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Such a pleasure, so untarnished it’s a delicious anticipation to claim such a beauty. And I will. Make no mistake about that because Purity Sanders has been brought here for one reason only.
To become my wife.
CHAPTER11
PURITY
My limbs are heavy, and my brain is foggy. It’s a struggle to open my eyes and I strain to listen for any sigh of life. There is nothing. Pure silence.
Something feels cool and soft against my skin, luxurious in fact, and I stretch my limbs tentatively, testing if they still work at all.
I open one eye and then the other and stare at a painted ceiling. At least I think it is, and I gaze in awe at a scene of cherubs and clouds. Am I in heaven? The real one, that is. Did I die? It’s a possibility.
I struggle to remember what happened and as the dots connect, the pain of betrayal brings me to my senses, and I gasp with fear as I sit up and stare around me wildly.
Where am I?
For a moment I think hard, and everything comes rushing back. Am I inside that mansion? Did they — he…?
I glance down at my body, that is dressed in a simple cotton nightdress. Who did this?
Peering around me, I notice the grandeur of a room that I never imagined could be real. I’m in a huge bed with silk sheets and fur throws. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the walls are decorated in silk paper. Heavy drapes with fringing hang at the windows and glass furniture hold huge flower arrangements.
Beside the bed is a table with a huge lamp and a tray with a pitcher of water and a glass.
Is it safe to drink? What are those pills beside it?
I was drugged. I remember now. It happened so quickly and–
I swallow hard when I remember what happened next and then I was rescued. Or was I?
My legs tremble as I slide them over the side of the bed and, as I attempt to stand, they give way beneath me, causing me to land with a thud on the carpet below.
Almost immediately, the door flies open and as I glance up, my soul shivers when I see who has entered. Him!
My heart fills with terror as he prowls across the room, looking angry somehow.
He says nothing and as he reaches me, in one swift move, he lifts me into his arms and places me carefully back into the bed, glaring down at me with an enigmatic expression.
“I don’t understand.” My voice wobbles and he surprises me by sitting on the edge of the bed and fixing me with a strangely kind expression.
“I’m sorry, Purity.”
“For what?”
“Gabriella.”
“Is she here?” I glance past him fearfully and he says angrily, “She’s been fired. You won’t be seeing her again.”
“Fired?” I am so confused, and he exhales sharply. “Gabriella was acting on her own when she took you to Mrs. Collins. She knew exactly what the job would involve, and you were about to be drugged, raped and imprisoned, all to earn money for Mrs. Collins, who would give Gabriella a cut.”
I can’t take it all in and hate the tears that slide down my stricken face as I stare at him, a broken woman.
“You saved me.” I stutter, not understanding why, and he surprises me again by reaching out and dragging his finger across my face, wiping my tears away.
“I did.”
“Why?” I’m confused, and he says softly, “I’m still figuring that one out.”
