Good girls don't go snooping where they don't belong.
But Lady Delia Scarborough never claimed to be a good girl.
Lady Delia Scarborough wants her sister back from the grave.
Since that can't happen, she'll settle for the next best thing...
Making...
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When Kieran left with Alice, Delia put away the primer that they had been working with, and as she had promised, she left Alice's art supplies right where she had pulled them out.
I don't think Kieran knows that children require a great deal of preparation and a routine if they are to be at their most comfortable.
She shook her head in some despair at her own thoughts. She had come here to be a spy and a saboteur, not a real governess. Still, she could no more stop herself from caring for Alice anymore than she could stop herself from smelling an apple that had been cut up and laid on the table in front of her.
When she returned to her room, Delia realized that this was the best opportunity she had to simply leave. With the storm coming up, her departure would not be easily tracked, and since Kieran was with Alice, she did not even have to worry about the little girl getting hurt before her absence was noted.
This is the most perfect opportunity I have to leave. It should take advantage of it.
She went to her room, and it took her less than half an hour to gather up her things. The precious enameled snuffbox she slid to the bottom of her valise, one of her extra night shifts wrapped around it. Before she was even done, fat drops of heavy rain were hitting the windowpane outside. Though she knew that time was of the essence, she couldn't stop herself from coming to the window for a moment.
It is a good thing I am leaving now. This storm feels like one that will last, and it could churn the roads into impassable mud.
As she made her way down to the rear doors, where she could slip out without anyone being the wiser, Delia heard a sudden commotion from the front of the house. Several housemaids dashed by her, panic on their faces. For a moment, she almost dismissed it, but when she heard a bellow, two things struck her with the force of the thunder rolling outside.
First, she realized that it was Kieran who was shouting, and that he sounded as if he were in pain. The second thing she realized was that he was crying her name.
Oh, no, something has happened to Alice!
She had just enough presence of mind to stash her bag behind a stand of decorative plants in the hall, and then she was pelting for the front foyer, where the noise was steadily increasing.
"Damn you, get off! Get Delia!"
The servants were milling around Kieran as if he were a bear at bay. Drenched and with blood flowing from a cut to his forehead, he looked like some kind of monster entering a decent residence. He held a terribly still Alice in his arms, and even when a maid came timorously to help him with the little girl, he drew away from her with a terrible snarl on his face.
Oh, no, Kieran...
Taking a deep breath, Delia walked into the fray. She caught one of the footmen by the arm, pulling him around so she could look him in the eye.
