Page 69 of A Rogue to Reform

Moments later, she noted that her mother walked among the foliage, seeming almost content. It struck Hannah as strange that she been outside most of the time and not inside with all those who came to give condolences.

“Mother, we should return inside.” Hannah took her mother’s arm only to be shocked when she pulled back.

“I cannot. I do not wish to. I must inform you that I am leaving. I must. This is a sign from God. He wishes me to fulfill my destiny.”

“What?” Hannah looked to Felicity, who seemed just as confused. “What are you saying, Mother?”

Her mother gave her a strangely vacant smile. “I do love you, Hannah, but I do not belong here, never have. I am a woman of God. I must go to him.”

“What about me?” Hannah asked. “You cannot possibly leave me alone.”

Her mother waved her hand as if it was something irrelevant. “You will have the income from my inheritance. There is a bit left in savings, and your father had a small life insurance. It will do until you marry.”

The urge to take her mother by the shoulders and shake her was overwhelming. “A young woman cannot live alone,” she said slowly. “It is not acceptable.”

Margaret Kerr’s gaze hardened. “Of course, however is it more acceptable that a man and woman be forced to marry against their will? That I be torn from my true path and your father from the woman he loved? Tell me, is it?”

The wind blew across, fanning their faces with its gentle touch. It would not do to argue with her mother. In a way, the decision did not surprise her. What did was her mother’s selfishness. She could not wait even a few days to tell Hannah this?

The next day, Hannah woke to find a note on a side table.

I am so happy and wish you to be as well. Be with care, daughter, follow your heart. I will pray for you always.

Mother

Next to her mother’s perfectly signed name was a box. She didn’t have to look inside to know what it held. It was the jewelry her father had given her mother over the years. Each time, she’d admire it and only wear it once. Then she’d claim that it would be for Hannah and she’d place it in the rather ordinary-looking wooden box.

Life alone was to begin, it seemed.

Later that morning, she sat at a desk looking over paperwork, her eyesight blurring when tears threatened.

There was a knock at the front door, and she wondered if it would be the constable returning to ask more questions, or perhaps, her mother had changed her mind.

Waving her one maid away, Hannah let out a sigh and pulled the door open.

Her life was so different now, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the man who stood before her would somehow play a part.

“Please come in,” she told him.

Henry Campbell stepped into the foyer. “I cannot stay long. I only came to let you know that the reason for your father’s murder has come to light.”

“Why was he killed?” Hannah asked.

“It is possible he owed a great deal of money and failed to pay it. If that is so, whoever the debt collector is may come after you and your mother for the balance due. You could lose everything.”

Unable to keep from it, Hannah chuckled without mirth. “Of course.”