“What’s so important, Aaron?” Leonard asked, his confusion and conflict evident in his voice.
“I got a message from one of the vineyards,” Aaron replied urgently, “it’s an emergency. Please, come now.”
Leonard frowned, torn between his concern for Sally and his loyalty to his business and his partner. “An emergency? Now?”
“I cannot talk about it here in front of people,” Aaron hissed. “But it is bad. Very bad.” A whiff of wine mingled with the beeswax scent, told him Aaron had had a few glasses of wine, but he didn’t act inebriated. He was harried, however. Whatever had happened had unsettled him - and now it was unsettling Leonard in return.
“Fine, I’ll come,” he said reluctantly, “but we must make haste. I need to speak to Sally.”
With a heavy heart, Leonard followed Aaron out of the foyer and towards his study, his mind racing with worry and confusion. What was going on? Why was Aaron so urgent? And most importantly, what had happened to Sally?
* * *
Sally heard a door open behind her and turned to see Rosy following her. She sighed, not wanting to talk to anyone right now, not even her sister.
“Rosy, please. Leave me be.”
“I will not, Sally, what’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Rosy demanded and closed the distance between them. Her younger sister had always been stubborn and would not let anything go. “Tell me, what upset you so much?”
Sally took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. “I just discovered something terrible about Leonard,” she said. “He and his father defrauded their workers. They caused so much harm. All this time he hid this from me and I had no idea. I don’t even know who this man is I am married to.” She suppressed a sob and shook her head.
Rosy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That can’t be possible. Are you sure? You must ask him directly.”
Sally nodded, feeling the tears starting to well up in her eyes. “His business partner told me. He is a scoundrel himself but he has nothing to gain by lying to me about this. Besides, I confronted him about it, and he couldn’t deny it. I feel like such a fool for not seeing it sooner.”
Rosy put a comforting hand on Sally’s shoulder. “Come, let’s go inside. I’ll make you some tea and get you a blanket.”
“I do not want to go inside, Rosy, Please, I want to stay out here for a while,” Sally replied, unable to fathom the mere idea of going back inside.
“I understand but in that case I am getting you a blanket and a tea, I will be right back. Shall I fetch Joanna?”
Sally shook her head. “No, I don’t want anyone else to know right now. I just need some time to process everything.”
“Very well, but if you need anything, you know I’m here for you, right? I’ll go get you the blanket now, don’t go anywhere.”
Sally managed a small smile. “Thank you, Rosy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Once her sister had gone, Sally rocked herself back and forth and let the long-contained tears flow down her hot cheeks as she sat on a stone bench in the garden. She couldn’t believe what she had just discovered about Leonard and his father. Everything she thought she knew about him was a lie. She’d thought there was something off about Leonard, but this? To take advantage of people who depended on him? And to be just like his father in that regard? It was impossible.
CHAPTER36
Sally
She sat and replayed moments of their relationship in her mind over and over, wondering if there was anything she could have done to discover this sooner. Then, the truth of Aaron’s identity compounded on top of it – he’d attacked her long ago, and she’d never realized it. Well, that wasn’t true. She’d felt something off about him, but still, she’d ignored it, dismissing her feelings.
“Sally!” Rosy’s voice burst into her thoughts, and she turned to see her sister rushing out of the house.
“What is it?” Sally asked, jumping up from the bench.
“Something is the matter. I went to get a blanket from the cupboard in the hall when I heard raised voices. Aaron and Leonard are in Leonard’s study and it sounds like they are fighting. Aaron was shouting… Oh I heard him clear as day saying he’d kill Leonard.”
Sally’s heart raced with fear and worry. “Kill him? You heard this?”
“Clear as a church bell, Sally. Come quickly.”
Sally leaped up and raced past her sister into the house. Once they had passed the parlor, she paused. “Rosy, go find Papa and Kenneth. I saw them in the ballroom. Tell them there is trouble but do not make a big show of it, please.” The last thing they needed was more attention on themselves.
The sisters parted ways, with Sally racing toward the study, where the door was ajar. From within, thuds and bangs emitted along with grunting. She burst through the door and came to a stop to a truly horrid sight. The study was in utter disarray. The desk, so heavy she’d thought it would take three men to move it at all, lay overturned, papers scattered. Her eyes scanned the room for Leonard, and when she found him, she let out a yelp. He was on the ground, Aaron on top of him, hands wrapped around his throat.
