isn’t that the difference between us then, Mr. Fletcher? Haven’t you always highlighted our birth as the reason we are not equal in your eyes? Surely my entering the ranks of the debutantes—I
 
shall not say empty-headed, as that was uncalled for—is
 
what you expect of me?”

He was silent, and she could feel the anger and frustration coming off him in waves. She had always been able to feel his moods, and she hated that she still could. Although this time it was different; she would take no steps to lighten it as she once would have.
 

“I had no right to say what I did. Forgive me. I hope you know that I have only ever wanted your happiness, and it was never my intention to hurt you.” He said the words from behind her, which was just as well because she felt the sting of tears and blinked furiously to hold them at bay.

She slowed her steps briefly but did not look behind her as she spoke. “Please, there is no need to discuss the matter further. The past is forgotten. There is only the future to embrace now. I shall enter society and time will tell what it holds.”

CHAPTER TWO

The journey was long and tiring for Bella. Will was entertaining and Luke spoke upon occasion, but the tension between them filled the carriage. She was hurt and angered by the fact that he believed her so fickle, and that he had not spoken of the love she knew he felt for her only made it worse.
 

After the first night, Will or Sally had accompanied her on her daily walks and she was grateful the weather had allowed her to exercise, as being cooped up in the carriage was hard on the muscles in her leg and usually by the time they stopped, they had stiffened and begun to ache.
 

“I’m thinking Rufus, but Livvy won’t hear of it.”

Bella dragged her eyes from the darkening sky to look at Will and Luke, who had for the past few miles been debating names of Will’s future offspring.
 

“Dudley is a fine name, or Cedric,” Luke said, and Bella squinted in the rapidly darkening carriage to see if he was serious.
 

“I think Edith for a girl?” Will added.
 

“You will have no say in the matter of naming your child and you know it.”

They both looked across the carriage to where she sat.

“My wife understands who the master of our household is.”
 

She found a tired laugh as Will finished speaking. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?”

“It’s good to hear you laugh, Bella. You’ve been very serious today.”

“It was not my intent, Will. Forgive me if I have been poor company.”

“Care to tell us what the problem is?” Will questioned, his eyes going from hers to Luke’s.
“I have been away from you all for so long and in that time much has changed for me, Will.” Bella looked back out the window as she tried to say what needed to be said.
 

“We see those changes, Bella, but there is something more bothering you?”

“She is tired, Will. Surely that is enough for now.” Luke’s words made her look at him, but his eyes were on his friend, and she was grateful for his interference. Will tended to be determined when he started questioning people, and not happy until he got the answer he sought.

“We shall be home to—”

 
Will never finished speaking as they heard the thunder of hooves.
 
Hands gripped her waist, and seconds later she was wedged between him and Luke.

“Quiet now, Bella. We are about to be robbed.”

“What? How do you know?” Someone shouted then, asking for the carriage to stop.

“If I wasn’t so bloody angry, I’d laugh at the irony of it all,” Luke muttered. Running one gloved hand along the seam of the roof above him, he then opened a panel. Pulling out his money pouch from inside his jacket, he then withdrew a handful of coins, leaving a few inside. He stuffed them in the panel, along with the money and ring Will passed him.
 

“What jewelry are you wearing, Bella?” Luke said turning to her. Gone was the expressionless man of minutes before. He and Will were now focused, their eyes narrowed and angry.
 

“I-I just this.” She showed him her mother’s locket, which he quickly undid.

“Money?”
“A little in my reticule.”

“You will hand the reticule to them when they ask for money and we will hand over what is left in our pockets.”

“Dear God, is this really happening?” she whispered as the carriage pulled to a rapid halt.

“We will let nothing happen to you, Bella.” Luke stroked her cheek briefly, the contact reassuring because it was the first time he had touched her since the journey began. “Just do exactly as they tell us to, and at all times, you must stand between Will and me. Moses and Jessie will be behind us. Luckily, the other carriage has gone on ahead.”

The door was wrenched open suddenly and a man appeared. The lower half of his face was covered, leaving only the dark glimmer of his eyes.
 

“Good evening to you all.”

She felt the tension in Luke and Will as the man spoke.

“If I may have the pleasure of your company outside,” he said, holding his hand out to Bella.

“Step back!” Will moved to the door first, shielding Bella behind him. “She can stay in the carriage. We hold the money.”

“I don’t think so,” the man said. “I’d be a fool to trust a woman.”

Will stepped down and Luke followed before turning to help her. Taking her hand in his, he pulled her into his right side. Will moved to her left, and then together they turned to face the men.

Bella counted four. All wore scarves as Livvy and Phoebe had done when they had robbed carriages. Lord, how truly terrified her sisters must have been, Bella thought. And how frightened their victims must have been, too, she added as a shiver stole through her.
 

“Looks like we have ourselves a couple of wealthy noblemen and one sweet little lady.”

The man from the carriage had moved back to mount his horse, his pistol now trained on Will.
 

“State what you wish from us.” Will spoke, not overly loud, but Bella heard the cold threat of menace.

“Money and jewels,” the man answered.

Each man had a gun, and Bella guessed at this distance they would easily kill or maim one of them. The hand Luke had on her waist held her against his side and she could feel the tension coiled in his body.