Chapter Twenty-Three

F lora’s quiet declaration silenced the room with a disconcerting calmness. Everyone in the room had failed her, leaving Flora to feel abandoned. She had never considered returning home because she refused to be a pawn in everyone’s quest for their own selfish needs. She had forged a fresh path and learned to only depend on herself. It was only through her newfound friendships that she discovered the unwavering support of others. Flora refused to apologize for how she felt. Her family and Lennox had wronged her. But her friendships with Vivian, Grace, and Sara had helped heal her broken heart.

Flora’s firm tone expressed for them to stay silent until she finished her explanation. “Once no opportunities presented themselves, my friend Vivian set out to secure our positions in Scotland. After we settled into our new roles, time passed with no conflict until we each received a threatening letter. However, only Vivian continued to receive more letters. They were threats not to rise above our station and seek a prospective groom out of our reach. At first, we thought they were from Lord Baldridge, who we humiliated in London, but Lord Courtland proved he wasn’t the culprit. Since then, we could never prove who sent the letters.”

Flora paused and took another sip of wine before continuing. “Once Vivian and Lord Courtland married, the letters stopped. A couple of months later, they started again. However, this time, Grace received the threats, warning her away from Lord Lockhart. Once again, they stopped after Grace wed Lord Lockhart. The villain swore his revenge if Sara or I married a member of the peerage. From the contents of the scandalous letter I received, he has learned of my marriage to Lennox.”

Hugh glared at Lennox. “You swore to my parents you protected Flora. Where have you been throughout my sister’s ordeal?”

Lennox gritted his teeth. “I have protected her.”

Ailsa patted her brother’s hand to calm him. “It is a fair question my husband asks and one Flora deserves to hear.”

Lennox grunted in acceptance. “Once I learned of her demise, I secured Flora a position in my household so my servants could watch over her. I planned to insert myself back into her life when the threats started. However, I decided before we could begin anew, I needed to find who dared to threaten Flora and her friends. I left for London in search of the culprit, only to return to Scotland without knowledge of whom to expose. Once I revealed my position as Lord Hepburn, I gained the aid of influential lords associated with Flora’s friends. However, we are no closer to revealing the identity of the villain. Early every morning, I search the city looking for clues, only to come home defeated.”

Ailsa softly urged, “Explain to them what you do every night after Flora has gone to bed.”

Damn his sister for pressuring him to reveal the vulnerable side of his character. He kept his actions a secret from his wife because he didn’t want Flora to return to him out of a sense of obligation. He wanted to awaken with her every morning in his bed because she loved him with all her heart and accepted his undying love in return.

Lennox met Flora’s curious gaze with apprehension, unsure how she would react to his declaration. “I rest outside her bedchamber with a pillow and quilt until the servants awake for the day to watch over her.”

Flora gasped, holding her hand to her heart. She held no clue Lennox had protected her to that extent. She hadn’t understood the depth of his love until that moment. While she questioned his absence throughout the day, she hadn’t wanted to stir their truce with accusations. Flora had failed to recognize Lennox’s devotion. His every act proclaimed his love for her and how he tried to right the mistakes of the past. In her defiance of protecting herself from Lennox breaking her heart again, she failed to see his earnest declaration of love.

Lennox was her silent hero.

Lennox shook his head at Flora’s response. “Do not—”

Flora interrupted him. “I will do so.”

Lennox folded his arms across his chest to keep from hauling Flora into his arms and ravishing her lips. Her hero worship of his actions brought out a barbaric response of desire inside him, demanding he act upon it. However, their family would protest any sort of affection between them until they finished their story. Instead, he settled for reaching across the expanse to clutch her hand. Any touch was better than none. Flora’s gaze softened as she looked upon their folded hands. When she raised her eyes to his, Lennox’s heart settled that all would be well between them. They would fight through their differences until they resolved them to come out stronger than ever.

An enormous sigh of relief swooshed from her soul when Lennox joined their hands as one. Adoration alighted his gaze once she showed him she held the same hope for them to reunite. Their bodies might’ve expressed their need earlier, but the display of affection swept away any remaining doubt. The secrets he had kept had been to protect her, a role he took with serious consideration as her husband, and for that, she owed him her undying devotion as his wife.

“Finish telling Flora the rest of your secrets,” Ailsa ordered in a stern voice to keep them focused.

“The letter you received wasn’t the first letter since my arrival,” Lennox confessed.

“What?” Flora whispered.

Lennox intertwined their fingers before responding, offering Flora courage and reassurance. “After my arrival, I started receiving one-line missives taunting me throughout my morning searches. Until earlier today, when I received a letter filled with insulting threats similar to your letter. It would seem our evening at the theatre sparked the culprit’s need for vengeance.”

“Can we see them?” Hugh asked.

Lennox inclined his head at Murray to retrieve the letters from his study. Once he returned, everyone passed the notes around the table. Flora paled after she read the threats.

“These differ from the letters Vivian and Grace received,” Flora murmured.

“How so?” Ailsa asked.

“These state a bold interest in consummating a relationship with me in an intimate manner. The letters my friends received were warnings to discourage the interest they drew from Lord Courtland and Lord Lockhart,” Flora explained.

“Your marriage thwarted their plans. Perhaps their motive is to intimidate you since they cannot threaten you if you become entangled in a relationship with Lennox,” Ailsa suggested.

Hugh threw a missive on the table. “We must devise a plan to draw out this demented bastard.”

Lennox nodded. “I agree, but how?”

Malcolm tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair. “Can you enlist your friends’ help? We need as many influential people as possible on our side to draw out the bastard.”

Brodie curled his hand into a fist and pounded it against his other hand. “I cannot wait to thrash the bloody bastard.”

The sensible side of Flora, who had been a governess, wanted to reprimand her brothers for referring to the villain as a bastard. However, her true Scottish nature agreed the vengeful person was a bastard who she wanted to destroy for the anguish they had caused Flora and her friends. It was time to drop the prim and proper behavior she had adapted during her absence and let her true warrior side reappear. She wasn’t a miss who behaved with modest decorum. She was a Scottish lass who refused to tolerate the injustices keeping her from a happily ever after.

“I have an idea.” Everyone focused their attention on Flora to hear her grand plan. “I suggest we throw a holiday masquerade ball.”

Ailsa clapped her hands. “An excellent idea. It would be the perfect setting to introduce you and Lennox into Edinburgh’s society and draw the villain into our clutches.”

“I have no need, nor do I desire to become part of Edinburgh’s society,” Lennox mumbled.

“You have neglected Grandfather’s title long enough,” Ailsa reprimanded.

Flora squeezed Lennox’s fingers. “We only need to pretend so we can end this terror. Once we catch the culprit, we can decide the course of our future together.”

Lennox no longer cared who was present. Flora’s support for his stance about his role as Lord Hepburn endeared her to him even more so. He leaned over the table to close the distance between them, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck to drag her closer. He bent his head and swept her away with a kiss so profound it left no one to wonder about the status of their marriage. She was his, and he was hers. They were the only two who mattered.

Flora sighed into Lennox’s kiss. His gesture held a tenderness that expressed his heartfelt love. He took possession of her heart and held it close with each soft brush of his lips against hers. With a firm swipe of his tongue, he urged her mouth to open under his. Their tongues danced in harmony with each swipe, and a tangle of passion ignited between them. Flora clung to his arm, never wanting Lennox to break his hold.

However, the other people present held objections to the blatant display of affection between Lennox and Flora. Ailsa cleared her throat multiple times to get their attention while Hugh slapped his hand against the table, demanding for them to stop. Lennox and Flora pulled apart with smiles of amusement before Lennox swept in for another kiss. He kept it brief but scandalous enough for Flora to understand he planned to continue his seduction later that evening.

“A ball we shall have then,” Lennox agreed.

For the next few hours, they planned their trap to lure the culprit into revealing himself. Flora wasn’t convinced it was a man who terrorized them or that it was only one individual. However, it didn’t matter who it might be. The person had powerful connections to be able to terrorize Flora and her friends.

Flora only hoped it ended soon and with her. She worried about how Sara would handle any threats directed at her. Her sweet friend was alone in the world besides Flora, Vivian, and Grace. Somerville might offer his protection, but their union was an impossible match that could never be. The duke wouldn’t risk his status for a mere governess, no matter how much he cared for her and appreciated how she cared for his daughter.

Sara and the duke were a doomed match.