The Lady Tamed by Boyd, Heather (urban books to read TXT) 📗

Surprised by her grief, he gently put his arm around her, and held her close.

While he held her, he looked about the room, a man’s bedchamber, where a still form lie, eyes closed.

Unmoving.

This was not the first corpse Jeremy had looked upon in his short life. He’d seen bodies in terrible condition in London’s filthy streets and homes, pulled from the alley behind the theater, too. Vagrants and victims of murder or neglect.

Mr. Hawthorne must have only died moments ago, but it was clear to see he was terribly missed already by the family.

Family. Jeremy had little experience with that. He had the theater but that simply wasn’t the same.

Finally, Lady Rivers remembered herself and drew back and gave Jeremy a tremulous smile. She patted her cheeks, wiping away tears. “I have known him all my life.”

Jeremy nodded. “He was a lucky man then.”

Her answering smile wobbled. “My father must be informed. I need to find a servant to break the news to him gently. They were great friends, but he’d wanted his illness kept a secret.”

What servants he could see were all weeping in the hall, and Jeremy felt they shouldn’t be asked to abandon their mistress at such a time. Jeremy didn’t want to leave Lady Rivers, but he also didn’t need to stay. “I can do that for you. I can tell him.”

Lady Rivers took hold of his hand and squeezed. She looked at him with such gratitude, he felt ten feet tall suddenly. “That would be very much appreciated, Mr. Dawes. Let him know he passed quietly, without any pain.”

“I will,” he promised.

She turned away, facing the elder Miss Hawthorne. “Boys, you two should return to your father.”

Jeremy stared at the two children trying to hide their faces. “Are they not Mrs. Hawthorne’s children?”

“No, these are my brother’s twins. They’ll show you the way home. They know the path very well.”

The twins whispered to each other and slid from Miss Hawthorne’s lap. Then they started placing flowers around the late Mr. Hawthorne’s body, and Jeremy sucked in a breath to fight a wave of unexpected emotion.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Hawthorne saw what they had done and began to weep violently again.

“Oh, my dear boys,” Fanny whispered, patting away her own tears. “They did that for their mother, too.”

“I can find my own way,” he quickly assured her, feeling unexpectedly emotional about the loss of a man he’d never know and a pressing need to escape the feeling.

Lady Rivers drew him from the room and wiped at her eyes with a whisp of fine embroidered linen that passed for a handkerchief as they headed down the hall. “I had forgotten how much it hurts to lose someone you love. I haven’t had reason to cry since…”

“Since you lost Lord Rivers?” he answered for her.

She nodded. “It was sudden with him. I had no warning. No time to prepare myself. I didn’t know what to do when I suddenly lost the love of my life.”

“Were you alone?”

“Yes. My father and sisters were here.”

Lady Rivers suddenly shook her head and patted at her cheeks again. “Look at me. Falling to pieces and boring you with the dim and distant past.”

“I’m never bored when I’m near you,” he promised, and it was true. He touched her arm lightly. “Can I bring anything back with me? A handkerchief…your youngest sister, perhaps?”

“Jessica will undoubtedly come as soon as she hears the news, but I might need a fresh handkerchief.”

He dug in his coat pocket and presented his pristine white handkerchief to her. “In case you need another before I return with your own.”

She held it tightly and nodded. “Thank you.”

“I’ll return soon.” And he finally turned away, eager to go so he could return again.

Lady Rivers followed him a few steps. “Always remember to take the right fork all the way home to Stapleton.”

“The right,” Jeremy repeated, grateful for that piece of advice since he’d simply been following Lady Rivers’ lead on the way here. “I’ll return as soon as I’ve notified the duke.”

“Thank you, but I will be here for quite some time.”

He didn’t doubt Mrs. Hawthorne would appreciate her company and support. “I’ll wait for you for as long as it takes.”

Chapter 5

“It’s been a long day,” Fanny murmured to herself as the carriage rolled along the Stapleton drive around midnight. She had stayed with Mrs. Hawthorne as her father had said his goodbyes to a lifelong friend. But it was clear her father was deeply affected. He seemed to be in something of a daze. Gillian had hold of Father’s hand, talking quietly to him. Mentioning when the babe kicked in a bid to cheer him up. But not even the antics of his next child seemed to cheer him for very long.

But that was the way it went when someone you cared about was around no more. The world seemed a little less real, less bright for a while. It had for her.

Fanny wet her lips and glanced sideways. Jeremy Dawes seemed to be dozing as they rolled along in her father’s carriage. He’d been such a help and support during the evening. She was humbled by his compassion. For the Hawthornes and for her, as well. There had been many occasions when a look from him, the brush of his hand, had brought Fanny back from the brink of tears. He’d kept to the background, listening and offering a quiet word whenever she’d needed the distraction of his conversation.

And that had been often, she’d found.

Fanny put her head back against the squabs and sighed. It had been a terrible day for her. She had been reminded too often of the day her late husband had passed away so many years ago that her heart hurt again. She’d had no family to support her then, and she’d made few close friends in the neighborhood around her husband’s estate. It was why, since Rivers had passed, Fanny spent so little time there anymore.

Too many memories, too many regrets for what