AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you, Mr. Walker,” Madalene said. “I do appreciate your help with this delicate situation.”
Mr. Walker tipped his head. “My job is but to serve you, Miss.”
After her solicitor left the room, Madalene returned to the settee, retreating into her own thoughts. She couldn’t seem to process what she had been told. There was no way that Edith had killed herself. No. It was ludicrous to even think that she would.
“Madalene,” Mrs. Foster spoke softly, “how are you faring?”
Madalene brought her gaze back up. “Edith wouldn’t have killed herself.”
Mrs. Foster sighed. “Madalene—”
“I know her!” Madalene exclaimed, cutting her off. “She wouldn’t have left her mother and sister without a fight.”
“We don’t know what drives someone to end their life, but—”
Madalene jumped up from the settee, causing Mrs. Foster to stop speaking. “No! Nothing you say will convince me otherwise,” she asserted as she rushed out of the drawing room.
She didn’t stop running until she arrived at the gardens, finally giving herself permission to cry. It felt good to let the tears fall, to express her emotions so freely. There has to be a way to appeal the coroner’s decision, she thought. There must be! She refused to let her friend be buried head downwards.
What if anyone discovered my mother’s shame, she wondered. Would she be removed from her plot at the parish and buried at a crossroad, head down? Madalene felt the tremble of a sob as tears poured down her cheeks. No. She would never allow that to happen. She would fight to preserve her mother’s legacy, and Edith’s, as well.
A calm and collected voice broke through her thoughts. “Miss Dowding.”
Madalene turned around and saw Lord Hawthorne watching her from a short distance away, a concerned look on his face. Without thinking of the repercussions of her actions, she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around him.
To her great relief, he encompassed her in his arms and held her without saying a word. She laid her head on his chest and listened to the calming sound of his heartbeat beneath his blue jacket. She felt protected in his arms, making her feel as if she had found a new home.
After a long moment, and with great reluctance, Madalene stepped back and dropped her arms. “I apologize for my display of emotions, Lord Hawthorne,” she said, averting her gaze.
Lord Hawthorne took his finger and placed it under her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You have nothing to apologize for, Miss Dowding.”
“But I do,” she said. “I accosted you nearly the moment you said my name.”
He smiled, a charming smile that caused her to grow weak at the knees. “You are welcome to accost me anytime you see fit.”
Madalene felt her cheeks grow warm as he dropped his finger. “Well, I thank you for your kindness.”
“Perhaps you will tell me what has you so upset.”
With a sigh, she revealed, “Edith was found dead in the River Thames this morning.”
Lord Hawthorne grew solemn. “I am sorry to hear that. How are you faring?”
“Not well,” she admitted. “The coroner ruled her death as a suicide since there was no evidence of foul play, despite her room being ransacked prior to her disappearance.”
His brow knitted together in a frown. “Suicide, you say?”
She nodded. “But there is no way Edith would have killed herself,” she asserted. “I know her, and that is not something she was capable of doing.”
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Lord Hawthorne leaned in and said, “I believe you.”
“You do?”
“I do,” he replied. “I will go speak to the coroner, and I will see if we can sort this mess out.”
Tears formed in her eyes. “You would do that for me?”
A smile came to his lips. “I would, most assuredly.”
