Page 74 of Deviant Duchess
“Then tell Uncle, and he will help you!” Adeline insisted, her own heartache clear in her voice, “Tell me and I will help you! What can we do? Where do we need to look?”
Horror seeped into Deborah’s bones as she thought of young and innocent Adeline having anything to do with what it would take to avenge Hester and get her back, and she quickly fell to her knees before Adeline and gripped her upper arms.
“No, child, you cannot help with this. I forbid it and so will your uncle,” Deborah commanded.
“But your sister! You need to find her! If you were missing, I would go to find you, and nothing would stop me!” Adeline all but yelled.
Deborah’s heart broke at the news, but she pushed the pain aside.
“Precisely,” Deborah hurriedly replied, “You would do anything, and so will I. Even if that means going on my own. That is what it will take!”
Hurt, anger, worry, and fear all clashed together in Adeline’s accusing eyes, and even as she glared at Deborah, her chin wobbled as tears trickled down her cheeks. For a moment, heartbreaking silence passed between them, and for the slightest of seconds, Deborah started to reconsider her plan.
“Youwillcome back,” Adeline croaked, pushing her face closer to Deborah’s. “You will visit once a day, at least, until you find your sister. Then you will come back to us forever after you have.”
Deborah’s shoulders sagged under the weight of Adeline’s commands. There was that word again.After.Could there truly be an after? A happy ending for not just herself, but for Hester?
“I promise,” Deborah replied, not sure what else she could say to the little girl.
Another bout of heavy silence hung in the air before he flung herself against Deborah and hugged her tightly. Deborah’s strength wavered as she felt the tight grip of Adeline’s arms around her neck, and more tears escaped down her cheeks as she held the little girl close as they both cried.
After a while, Deborah opened her eyes, and her heartache grew worse as she found Cedric standing in the open doorway, watching them with a grave look etched into his handsome face. Carefully, Deborah untangled herself from Adeline’s arms, sniffling as she rose to stand.
“All will be well,” she said, her voice breaking.
“It better be,” Adeline grumbled.
Deborah attempted to smile at the little girl, but the expression fell flat.
“Deborah,” Cedric’s voice was so husky that he had to clear his throat before he could continue, “Will you at least take one of our carriages to your mother’s?”
Deborah nearly crumbled all over again. She had been so harsh to him earlier, and yet here he was, trying to offer safety as she left him. She shook her head, unable to meet his eyes.
“I am not going to my mother’s,” she managed to say.With everything else going on, I could not stand to hear her say I told you so.
“Then where are you going?” Adeline asked as Deborah closed her luggage and picked it up.
“There is a boarding house for young ladies on the outskirts of town,” Deborah managed to explain as she took slow steps toward the door, “I shall be fine there.”
As she reached the door, Cedric’s arm came up, and his hand landed on her stomach. Deborah froze as she closed her eyes, hating how quickly her body responded to his touch even at such an awful time.
“You do not have to do this,” Cedric rasped, “Please,Deborah.”
Knowing that if she stayed a second longer, she might actually believe him and change her mind, Deborah pushed forward, feeling his lingering hand slip from her stomach, then to her waist, before it dropped away.
“Remember your promise!” Adeline called from behind her, then another piece of Deborah’s heart broke away as she heard the little girl sob before adding, “We love you!”
Deborah moved faster, her body beginning to tremble from the pain of the moment, and as she made it to the stairs, she heard Adeline’s fading sobs grow harder. She dared a look back and let out a strangled cry as she saw Cedric on his knees before Adeline, holding her tight as the little girl sobbed into his shoulder.
“Well, don’t you look a fright,” Mrs. Kilborn, the boarding matron, said accusingly.
Deborah kept her head down as she ignored the slight. She had heard of the boarding house from the other barmaids at the auction, and already knew that the matron did not have a sympathetic bone in her body.
“I have the proper funds for a room,” Deborah merely replied, “and I have been made aware of your rules by some of your other occupants. I can not only pay for my time here, but I can assure you that your rules will be honored.”
Mrs. Kilborn’s fingers were sharp and birdlike as they wrapped around Deborah’s chin and forced her to look up. The matron’s eyes were beady and accusing as she studied her.
“You messed about with the wrong man, is that it? Thought you could change him and discovered how impossible that is, eh?” Mrs. Kilborn asked.
