A pang of regret pierced Leonard’s heart as he looked into her eyes, seeing the hurt and confusion reflected at him. “I wish I had,” he admitted, with sorrow. “But I was so consumed by fear, by the thought that I might turn out like my father and hurt you, that I thought it better to push you away. I heard my mother’s diaries and she revealed so much about what kind of man my father was and … she suffered so much I didn’t want you to endure the same.”
Sally’s breath caught in her throat as she listened to his words, her heart aching with the weight of his confession. “I understand now,” she whispered. “I wish you had told me, but I understand. But… you know you’re not your father, right?”
He cringed, but then, she wrapped her arms around him. “You are good. I’ve seen how much you care about others and how kind you are. The only times you’ve acted in an infuriating manner were when you were … consumed by guilt and fear, I imagine? Like when the Kellers said you are like your father?”
He let out a puff of air. “Yes, that’s true. I hated hearing that. I was coming to a point where I thought that you and I could perhaps be more but then they said the one thing that always gutted me since I discovered what my father was like.”
“I wish I had known, then I might have been able to convince you we are not like your parents. From some of the things the servants said, I sensed that your parent's marriage wasn’t so happy, but I couldn’t ask you, I couldn’t help you …’
“Because I pushed you away,” he admitted, and she nodded.
“Yes, but I suspected there was something related to them. Oh, Leonard. You and Kenneth were both convinced you’d turn into bad husbands, and then almost allowed your fears to make it so,” Sally said and shook her head. “Even though I know you could never be a bad person.”
Sally’s words washed over Leonard like a soothing balm, easing the lingering doubts and fears that had plagued his mind for so long. He gazed into her eyes, searching for the truth in her words, and found nothing but sincerity and love reflected in him.
“You know, Mrs. Farnsworth told me not long ago that you’re not like my mother,” he murmured, “That you’re strong and will not let anyone tell you what to do. And she was right. You’re amazing, Sally.”
“Not so amazing when it comes to recognizing people,” Sally said and nodded toward the man still lying on the ground. “He was right under my nose and I didn’t know. If I’d realized who he was, we might have been able to prevent what happened here.”
“We’ve both made mistakes but at least yours was born out of circumstance. It was dark that night he attacked you and you thought him a vagrant. Yet here he is – a nobleman,” he said, kicking one foot out against Aaron’s to see if he would stir. He’d hit him in the back of the head, though not with enough force to cause permanent damage. At least, he didn’t think so.
“What do you think it was that made him decide tonight was the night he’d kill you?” Sally whispered. Leonard took a deep breath.
“I don’t know. I don’t think he planned it, anyway. Perhaps it was a conversation I had with him earlier. I told him that I felt I made a mistake, pushing you away. That I’d wanted to make amends. Sally, the truth is the reason I wanted to speak to you later was because of this. I was going to tell you everything and let you decide what you wanted to do.” He watched as her rosy lips parted and she caressed his cheek with one hand so soft it felt like being touched by a cloud.
“Oh, Leonard. Do you think he might have done it because he didn’t want you to be happy? That he wanted to kill you to prevent that?”
He hadn’t considered it but when he looked at his former friend unconscious on the ground, he realized he didn’t really know much about him at all.
“I suppose. Maybe he also saw an opportunity to search the study for whatever evidence he was looking for. There is none, Sally. None at all,” he said, eager for her to believe him.
“I know, I do believe you. What happened when you followed him here?” she asked, though he heard the dread buried beneath her words.
“He accused me right away of wrongdoing, asked me to open the safe, show him everything… I refused and demanded an explanation. That is when he attacked me. He said’ he’d rather kill me than let me get away with whatever he thought I was doing,” he reported. Then, he paused, reflecting on the past few minutes.
“I wanted to kill him,” he blurted out. “When I found out what he did to you and my father. I… I wanted to kill him with that poker. What does that say about me?” He wondered if that was a sign of what he might become, but Sally cupped his face and pressed her forehead against his.
“Please, Leonard,” she pleaded “Stop thinking you’ll turn into a monster. You won’t. Besides, I wanted to murder him myself, does that make me a monster?”
“No, that makes you human,” he said. Her words were like a lifeline, pulling him back from the edge of his self-doubt. Leonard closed his eyes, allowing her reassurances to wash over him, soothing the wounds of his past and illuminating the path to a brighter future.
And then, with a hesitant breath, Sally broached the question that had been lingering between them, unspoken yet palpable in the air. “Did you mean it?” she asked. “When you said you love me?”
Leonard’s heart swelled with emotion as he looked into her eyes, seeing the vulnerability and hope shining within them. “Yes,” he replied. “It’s true. I love you, Sally.”
“Oh, Leonard, and I love you,” she said.
As their eyes met, Leonard felt a surge of longing and desire course through him, overwhelming any lingering doubts or fears. Without hesitation, he leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and pressed his lips softly against Sally’s.
The kiss was a gentle caress, a testament to the depth of their love and the unspoken bond between them. All the uncertainties and insecurities melted away in that moment, leaving only the warmth of their shared affection.
Sally responded to his kiss with equal enthusiasm, her lips yielding to his touch as she melted into his embrace. It was a moment of pure intimacy, a silent vow exchanged between two souls bound together by love.
EPILOGUE
One month later, Sally found herself at her parents’ home, enjoying a peaceful afternoon with her family. The room was filled with the soft chatter of conversation as they gathered together. Kenneth and Joanna sat nearby, each engulfed in a book, while her father was contented with reading a newspaper, and her mother worked on embroidery. From outside, Peter and Louisa’s joyful voices drifted in as they played with Jenkins, who’d managed to get the kite up in the air, despite the low wind.
Suddenly, Rosy burst into the room, waving the newspaper excitedly. “Look, everyone!” she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
