The Price of Deception by Vicki Hopkins

Author:Vicki Hopkins
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romantic suspense, love story, chick lit, historical romance, victorian romance, romance series, romance saga, 19th century romance
Publisher: Vicki Hopkins

Chapter Fifteen

“Madame, we were quite worried about you!” exclaimed Monsieur Leroy, as he held open the door.

“You shouldn’t have been,” Suzette replied, with a slight hint of irritation. She heard the carriage behind her leave, but did not turn around, afraid she’d cause undue suspicion. “I was fine. It just took me a bit longer when I got caught in the downpour of rain.”

“Yes, it was coming down quite hard,” he agreed. Before he closed the door completely, he glanced at the departing growler. “You seemed to have found shelter,” he added.

“Yes, I did, as a matter of fact.” She said nothing more to continue the conversation and turned around to walk upstairs. “I’ll be in my room. You can tell the cook I’m not hungry for lunch today. Just make sure Robert eats.”

“Yes, Madame, of course.”

Suzette briskly climbed the stairs and headed toward her bedchamber. She couldn’t wait to lock herself behind a closed door and release the repressed emotions about to burst from her soul. Suzette pulled her shawl off her shoulders and flung it over the back of a chair. She fiddled with the pins of her hat until they finally released their secure hold in the braids of her hair.

For a brief moment, she didn’t know what to do. After eyeing the bed that seemed to invite her arrival, she walked over to it and sat on the edge. Suzette noticed a lingering tremor in her body movements from the shock of seeing Robert. She swung her legs onto the bed and laid her head on the pillow. Her hand shook when she brought the back of it up to her forehead and covered her eyes. As soon as she did, her mind sank into an ambiance of memories.

She could not believe her eyes when she had spun around and saw Robert only a few yards away. There had been a repressed hope in the back of her mind that one day he would find her alive. Suzette did not realize how unprepared for such an event she had been, until that moment. The sight of him sent a rush through her veins like hot oil. She felt her body weaken in his presence, and thankfully he had rushed to her side to help her remain upright. Robert—the man she had loved more than life itself—had returned.

Suzette could not be sure that her decision to follow him to his residence had been the right choice. What if someone had seen them enter into the empty townhouse hand in hand? How inappropriate the entire course of action had been, but she wanted to speak with him too. The cemetery did accentuate the thought of death, and leaving the morbid surroundings had been the right choice.

“Oh, Robert,” she longingly breathed his name.

He had changed in appearance and demeanor. His face appeared fuller, and the young man who had rescued her had turned into a responsible Duke. The burdens of his duties were clearly etched in the lines of his expression, as well as his personal unhappiness.

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