A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy

Author:Mia Vincy
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781925882025
Publisher: Inner Ballad Press

Chapter 14

The next afternoon, Thea wrapped a dark-green cloak over her gown and announced to no one in particular that she was taking a walk. Her walk took her along the stream and, when she was sure no one was looking, she raised the cloak’s hood over her head and darted across the footbridge into the Forbidden Woods.

On the peaceful, sun-dappled path, she kept to the tree line, ready to hide if anyone came. By “anyone,” she meant Luxborough. Or Rafe, as she thought of him now, as that was the only name he had answered in the night.

But she encountered no one on the path, which ended abruptly, spilling her into a huge, grassy clearing. There, resplendent in the sunshine, stood a church-like edifice of white iron and glass, behind which lay the green silhouettes of plants. A stone cottage sat deeper into the clearing, and several more paths led into the surrounding trees.

A greenhouse. Well. Nothing surprising or sinister about that.

Fortuitously, the place was deserted. No workers, no earl. With another furtive glance, Thea ran across the clearing to the greenhouse and edged along the glass walls until she came to a door. As she was about to ease it open, a movement made her freeze. The silhouette of a large man. Luxborough! Heart pounding, Thea ducked and, still hunched over, raced away from the greenhouse to the stone cottage, where she flattened herself against the wall. When no angry earl appeared to scold her, she assessed her options. There was nothing interesting here, so she needed to return to the house without him seeing her. Nearby was the entrance to another narrow path leading into the trees, and she dashed toward it, hoping it led back, sooner or later, to the house.

Where it led, however, was to another clearing, no bigger than a parlor, with two more paths leading away. It took Thea several ragged, relieved breaths until she was calm enough to notice what lay at the center of the clearing.

A grave.

The grass around the gray stone was carefully tended. A morning glory vine clambered exuberantly over the tomb and headstone, pink blooms winking among its glossy green leaves. A pair of little blue birds perched on the headstone, chattering at each other, before flying off to their next appointment.

Thea crouched beside the grave and she knew, even before she tenderly parted the vines covering the headstone, whose name she would see.

Katharine Jane Landcross.

She traced the engraved letters and then the dates: Katharine had been twenty-five years old when she died, nine years earlier. The only other words were from the Bible: “Come unto Me and I will give you rest.”

“What is your story?” she whispered. “What happened, Katharine?”

A sound: She spun and stood, shrinking into her cloak. Luxborough, coatless and hatless, was heading right for her, striding along one of the other paths so fast his hair bounced and his shirtsleeves billowed. His face… Oh, how awful and evident was the displeasure on his face.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, though she knew he could not hear.

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