The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

Author:Dandy Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Embla Books
Published: 2024-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

26

Elinor Ledbury

Uncle Robert hasn’t returned to Ledbury Hall in the three weeks since he viciously beat Heath. For the first fortnight, Heath stayed at home with Elinor while she took care of him, cooking his meals, making sure he took his medication, reading to him. They shared a bed every night and it felt good to have her brother back, even if he was worse for wear. He suffered nightmares, ones that left the sheets damp with sweat. She apologises again and again for the part she played in what Uncle Robert did. She relayed to her brother the conversation she overheard at the party, explaining why it was so important. Heath didn’t say much but she could see him turning the information over in his head.

Last night, in bed, he tucked her against his chest and whispered, ‘I’ve missed this.’

‘Me, too,’ she said into the dark.

After a moment, he said, ‘He’s a coward.’ He was, of course, talking about Uncle Robert. ‘The way he snuck up behind me. I won’t let it happen again, Ellie. Next time I set eyes on him, I’ll kill him.’

‘You can’t kill him,’ she said. ‘I’m not convinced we’d get away with it.’

‘Ye of little faith.’ He smoothed her hair across the pillow. ‘Where were you that evening? When I came home, you were gone.’

She swallowed, glad he couldn’t see her face. ‘Walking the grounds.’ The lie tasted like blackened ash on her tongue. ‘And where had you been all day?’

He kissed her shoulder. ‘Running errands.’

Well, at least now we’re both lying, she thought, and took his hand in hers.

In the morning, when she woke, she was alone. She knew he was with Sofia so she didn’t feel guilty when she spent the week with Flynn. They’d walked hand in hand around the frozen lakes, visited the cinema where he kissed the salted popcorn from her mouth, whiled away an afternoon in a bookshop. Flynn treated her to as many paperbacks as she could carry. She waited for him to sneer as she browsed the romance section. He didn’t. They took them back to Ledbury Hall and read them in front of the fire, her legs in his lap.

She’d given him a tour of the grounds and was surprised by how much she enjoyed it, assuming that sharing Ledbury Hall with anyone except Heath would feel like letting a stranger riffle through her underwear drawer. It wasn’t like that with Flynn. He’d marvelled at the turrets and lead lattice windows, the handsome red brick and the intricate carved arch that made up the porch, whistling long and low on the stone steps leading into the house. ‘You can tell someone is wealthy if their front door is twice as tall as they are.’

She stuck out her tongue and tugged him inside. He was curious but respectful, not touching anything unless she gave it to him. The manor is filled with first edition books, embroidered pillows, ivory chess sets, carnival masks, taxidermy animals mounted on plaques.

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