CHAPTER ONE
“We are nearly there, Miss.”
At the coachman’s voice, Isobel Lennox felt some of the anxiety she had managed to ward off earlier return with vengeance. She tightened her grip on the edges of her cloak as she continued to observe the surroundings of the area as they drew closer to her destination.
She wished she could have seen it in the light, wanting to know more about the lands that surrounded Gramfield estate, wondering if they bore sights she had missed in her absence.
But due to the sudden demand for her presence in the letter she had received from the inhabitants, she arrived rather late in the night and could not see much more than dark shapes of foliage.
Isobel wished she could have brought one of her siblings along for the trip, but they did not even know that she had left Scotland. Additionally, she had gone on to emphasize that shecould handle certain tasks by herself, but still… it would have been nice to have some support as she faced someone she had hoped but never imagined would contact her.
The carriage came to a stop, and all of Isobel’s thoughts halted as well. She realized that in a few moments, her life would change irreversibly, and she would receive answers she had sought after all of her life.
However, instead of joy or excitement, only uncertainty lay within her.
The door to the carriage fell open, and she immediately noticed a man standing in the path that led to the house.
“Miss Lennox, welcome to the Gramfield estate. I am Ronald Wittley, the valet.”
“Good evening,” Isobel greeted cautiously, accepting the offered hand as she climbed out of the carriage.
“Right this way,” Mr Wittley prompted, gesturing ahead of himself as he began to walk towards the house. “Do not worry about your things, they shall be retrieved in a moment.”
Isobel spared the carriage a glance before she followed him, urging herself to look as brave as possible, no matter how she felt.
Inside the home, she lifted her hands to the hood of her cloak to push it back, but was stopped quickly.
“Forgive me, Miss, but due to the unique nature of… this matter, Lord Gramfield asks that you keep your cloak and hood on. Just until you enter the Baron’s study.” The valet told her.
It was an odd request, but not a difficult one to honor, so she nodded and dropped her hands, continuing to trail behind him as he walked on.
Isobel itched to look around, to take a proper look at the walls that she might have known – perhaps in another life – disconcerted by how unfamiliar they were, her mind wandering until the valet beckoned her attention to him once more.
“We have arrived,” he told her, lifting a closed fist to knock against the door before them slightly.
A deep voice called from the other side. “Enter.”
Mr Wittley shifted his gaze to Isobel as he hand curled around the doorknob, waiting. Only when she nodded did he open the door and step in first.
“Lord Gramfield, Miss Lennox has arrived.”
Isobel walked into the study, her gaze falling on a man who was pacing around by the fireplace. She couldn’t help but stare as she stepped closer, taking in every single detail that she could see.
As she had imagined this situation a million times, she often questioned what would happen when she met this man. She wondered how he would greet her, what she would say, if it would be obvious, the connection they shared.
But as she faced him now, her mind was strangely void of questions.
There was no doubt about it, though, if he truly was who she assumed he was.
Her father.
“Ah, so it seems,” Gregory Wightman, the Baron of Gramfield, smiled widely. “Come, my darling. Come to me.”
Slowly, Isobel walked towards him, staring blankly as he opened his arms out wide and waited for her to embrace him. When she did not, he laughed it off and gestured to one of the chairs before him.
“Please, sit. That will be all, Ronald.”
The valet left as Isobel settled down in the chair, watching as Gregory sat in the other chair opposite hers, his excitement making her feel a tad sour.
