The Rightful Lord (The Saga Of Wolfbridge Manor Book 3), Sahara Kelly [english novels for students .TXT] 📗

are under no obligation to share the details with us. We care deeply about you, regardless of what happened before you came to Wolfbridge.”

Gwyneth nodded. “He’s right.”

“I know.”

“And yet I sense that you’d like to clear up the matter, lad,” Royce’s face was sober. “If it will help, then by all means do so. But be assured in advance it won’t make a difference to any of us.”

Gwyneth was hard pressed not to rise, go to Royce, and give him a long kiss for his understanding.

Jeremy nodded and took a breath. “You’re right. I need to get it off my chest.”

Chapter Two

Royce watched him as he turned to the others.

He was a good-looking young man, without question. Tall, with blue eyes and hair on the fair side of brown, he’d always been merry, ready with a jest or a smile no matter the situation.

But since Susanna had been literally thrown at their feet, Jeremy had changed. His eyes grew distant, the smile vanished and his demeanour became solitary.

It was not unexpected, but such a drastic change had to have had a drastic cause. Royce was very curious to know what it was.

“I have to confess something.” Jeremy looked around at them all. “I told my story last year, for the first time. So Evan already knows some of the details. But…” he swallowed roughly, “I lied. I lied by not telling the entire sad tale.”

He lowered his head for a few moments, and Evan—who was sitting next to him—leaned over and touched his arm. “It’s alright, my friend.”

Jeremy shook his head. “It’s not, not really. But now I must tell the truth.” He straightened in his chair. “I did indeed attend Cambridge. It is true that one night I saved a young woman from being…being raped, and in doing so I killed her attacker. That woman was Susanna Brockford.” He sighed, as if speaking her name had been a great effort.

“I was charged with murder and sentenced to death, thanks to the efforts of the attacker’s family. This is all past history now. Or at least I thought it was.” He rested his forearms on his legs and folded his hands together, his eyes downcast. “What I neglected to mention was that Susanna and I…she visited me often during the trial…and I suppose it was inevitable…”

“You fell in love,” whispered Gwyneth.

“Yes,” Jeremy breathed the word. “We were so much in love. Clinging to each other whenever we could.”

“Not surprising,” added Gabriel quietly. “You were both in terrible situations.”

Jeremy nodded. “We were. She was being vilified as a wanton seductress by the court and I was facing a death sentence.”

“How sad,” said Royce. “And how bloody unfair to both of you.”

“I agree on both counts,” he answered. “Obviously, I didn’t die. The family quietly arranged for my sentence to be reduced, and not long after that I was surreptitiously released. I can only assume that everyone had come to realise that I had acted purely out of the need to protect Susanna. After I was freed, I went to find her. She’d let me know she’d moved, which wasn’t surprising given the gossip and scandal swirling around her.”

“Did you meet her again?” Gwyneth asked.

“I did.” Jeremy met her gaze. “But only once. Her family had been distraught and had immediately accepted an offer from her hand from an elderly friend of theirs in Yorkshire. She was permitted to see me and tell me of her betrothal. It was…it was a difficult meeting. I tried to persuade her to come with me, to marry me wherever we could find a priest willing to perform the service, but she turned me down. I knew then that the love I felt for her was stronger than hers for me. It crushed me. She wasn’t unkind, just determined that marriage to this man was her best choice for a better future than a recently released convict. She walked away, just left me without even a farewell kiss. I didn’t see her for half a dozen years…not until she appeared at the church service at St. Polycarp’s.”

“And that’s when you learned of her divorce?”

“Yes, Royce. That’s when she told me. She wanted…she said she wanted me. That she’d made a terrible mistake and that she should have run away with me. That I was her only true love.”

“Oh Jeremy,” said Gwyneth. “You must have been quite torn…”

“To be honest? Not really. She’d hurt me badly. Turned aside from me when I needed her the most. I think that taught me not to expect much from anyone, and as I listened to her, I realised I wasn’t in love with her anymore. If she walked away once, she might well walk away again. I had no interest in taking that chance.”

“Understandable, my friend.” Gabriel nodded, his face full of sympathy.

“But that was also the time that she told me of her fears. She was afraid of her husband, afraid he’d find her and punish her for leaving him.”

“A powerful man, then,” Evan commented. “If she’d truly disappeared, it would take someone with a certain amount of funds and influence to track down one young woman…”

Royce nodded. “He’s got a valid point there, Jeremy.”

“Yes, he does,” Jeremy agreed. “And I think…this is only a supposition, mind…that it could have been either her husband or his family that perpetrated the violence on Susanna in retribution.”

“Logical,” said Royce.

“The Orloff family. I believe her husband was Basil Orloff.”

Gabriel tipped his head to one side. “That’s familiar. Let me think…” He frowned. “Banking? Jewellery? Something like that?”

“Banking, I believe,” said Evan. “I’ve heard the name too.”

“So certainly powerful enough to track Susanna. And probably not people we’d like too close to Wolfbridge,” said Gwyneth, pursing her lips in thought.

Jeremy sighed. “If there’s any sign