Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) by Connally Colleen

Author:Connally, Colleen [Connally, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

Eloise’s heart sank. She had known this moment would come, but had wanted only a little more time. She turned and looked into his eyes.

“I know what Marc Pierre told me,” he said softly. “But there is more.”

“You are right. It is for the best you know. My conscience will ease that I hold no more secrets from you,” Eloise said, pushing back against his arms. She prayed she kept her composure. Her heart raced. “Know I hold nothing against you. I hope only this will not harm you in your attempt to regain your children. I…”

“Ssh, Eloise, my love,” Lenister said. “This is my fault. Mine alone. I rushed in blindly, thinking only of my children, and have endangered your life. Marc Pierre and I both have agreed you have to leave immediately. In the morning, Seamus will escort you with a man of Marc Pierre’s. I dare not.

“Marc Pierre feels Gairden’s men will be watching both of us. He is expecting us at the Council. We will keep the appointment. We both feel that calling upon your network after it was compromised wouldn’t be a wise move. You will be taken immediately down to Le Treport, where we are to meet your brother’s schooner. You will wait there until we arrive or your brother’s ship appears. Do you understand?”

She nodded. She didn’t have any strength to protest. “I want you to know I will go quietly away. I will make sure Edmund knows it is all my fault…”

“Why do you do this? Why do you push me away without giving me a chance to speak my mind? Look at me.”

She looked upward at him, but her vision blurred. Her eyes stung.

He reached over and tenderly caressed her cheek. “You’re my wife. I don’t know what you are thinking, but I refuse to have you go anywhere but Ashforth Manor.”

“Gerard, it is you that doesn’t understand,” she said. Each word caught in her throat. “I am responsible for the Vicomte de Calognac…my husband’s death. That makes me a murderer.”

“Tell me why if you insist, but I will tell you what I have surmised. Calognac forced you into marrying him. He pushed you to the brink and threatened someone you loved very much. This Luc…” Lenister paused. His gaze penetrated her soul. “No, it wasn’t Luc. He lay dying or was already dead…it was your daughter. He threatened your daughter.”

She stared at him in disbelief. She choked back her tears at the remembrance. “Rosabel,” she said in a soft voice. “My baby. I never even got to hold her. Never touched her. Yet I love…loved her more than life itself. He took her from me as punishment. The marquis ordered her swept away from me immediately after the birth. I was to pay for my defiance.”

“Why, Eloise? Why was he so insistent on your marriage?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t.”

“I only want to understand. It makes no sense. He must have known of your questionable birth.”

“I have often wondered.

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