Free A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

me. Montgomery raced up just behind him.
    â€œJuliet, what happened?”
    I couldn’t answer. I was shivering too hard.
    Montgomery touched my hair, my face, my hands, as though reassuring himself I was intact. There might have been tension between us, but he still loved me.
    â€œBalthazar, my friend,” he said, “carry her back to the manor, quick as you can.”
    I hadn’t the strength to object when Balthazar scooped me up, carrying me toward the shining lights. Once inside the house, Mrs. McKenna fawned over me, wrapping me in a blanket and rambling about getting some tea and scones in my stomach. She led me upstairs, where Valentina alreadyhad an herbal bath going. Mrs. McKenna helped me strip off my ruined undergarments and ease into the hot water.
    â€œMrs. McKenna, I can’t thank you enough.”
    â€œEnough of those formalities, little mouse. You nearly died tonight. Call me McKenna like everyone else does.”
    The water quickly browned, but I didn’t care. I held my breath and slipped under, letting the water work its way through my hair, daring to imagine that it was bog-water instead of a rose-scented bath. What if I had died, tonight? It was Edward we were all so worried about, but the truth was, the world wasn’t a safe place. Any one of us could vanish from it at any moment.
    I jerked upright, coughing out water. Once my head had cleared, I saw that McKenna had left. Elizabeth was in her place at the side of the tub, still in her stained traveling dress, while Valentina packed away the herbs she had brought for my bath.
    Elizabeth reached out to pet my head.
    â€œSilly girl. You must take better care of yourself. People will be relying on your judgment. You can’t take foolish risks like that if you’re to run this place one day.”
    I twisted to look at her in surprise. Valentina, crouched down to pick up some of her fallen herbs, had paused as well. “What do you mean, run this place?” I asked.
    Elizabeth glanced at Valentina hesitantly. There was regret on her face, as though she wished she could take back what she’d said. “Valentina, could you leave us a moment? Afterward, let’s talk, you and I.”
    Valentina stared at Elizabeth, some silent exchangehappening between them that I could not fathom the meaning of, and gathered the rest of the herbs and hurried from the room.
    Once we were alone, Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Juliet, the professor and I intended to make you our heir.”
    My hands nearly slipped on the wet side of the tub. “A ward, yes. But heir ?”
    â€œYes. Heir to all of it. The manor. The grounds. Everything we have.”
    A tin clattered to the floor outside the bathroom, followed by the sound of footsteps running away. Valentina had been listening in the hallway. I started to call after her but Elizabeth shook her head. “Don’t. I expect she’ll be quite upset. I shouldn’t have told you in front of her—I wasn’t thinking, and it was cruel of me. Before I left for London, Valentina and I had begun to discuss her taking over one day, if I didn’t find a suitable heir in the next few years. But then I discovered the professor had taken you in, and that we’re even distantly related.” She gave me a kind smile. “Valentina always knew there was a possibility of long-lost family showing up. She’ll be disappointed, but there will always be a place for her here, don’t fear.”
    Valentina was the least of my worries. Heir to Ballentyne? It was enough to make my head spin. “But what about Hensley? He’s your own son; surely he should inherit it.”
    A strange look crossed her face. “Hensley—yes. I should have realized you’d meet him. Unfortunately Hensley will never be suited to manage an estate of this size. He has a defect of the brain.”
    â€œOh, how awful. Is that why you didn’t tell us about him?