“Welcome home, Violet,” Leo said.
She smiled at him; her face red from the sharp winter wind. Her violet eyes shined with joy, though. “I am so glad to be home with you.”
Leo offered his arm. Violet curled her delicate hand over his elbow, and together, they slowly approached the manor. He took care on the steps, ensuring that he did not tread in any ice. Nathanial opened the door and bowed deeply. “Welcome home, Your Grace.”
“Thank you,” Leo replied.
The butler blinked, appearing taken aback. It took Leo a moment to realize that he had only recently begun thanking his staff for all the services they did for him. He felt a sharp twinge of foreboding. Was that how he had drawn someone’s ire?
Violet did not deserve what had happened to her. Leo could not help but wonder if the attempts on her life were somehow meant to behispunishment, however. The thought that someone might be hurting Violetbecauseof him was even worse.
“I am sorry that you had to leave London early because of me,” Violet said.
“I did not,” Leo replied. “We had already discussed leaving London. It is true that the attempts on your life persuaded me to leave a little earlier than I intended, but it was not as if I missed anything of crucial importance.”
They climbed the stairs, and Leo hesitated at his bedchamber. Violet still linked her arm with his. “I would like to rest,” Leo said.
“I would prefer to join you.”
Leo smiled. “Always.”
They entered his bedchamber and went to his bed. After discarding their coats, they fell into bed together. Leo found himself too exhausted with fear for Violet and concern that their assailant might have followed them to think of anything other than sleeping. He covered the both of them with the counterpane, and Violet moved closer to him. Leo wrapped his arms around him.
He held Violet and stroked her hair. She sighed contentedly and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you, too,” Leo said. “And I hope I am worthy of your love.”
“You are,” she murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.
Leo smiled. She was too good for him. If he had not offered his hand in marriage, Leo wondered if she would have wed. If he had never spoken to her, would Violet have married one of the villagers? Would she be happy right now and without the specter of some life-threatening monster hanging over her head? It was impossible to say.
Leo closed his eyes and tried to force sleep to come. It was easier to find than it should have been, perhaps only because he slept beside Violet. When they were together, he felt as if the world was not quite so terrifying. If they were together, Leo felt like he could protect her.
But he knew that he could not be at her side every moment of every day, and when he was gone, Violet could very well be in danger once again.
Chapter 29
After a few weeks in Essex, Violet began to feel as though those weeks in London were all some terrible nightmare. She and Leo spent the short winter days walking through the forest and having picnics by the lake. In the evenings, they retreated to Leo’s study, where they read books from his library and talked about a wide array of subjects.
They spend their nights in one another’s bedchambers, engaged in amorous congress whenever they could. It was, in many ways, precisely what Violet had always imagined that marriage would be like. There was, Violet reflected, only one problem with her perfect marriage.
“Give me just a moment, Mother.” Violet put her hands on her knees and bowed her head. She swallowed back the acidic taste which rose in her mouth and breathed in through her nose.
“Are you unwell?” her mother asked.
“A little.”
Violet had been unwell at the start of their walk, but because her mother had only recently become well enough to leave her bed for any amount of time, Violet had said nothing about her own discomfort.
“I am sorry, dear.”
Violet forced a smile. “I have been ill for a few days now, and I am doing my best to handle it.”
“A few days?” her mother asked, furrowing her brow. “Have you spoken to a physician? You might be pregnant.”
Violet straightened and forced a smile. “Pregnant?”
The thought had not occurred to her until her mother said it, but now that she had, it made so much sense. “I—I might be pregnant,” Violet said, instinctively placing a hand over her stomach. “I had not even considered…”
