AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Apparently, not enough." Edwina tickled the one part of him she could reach. His stomach.
He hunched over but did not drop the bonnet like she thought he would. After collecting himself, he straightened and lunged forward. She darted to the side, effectively evading him. Wading through the water as fast as it would allow her while the air diffused the sound of her laugh all around them, she tried to get out of the water.
"You will pay for that," he vowed, chasing her and eating up a lot of distance with his long legs.
"I shudder to think of it."
"Edwina!" A female voice called out then, and she turned to find Kitty on the shore, waving what looked like a missive in her hand.
Disappointed at their interruption, she allowed Albert to help her back. "You are back early," Edwina said.
"Mr. Winfield had somewhere else to be," Kitty replied with what sounded like disappointment in her voice.
"Mr. Winfield?" Edwina was quite surprised. "I thought you went with Viscount Henshaw."
"I was told by his valet this morning that he woke up with the chills and regretfully had to cancel our plans." Kitty smiled. "Mr. Winfield was in the morning room at the time and offered to take me instead."
"Steven?" This came from a surprised Albert.
"Yes, Your Grace." Kitty colored up slightly. Edwina had introduced them in London and Kitty was very formal with him. "But he remembered that he had to be somewhere and we cut the trip short." She turned to Edwina.
"This came for you." She proffered the missive she had been holding.
Edwina took the letter, half expecting it to be from Prudence because she was the only person in her family that was not here with her in Kent. She opened it immediately but it was not from Prudence. The handwriting was familiar, however.
She wondered how the sender had gotten to her this quickly after arriving just yesterday. As she scanned through the contents of the letter, she felt the blood draining from her body. Not only were the words very disturbing, but the hand in which they had been written seemed eerily like that of a friend of hers. It couldn’t be. No, dead people did not write letters.
Chapter Ten
Dear Edwina,
You are going to be a Duchess soon and we shall come to collect what is owed to us. We are informing you now so that you will have time to prepare.
Sincerely, Your friends from a long time ago
"Are you all right, Edwina?" Kitty and Rowan asked in unison.
“I… it’s nothing.” She folded the letter and placed it in her pocket before excusing herself.
Unable to sleep that night because of the cryptic message in the letter she had received, Edwina quietly slipped out of her bedchamber and went down to the library. She used the lone candle she had brought with her to light the candelabra she found on a table before exploring the shelves for something interesting. Turning up empty, she took a seat and settled on reading the book she had brought down with her, a novel that no gently bred female should be reading.
But even here, she could not chase the thought of the letter's contents out of her mind. The cryptic words were like a warning. A warning to not get too comfortable in the present because the past might just be lurking. She had no past to fear, however. She thought of Tommen’s creditors. If they thought she would be a Duchess soon, they might look to get payment from her since she was related to him.
But the handwriting… it was impossible and it could not be a coincidence.
She put down the book and collected a nearby stool to check the books on the higher shelves. She needed something else to keep disturbing thoughts at bay tonight. The stool wobbled to the side when she rose on her tiptoes. Strong arms suddenly encircled her waist and plucked her from the stool. She flailed in fright.
"Do you wish to break your jaw?" Albert's voice immediately calmed her. "Or is it your teeth you are looking to lose?"
"If falling off a stool does not make me lose my teeth,youmight. You frightened me and I thought it was someone else.” She shuddered at the thought of it being someone else.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, still holding her.
"Trying to reach for a book. Not everyone is blessed with your sort of height, you see."
"I know." He gave her diminutive form an amused appraisal.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
