Free The Accidental Abduction by Darcie Wilde Page B

herself.
That’s all. My nerves are worn raw. I will be able to see things sensibly in the morning.
    But, she realized with a jolt she did not want to see things sensibly, not when it came to Harry Rayburn.
    Genevieve was quite another matter. Leannah drew a chair up to the table, and the fire. She dipped a spoon into her stew bowl, all the while trying to work out what she should say.
    The stew proved to be mostly dried peas and potatoes, with a bit of mutton for flavoring. Still, it was filling, and the bread was fresh, and the butter sweet. Leannah quickly finished her entire bowl and felt much restored, despite the strained silence that persisted between her and Genny. By the time she’d buttered her third slice of bread, she even felt as if she might be able to carry on a rational conversation.
    If only her sister could be persuaded to do the same. “Genevieve . . .” Leannah began.
    Genevieve dropped her spoon into her empty bowl with a clatter, and pushed it away. If the truth were to be told, she looked very much like a sulky child refusing her warm milk.
    â€œAll right, all right, I am not passionately in love with Mr. Dickenson,” Genevieve announced. “But I’m marrying him all the same.”
    Leannah swallowed the dismissive scold that hurried toward the tip of her tongue. “Why, Genny? You’re not . . . he hasn’t . . .” she couldn’t make herself say the words.
    â€œNo! What do you take me for?”
    â€œWe’re sitting in a public house on the road to Gretna Green and you need to ask me that?”
    Genevieve opened her mouth. She closed it again. She looked at the fire a long time. “I’m sorry,” she said finally. “But you’d made it plain you would never consent.”
    â€œSo why are you doing this, Genevieve? You don’t love him and you don’t have to marry him.”
    â€œOf course I do,” she shot back.
    â€œBut
why
?”
    Now Genevieve did look at her, and her mix of sadness and determination cut straight into Leannah’s heart. “So you won’t have to marry Mr. Valloy.”
    She would need to be very careful how she answered this. She couldn’t let Genevieve see even the smallest hint of her discomfort. “Nothing’s been decided yet. Besides, Mr. Valloy is a perfectly amiable and capable man.”
    â€œHe’s a pig,” Genevieve snapped. “A pig who wants to get his clammy hands on Jeremy’s land!”
    â€œGenevieve!”
    But her sister gave no sign of having heard. “You already married to save us once, Leannah. You shouldn’t have to keep paying for . . .”
    â€œStop,” said Leannah softly. “Please, don’t say it.”
    Genevieve fell silent, but it didn’t matter. The words still hung in the air between them.
You shouldn’t have to keep paying for Father’s mistakes.
    â€œShould or shouldn’t doesn’t matter,” Leannah said. “We all have to deal with what is.”
    â€œYou’ve already saved us all more times than any of us know,” said Genevieve.
    â€œI haven’t done so much. It was Elias . . .”
    The sound Genevieve made was loud, dismissive, and entirely unladylike. “Elias never would have made Jeremy his heir if you hadn’t remained so good and true.
And
it was you who stopped Father from selling off the land while he had management of Elias’s affairs, and kept us together after . . . well, afterward.”
    Leannah had no answer. She could only wrap her arms around herself and sit in stunned silence. She had always believed she’d kept the extent of the family’s troubles entirely to herself. It seemed she’d been underestimating Genevieve for a very long time, and perhaps not only Genevieve.
    â€œHow much does Jeremy know?”
    â€œMore than you want him to.”
    â€œThat