Chapter Twenty-Three
Despite her heavy cloak, Louisa shivered. Dampness seeped through the bricks and cold air blew down into the open well. Her shoulder throbbed with each breath. All she had wanted was to get away, to hide from everyone, but now she was stuck, and Gavin was the only person who might be able to figure out where she’d gone. But he had already left Walsley because she had told him to go and he always obliged her. Poor Nubbles whined piteously from above, too scared to jump into the well, but unwilling to leave her.
She shifted her position and raw pain shot through her shoulder. It hadn’t been difficult to shove the heavy cover off the well. The sun had shone brightly, and she had spent several minutes scanning the walls, looking for the jewelry or a place where it might be hidden. There were a few darker areas below, and she’d climbed onto the edge to get a better look, but had lost her balance and fallen. Not long after that, her mare had thundered off. She’d likely gone back to the stables, but Louisa had been stuck all afternoon and night. The odds of someone finding her grew smaller and smaller as each hour passed. She had no food or water, and nothing but her cloak to keep her warm. Perhaps Nubbles would grow hungry and head back to the house, though it seemed unlikely that he might be able to lead someone back to her.
Even if she survived this, she had been stupid and impulsive and likely had lost Gavin’s regard forever. The idea that he had been the cause of her self-doubt still hurt, but now that she’d had a lot of time with nothing to do but think, she knew it was wrong to blame him. It wasn’t as if he’d done it on purpose. It was a flaw within her that allowed her to be so insecure for so long, and he was the one who had made her realize it. Knowing the cause of Sally’s removal to the scullery also made it likely that she had been the one trying to start things up again with Gavin. Without giving him a chance to explain, she’d run away like a child. At the first test of their relationship, she had doubted him. Edward had changed his ways for Isa, and Gavin had done the same for her, and she had betrayed him.
The only small comfort was that despite its position near the river, the well was completely dry, so at least she didn’t have to worry about drowning. It was so odd. Why didn’t the water from the river seep into the well? It looked almost as if the bottom was much wider than necessary, but it was difficult to tell in the dim light.
Hoofbeats sounded from above, and she instinctively shrank back against the wall. Perhaps it was her mare returning, but it was unlikely, given the amount of time that had passed.
“Louisa?” She closed her eyes. It was Gavin. Why had he come looking for her when she’d been so terrible to him? She wiped the tears from her face.
A shadow appeared on the other side of the wall. “Louisa, sweetheart, is that you?”
“Just leave me here,” she said. It was what she deserved after the way she’d treated him.
His face appeared above her and she averted her eyes.
“Thank God. Are you hurt?”
“No more than I deserve. Please, just leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that. I promise I’ll leave Walsley and never bother you again once I’m certain you’re safe, but for now, I must insist that you let me help you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because I love you. How many times do I have to tell you I’d do anything for you?”
He’d moved to the other side of the well, his gaze focused on her. He looked so relieved, as if he actually still cared about her.
“How can you still love me after what I did?”
“I admit it was monumentally stupid for you to come here by yourself, without proper equipment, without even letting someone know where you were going. But one bad decision can’t change how I feel about you.”
Yet that was exactly what both she and her father had done to him. “What about a snap judgment made out of fear and insecurity instead of logic? Can you forgive that, too?”
“I believe so.”
A thrill shot through her. “By the time I reached the well, I’d already realized I’d made a terrible mistake.”
“Then why didn’t you just come back and tell me?” he asked.
“Because I didn’t think you’d want to see me after I betrayed you. I thought maybe if I found the jewelry and gave it to you, you’d consider forgiving me.”
“That’s it. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t seem like a punishment.”
He moved again, studying the sides of the well. “Fine, I’ll come up with something later. Why don’t we argue about which one of us is more stupid after I get you out of there?”
She smiled through her tears. He always knew exactly what to say to make her laugh. “How do you propose to do that?”
“I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions?”
“I think we should climb down. There are metal rungs cemented into the wall, and there seems to be some sort of a room down there.”
“If there are rungs, why didn’t you use them?”
“I didn’t notice them until after I’d fallen.”
“You fell? I thought you’d climbed down there and couldn’t go any farther. Don’t move. I’m coming down to you.”
“Because it will help for both of us to be stuck here?”
“That’s my girl,” he said under his breath. “I sent a note to Edward telling him where I was going to look for you, so I suspect he’ll be along any moment now.”
A shadow fell over her. He had climbed onto the edge of the well.
“Be careful. That’s exactly where I was standing when I fell.”
“I’m glad to be able to learn from your mistakes. You were very clever to discover the ladder after the fact.”
She bit back a grin. “Just get down here.”
He negotiated the rungs easily enough and was soon balanced one step below her on the ladder. “Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
“Give me your hand.” She reached toward him and he grasped her hand and pulled her up. She grimaced as her shoulder protested even that small movement.
Concern showed on Gavin’s face. “I can’t let you out of my sight for even a moment.” He pulled her close and kissed her soundly. His heat permeated her and she was finally able to relax. “I think we should stay here until Edward comes. I don’t want to risk you taking another fall.”
She shook her head. “Let’s climb down and take a look around. Given the amount of rain we’ve had lately, this well should be full of water, yet it’s not.”
“Are you joking? We need to get you home. You’re cold, injured, and probably hungry.”
“It’s not like we have anything else to do while we wait.”
“You really are going to be the death of me.” He sighed dramatically.
She stood there, grinning stupidly at him despite the throbbing pain in her shoulder.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked.
“I love you.”
“Well, I should hope so.”
“No, I mean it. I love you. I can’t believe you came looking for me after I treated you so badly. You ought to have run away from me.”
“I might do that yet,” he mumbled.
“If you still want me, I will move to Rosemere with you. Walsley is my favorite place in the world, but I love you more.”
He pulled her even closer. “There’s no need. I’ll do anything to make you happy, including living at Walsley. With His Grace.”
She raised a brow. “Would you consider a compromise? Rosemere will be our primary residence, but we will agree to visit Walsley at Christmastime and for a few months during the summer.”
He nodded. “Agreed.”
“Good. Then let’s go explore.”
Using her good hand, she held on tight and moved down onto the rung just above where Gavin stood. He pulled her closer and they slowly began to descend. They were about halfway down when a shadow fell over them.
“Aren’t you going the wrong way?” Edward asked.
“Not according to your sister,” Gavin answered. “Something about searching the well before we leave. You’re all crazy. The entire family.”
“Most likely,” Edward agreed, then joined them on the ladder. “Can’t you move any faster?”
He sighed again, then continued slowly inching them down the wall until they reached the ground. Which was made of stone.
“It’s not a well at all. It’s some sort of underground…something,” she said. She’d been correct. The space widened significantly at the bottom.
Edward hit the floor and lit a lantern, illuminating the large space.
“Is there a reason you chose to execute the ladder in the dark?” Gavin asked.
Edward shrugged.
“No you don’t.” Gavin grasped her good arm to stop her. “Let me look at your shoulder before you go off exploring.”
With a gentle touch, he ran his fingers over her shoulder blade, up toward her neck then down over her clavicle. “Ouch!”
“I believe you’ve broken your collarbone. Edward?” he called. “Give me your handkerchief.”
“Are you planning to make me cry?” she asked.
“I certainly hope not. I’m making you a sling to support your arm.”
“Oh.” She cupped his cheek. “What did I do to deserve you?” She leaned in and kissed his chin, then his lips. His tongue swept into her mouth and she forgot about her throbbing shoulder for a moment.
“Can’t you two control yourselves for at least a short period of time?”
Louisa snorted. “As if you have room to talk.”
He cast her a side-eyed look and handed Gavin his handkerchief.
Working quickly, he tied the two pieces of cloth together. “This is going to hurt.” She clamped her eyes shut and nodded. He slid the cloth between her arm and her chest, then pulled it up over the front of her arm and tied it around her neck. It still throbbed, but didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had when she’d had to support it herself.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and before I forget, I have to warn you that you have two new chambermates.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You are the only person I trusted to take care of Victoria and Albert, so before I left, I asked James to have them moved to your bedchamber. It’s a bit ironic, given that you and Victoria now have very similar injuries.”
A tear slid down her cheek, rapidly followed by other. “How can you still trust me after I betrayed you?”
“Louisa, given my background, you were right to doubt me. I just hope you’ll be able to have more faith in me going forward.”
“Of course I will. I’ll never doubt you again.”
“To appease your father, I vow to become more active in the House of Lords. I’ve always held back, afraid of being negatively compared against my father’s accomplishments, but I’m willing to do anything if it means I’ll be allowed to spend the rest of my life with you.”
They stood frozen in place, staring into each other’s eyes. Just when he’d decided it was the perfect time for another kiss, her stupid brother interrupted them.
“Um, you two need to see this.”
They rushed over to where Edward stood.
“What is it?” Gavin asked.
Edward shook his head. “It appears to be our great-great-grandmother’s… uh…meeting place.”
“You think she…” Gavin’s voice trailed off.
Edward nodded. “Met her lovers here. Yes. If only we’d known about this place sooner. Imagine the possibilities.”
Gavin punched his arm and tilted his head toward her. She bit her lip to keep from giggling. It was very endearing that he was trying to protect her, but there was no need.
“No. Surely this room has some other purpose,” Louisa said. “Like…well…there has to be another explanation. Maybe she just needed someplace where she could escape from her awful husband.”
“Or, maybe my theory is correct and she was the immoral one.”
“I’m sorry, Louisa, but I’m leaning toward Thornbrook’s theory.”
She shook her head and moved farther into the room. There was a small chest of drawers and a settee. A bookcase lined the other wall. The men were wrong. This had been her sanctuary. Her place to go when she needed to be alone, a place where she could go to hide from everything.
The bookcase drew her in. She ran her fingers over the spines of the books, enjoying the texture of the embossed titles. She pulled out one book and paged through it, then another and another, unsure what she was looking for.
“Are you all right, Louisa?” Gavin asked. “We need to get you back to the house soon so you can eat and rest.”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Then let me help you. What are you looking for?”
“I’m not sure. There’s something familiar about the books.”
Gavin knelt and scanned the titles. “These are the same novels that are on the shelves in the library.” He pulled one off the shelf. “See? This is the book that has the background picture for your grandmother’s portrait.”
She grabbed another book, but it was lighter than she’d expected and it started to fall. Without thinking, she tried to use her left arm to catch it and a wave of pain nearly caused her to faint.
“Louisa?” Gavin caught her and lifted her against his chest. “We need to go back to the house. We can come back and explore further when you’re feeling better.”
She shook her head. “No. Can you please hand me the book I dropped?”
His eyes narrowed, but he did as she asked. “Why is it so light?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” She sat on the settee and opened the cover. It wasn’t a book at all. There were no pages. It was hollowed out, filled with yet another piece of oil cloth. She met Gavin’s eyes and he raised his brows. She unwrapped the cloth slowly, savoring the anticipation. Something fell onto her skirt.
Gavin held it up and dazzled her with his smile. It was an earring. An earring made from pink diamonds. She shook the cloth and the other earring and necklace fell into her lap.
“You were right.” She kissed him. If Edward hadn’t been there, broken bones or not, she would’ve invited him to join her on the settee.
“Break it up, you two.”
Louisa opened one eye to find her brother standing over them.
“If we don’t go back soon, they’ll come looking for us. I’m going up to see if any of the horses are still around. We may have a long walk home.”
She pressed one last kiss on Gavin’s lips and pulled away. “He’s right. We need to show our new treasures to Mama and Isa. And I’m afraid you still need to convince Papa to let us marry.”
“Can’t we do something else instead? Like break all the bones in my body, or have me drawn and quartered?”
“Nope. I’m not going to let you off that easily.”
He shook his head. “The things I’m willing to do for you.” He clasped her good hand and pulled her against his chest. “We have to negotiate terms before we leave. You are required to kiss me at least once for every negative response I get from your father.”
“Agreed.”
“That was way too easy.”
“We can argue about it more tonight.”