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“Don’t lie to me, love. I know when you’re lying.” Edward Heavenly plucked another slice of toast from the toast rack and began to butter it. “What is it? Looks like bad news.”
“It’s from Sister Cecilia.”
Her father frowned. “I thought you saw her last night. Why is she sending you a letter now?”
“It’s only just happened, and I suppose she didn’t think it could wait until she next saw me.” Eleanor looked at her bacon and eggs. She didn’t feel very hungry now. “One of the girls ran away from the orphanage a couple of months ago. She’s been found.”
Edward Heavenly stopped buttering his toast. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
“Yes.” Eleanor gulped. “She was found in the river. The coroner told Sister Cecilia that the girl drowned, but there are…” God, she could not say it without shuddering. “There were bruises around her throat.”
“She was murdered,” her father murmured.
“She was only a child, Father.” Eleanor rubbed her hands over her face. “I know she wasn’t the nicest of children and her attitude could rub people the wrong way, but Theresa didn’t deserve that.”
She could feel tears close to coming out, but she would not allow it. Eleanor would cry on her own, where no one could witness her breaking down. Eleanor missed her mother.
“Who’s going to do the funeral?” Edward Heavenly asked. He had now reached for the jam, his hand slightly shaking. “I mean, she won’t have any family.”
“The nuns are going to bury her in their churchyard. I’ll help with the funeral arrangements.”
“I know you will.” Unscrewing the top off the jam, Edward Heavenly glanced at the letters on his side of the table. Then he frowned and picked one of them up. “Oh, Parson put this in my pile for some reason. This is one for you.”
Eleanor reached across and took the letter. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, which looked very sharp and regimental. There wasn’t anything to identify who had written it.
“Eleanor?” Edward Heavenly raised his eyebrows. “It’s not going to explode.”
“I know. I’m just hoping that it's not from Leyton. He did say that he wanted to organize a time to talk to me.”
Edward Heavenly stared. “Leyton? He’s back in London?”
“Unfortunately.” Eleanor turned the letter over in her hands. She didn’t recognize the seal, either. “He wants to try and start back where we left off. It’s like the years haven’t told him that I want nothing more to do with him.”
Eleanor had told her parents what Leyton had done. Her father had been outraged. He wasn’t one to toe the line, for the most part, but to touch Eleanor without her consent and being deaf to anything she said was crossing the line fast enough to smudge it for her father. When Leyton had attempted to come over and speak to him about Eleanor and courtship, Edward Heavenly had punched him and promised more if he didn’t keep away from her. Leyton had left very hurriedly.
Now Eleanor watched as her father’s jaw tightened and he was scowling, looking much like he had that day when Eleanor told him about Leyton’s actions.
“If he comes anywhere near the house, you let me know. He’s dangerous, and I won’t have him anywhere near you.”
Eleanor stilled. “He’s dangerous? How is he dangerous?”
Edward Heavenly hesitated, absently putting a generous amount of jam on his toast. Eleanor sat forward.
“Don’t you start ignoring me, Father. How is Matthew Leyton dangerous?”
“I’ve seen his brother on occasions when…” Edward Heavenly’s face went bright red. “Dominic Leyton has told me that his brother went to a place in Cornwall for some years. It was to convalesce.”
A grown man went to convalesce in remote Cornwall for years? That didn’t sound right at all. As far as she was aware, Leyton had been a relatively fit and healthy young man. It could only mean one thing if a grown man in supposedly good health had to move to Cornwall for a long period of time.
“He was committed?”
“That’s not what Dominic said, and he denied strongly that Matthew was mad or had a breakdown, but I read between the lines.” Edward Heavenly took a bite of his toast. “I just want you to be aware of what’s going on, and if he has been committed then he’s to be treated very carefully.”
“I’d rather not be treating him at all.” Eleanor was still trying to get the words to sink in. “I didn’t think he had a breakdown.”
“Any of us can snap. And seeing as he was sent there shortly after you and I told him where to go, I’d say he snapped badly. Dominic said he was still there last month. He wasn’t expecting Matthew to come visiting anytime soon.”
Eleanor groaned. Just great. She had a madman following her around. She shouldn’t have been surprised that there was something not quite right with Leyton, and Eleanor was glad she had trusted her gut. But to hear he had been committed over her? Eleanor wasn’t sure what to make of that. It didn’t sit well that she might have been the cause of his breakdown. Didn’t she hear that seeing the person who triggered the breakdown might cause another one?
