Her uncle’s chin lifted a notch higher where he might look down his nose at her, and Audrey wondered briefly when he had adopted the gesture. “I did not say you would be traveling with Caroline and me.”
The air escaped Audrey’s lungs as the room spun for a few perilous seconds before she could find her voice. “Please, Uncle,” she rushed to say, “do not abandon me. I promise on all which is holy, I shall never disappoint you again.”
“I doubt such is possible,” Uncle Jacobi said with a lift of his eyebrows in obvious skepticism. “You have long since become too independent. There was a time—” he said with a sigh, followed by an elongated pause. “You were such a sweet-natured child.”
“I can be that girl again,” Audrey declared. Her hands were pressed together in supplication.
Her uncle sighed once more for obvious emphasis, this time with a heavily guttural huff of air. “I suppose I still hold an obligation to your mother.”
Audrey held her breath, quietly praying for her uncle’s continued benevolence. “I shall do anything you ask of me,” she pleaded in a whimpering whisper.
He eyed her with circumspection, and Audrey attempted not to squirm under his close examination. “Perhaps you might still prove yourself worthy, if you are honest in your desire to do so.”
“I am,” she swore as tears filled her eyes from both despair and the flicker of hope.
“Your willingness to do so is admirable,” he said in cautious tones. “Yet, before we settle things between us, I must tell you my plans for Caroline and me to travel to France will not change, even with your begging otherwise.”
Audrey felt her heart plummet to her stomach as her mind filled with the possibilities of what might happen to her.
“Yet—” Her uncle left the word hanging in the air between them.
“Yet?” Her lips formed the word before she could school her expression.
“Yet, my business in France is not necessarily of a permanent nature. I should be gone—six weeks at the most. There is much to becompleted, but, without the distractions of the London Season, I might be able to finish what must be accomplished in a timely manner.”
Audrey did not necessarily approve of what her uncle was proposing, but she said, “You are masterful when it comes to business.”
“I thank you for the compliment, Audrey. As I said previously, you were known to be a sweet-natured child.”
Her uncle’s remark eased some of the tension bunched between her shoulder blades. “I can be that person again,” she said honestly. “I am sorry if I have failed you in any manner.”
He appeared to ignore her assurances. Instead, he said in businesslike tones, “We must settle how best to proceed. Caroline and I will depart on Thursday, and you will remain behind. Your doing so will prove to Lord Amgen I intend to return, and the gentleman will not think I have forsaken our contract. You can do as I ask, can you not, Audrey?”
She swallowed hard, but her fear remained. “If such is your wish, Uncle,” she squeaked. Her throat felt tight.
“It is,” Uncle Jacobi was quick to confirm. “You will remain in this house. You will continue to refuse callers, and you will not leave the house for any reason.”
The idea of another month, or two, if his words held true, of isolation frightened her nearly as much as did the possibility of her family turning their backs on her. Memories of how alone she felt when her mother died flashed before her eyes. Even so, she said, “I understand.”
“I pray you do. For if we move forward as a family will depend upon your performance in this matter. I must regretfully remind you, Audrey, you owe Caroline and me a large debt. We have shared our lives, our home, and our wealth with you. You would be nothing more than a maid in some overseer’s home in an uncivilized British colony if not for us.”
Audrey had thoughteverything was settled. She was not happy with being left behind, but the servants would be around. Perhaps she could convince Clara to stay the night with her. That was her assumption until she overheard her uncle presenting the small staff orders during his absence.
Not wishing to be accused of eavesdropping, she waited until later, after supper before following her uncle to his study. She waited for his recognition of her before saying, “I overheard the servants discussing their days off. At first, I thought it was simply a change in their days, but it sounded as if they would not be joining me during the days of your absence. I pray I am in error.”
Her uncle did not look up from the papers on his desk when he said, “I saw no reason in paying for services of which I will not benefit. You will remain alone in the house.”
“Alone?” Audrey asked. Once more, her heart plummeted to her stomach, hiding from the fear filling her chest. “What do you mean by saying I shall be alone in this house?”
Her uncle and Caroline planned to depart for France early the next morning, and Audrey was just hearing Uncle Jacobi’s full plans for her in his absence. She had spent the last two days coming to terms with being left behind, but she had not known the extent of her abandonment.
“You have heard me correctly,” her uncle declared in exacting tones. “We will take both Mr. Stark and Mathild with us. Mathild does not wish to remain in England, and I have promised to return her to France. Naturally, Mr. Stark will accompany me; he remains a loyal servant.”
Audrey heard her uncle’s emphasis on the wordloyal, meaning thiswas, yet again, another maneuver to test her allegiance to her Uncle Jacobi. She had experienced more than one such proof of her willingness to follow her uncle’s orders since the initial announcement of his departure, but she had not expected this one because, customarily, Uncle Jacobi spoke of his expectations early and often. This change in tactics had Audrey feeling more off-kilter than usual.
When she was younger, she did not understand some of the manipulations he practiced. In those days, he also used them against Caroline, but to a lesser extent, likely because Caroline succumbed quicker to her father’s wishes than had Audrey. Certain phrases were used often—phrases she could hear ringing in her head, even now.
“I do not have time to listen to your nonsense. You make little sense, girl.”
