Do you not see yet, Frederica? Do you not see how we are meant to be together? How you belong back here in London at my side?
“This is disgustingly possessive,” Honora suddenly snapped. Frederica nodded heartily in agreement though she couldn’t muster any words as she continued down the note.
You leave me with one last course of action. I miss you so much that I must act for fear of being driven mad without you here. Frederica… come to London. You must reveal yourself and come to me. Only then will all be as it should.
If you do not do this, you will leave me no choice but to take action.
I understand your friend, Her Grace, Dorothy Weston, Duchess of Stotbury, is much in town at present. A happy wife and mother to two children, imagine how they would feel if something were to happen to her?
“Surely he does not mean to hurt her,” Honora cried, trying to take the letter in her shock, but Frederica held on hard.
I am not a cruel man, my dearest, but my hands are tied in this matter. We are meant to be together, and if you do not return to London, then I must act.
Come to me, and all will be well. If not, then I shall have to keep a close eye on your friend, the Duchess of Stotbury.
Your true love,
Morgan.
“It’s him?” Honora asked shakily.
“It’s him,” Frederica said, a lump forming in her throat. “Morgan Blackwood, the Viscount Wetherington. Oh, God.” Suddenly, she was on her feet, discarding the letter. “Aunt, this is awful. If I do not return to London, he will hurt her —”
“Calm yourself, dear.” Honora placed her hands on Frederica’s shoulders. “This is only a ploy. He cannot mean anything by it. He knows where you are, and yet he has not come to the house to claim you, has he? He has instead sent a letter to make you come to him.”
“He is that selfish and demanding.”
“It shows this is a trick, a ploy, just words. He would not hurt your friend; I am certain of it.”
Frederica was not so certain though. Unlike her aunt, she knew Lord Wetherington. She had seen time and time again his sense of entitlement. He would have been horrified by the idea of coming to her door and knocking it down to retrieve her, for it would have made him look pitiful.
No, he wanted things in reverse. He wanted Frederica to turn up at his door and beg for him to have her as his bride.
I will not give him the satisfaction though what else am I to do?
“He could hurt her,” Frederica said, shaking all over. “Dorothy is one of my dearest friends in this world. I cannot let anything happen to her.”
“Then write to her and put her on her guard,” Honora said hurriedly, “but you do not need to return to London, Frederica. This man is all words. He does not have the gumption for action in him.”
Yet Frederica knew her aunt was wrong. Had he not tried to force Frederica to kiss him that night in the library?
He is a man capable of vast action indeed.
* * *
That night, Frederica could not sleep. She kept trying. She laid her head down on the pillow frequently, but each time she closed her eyes, she saw Dorothy.
She saw her friend dancing at a ball in her husband’s arms, Stephen Weston, the Duke of Stotbury. Frederica saw how happy they were together then she saw too just how happy the two of them were with their children. Those two children, a boy and a girl, were the light of their lives.
The thought of those children seeing their mother hurt — the tears, the fear — was too much for Frederica.
Sometime after midnight, she flung the blankets off her body and stood in her chemise. She moved to the window and stared out at the rain lashing the glass.
It would hardly be the first time she had run away in the dead of night in the rain. Now, it was necessary for a second time.
If she sent a letter to Dorothy, it would take a long time to get there and even longer for a reply to come back to Frederica. She also knew her friend very well. She loved Dorothy dearly, but she knew she was a stubborn woman. Dorothy would probably laugh off the propensity for any man to come and hurt her.
I must warn her in person. I must make her realize that this threat is very real indeed.
