Page 90 of Unbound Duchess

“I suppose after that is cleared up by the courts, I could live there.”

Even with her head bowed, she caught Madalene and Solomon turning their gazes to her in shock.

“What?” Madalene demanded, her brow furrowing in confusion as she looked from Ellen to Laurence.

Solomon cleared his throat as he rose to stand.

“I believe I should take my leave,” he announced, buttoning his jacket again. “I um…I need to do something. Ride or hunt or…or something.”

Ellen looked up at him with a compassionate stare. She could not imagine what sort of heartbreak he was experiencing on his own.

“Take care, brother; we shall speak soon,” Laurence said, rising to shake Solomon’s hand.

“Take your time,” Solomon answered, shifting his gaze from Laurence to Ellen. “It seems you have something to do as well.”

Ellen blushed as she quietly said her goodbyes, her words echoing Madalene’s. She stayed seated as Solomon left.

“What is this about you moving back to Perminton Manor?” Madalene demanded the moment the three of them were left alone.

Laurence cast his gaze toward Ellen, as if expecting her to answer.

“Ellen has asked for an annulment,” he said quietly when she did not speak.

“After everything?” Madalene said, her gaze constantly flicking from one to the other. “I know you both had your doubts before, but now? After⁠—”

“It is none of your business, Madalene,” Laurence stated firmly, flicking a glare toward his sister.

Madalene opened her mouth, as if ready to hurl harsh words at him, then she shoved herself to her feet as she snapped her mouth shut and stormed off without another word.

“You did not need to be so harsh with her,” Ellen said, feeling the tension rise in the space between her and Laurence.

His gaze was flat and cold as he met her eyes.

“I suppose not,” he muttered. “It is not she who wants to leave me.”

Hurt and confusion surged through Ellen.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, leaning toward him. “It's not that I want⁠—”

Her words were cut off by a blood-curdling scream, the sound making her heated blood suddenly run cold.

Laurence and Ellen shared a worried glance as a second of tense silence passed, the two of them each bracing the arms of their chairs. Then a second scream erupted through the house, followed by Madalene calling their names, and at once, they surged from their chairs and ran upstairs.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Madalene!” Laurence bellowed, charging into Ellen’s room where her screams had come from.

He came to an abrupt halt as he found the chamber empty, so quickly, in fact, that Ellen ran into him in her own hurry to get to her sister-in-law. He steadied her at once, hating how quickly heat flooded to his groin as he braced her shoulders. He let go, as if touching her had burned him, and strode toward the door that adjoined Ellen’s room to his own.

“Madalene!” he called again, twisting the doorknob. Panic filled him as he found it locked, but before he could square his shoulder and try to break it down, the door to Ellen’s room from the hall shut with a loud thud, followed by the click of a lock.

“What the Devil?” he snarled, striding toward the door.

“You two need to speak to one another!” Madalene’s voice, clear, determined, and obviously unhurt, came from the other side of the door.

Laurence and Ellen both groaned with relief as they heard her voice, and both reached up to rub their faces.

“Why did you scream like that?” Ellen demanded, her tone harsh after her brief bout of fear.