With love Emma

Chapter 31

Seeing Emma was scared not just for her, Mrs. Dennis relented.

'Lady Elana and Lord Advent's marriage was a union of convenience. Lord Nicholas needed help when he took up the title and Lady Elana's father agreed to help him if he married Lady Elana. Lord Advent didn't know Lady Elana didn't want to marry him.'

'They had Amelia and Amanda. She then had Amy who was not Lord Advent's. You know Lord Advent's anger, he was livid at first. But he agreed to let her stay as their mother. Not long after, she eloped with Amy's father when Amy was just one and got caught by Lord Wincent Paulen. Lord Advent agreed to help her leave England on one condition, that she never returned. She was declared dead.'

Emma reeled in the information. Amy was not Lord Advent's biological daughter. Were the love letters that she mistook to be from Nicholas actually from Lady Elana's lover? Is that why he was livid when he saw her wearing Elana's tiara? Lord Advent's proneness to anger suddenly made sense.

Nicholas found Emma slumped against Mrs. Dennis' shoulders crying.

'Mrs. Dennis, please leave us.'

Mrs. Dennis left, closing the room behind. Emma hugged her legs, turning her head away from him.

He crouched in front of her and took her hands. She kept her head down, not meeting his eyes.

'Emma please, I didn't mean to lie to you or anyone. But I had no choice. It would have destroyed my daughters if they ever learned the truth. It took me years to come to terms with it. Please, I am sorry,' he pleaded.

She just kept her head down, refusing to look at him. He took a deep breath before continuing, 'I want you to go to my sister's house and stay there with the girls.'

'You want me to leave?' she asked, her voice breaking.

'Only till I sort this mess.'

She was quiet once more.

'Emma, this doesn't change how I feel about you. Please remember that I love you.'

Dear Emma,

I have no excuse to make but to keep repeating that I am sorry. I should have told you the truth but it was not easy for me. I always felt a heavy weight on my chest but never been able to confess to you. But this is not how I would want you to know. I am sorry.

I am making arrangements so she doesn't contact you or my daughters ever again. I will make it up to you even if it takes all my life. My life without you is meaningless, please forgive me.

Love,

Nicholas

Nicholas wrote to Emma every day, apologizing. She refused to reply. It's been a week since she left. He felt like his chest might explode.

Elana managed to ruin his life even after she abandoned him and their daughter, Nicholas thought. Doesn't mother's love supposedly surpass everything in this world? How could she leave her daughters behind? He could neither understand nor forgive her. She didn't even think about Amy who was just a year old when she eloped.

He suggested separation when she got caught, but she feared her father's wrath. Elana jumped at the opportunity when he offered to help her leave England and declare her dead. Even now she was being selfish, coming to take away Amy. She didn't even ask how Amelia or Amanda were doing.

Amelia used to be a sweet and understanding girl, but only the ghost of that girl remains. The truth would only break her.

Nicholas didn't love Amy at first, she was the reminder of the betrayal and pain he had gone through, but once his anger subsided he saw that it was wrong to punish Amy for a crime she never committed. He now loved Amy like his other two daughters, he couldn't bear the thought of separating from her.

'Your Grace, your correspondence,' Jeffris said, breaking his sombre thoughts.

Nicholas' heart thundered madly as he shuffled through the letters to check whether he had got any reply from Emma. His hand shook as he held the letter from Emma, he dismissed Jeffres and sat down to read her response.

~~~

Nicholas,

I understand it was difficult for you to talk about it. You were a victim in this, too. I don't blame you for the recent happenings. But it's difficult for me too. I need time. I don't know what I want to do anymore.

With love,

Emma.

~~~

He breathed a sigh of relief. She still called him Nicholas. She didn't plan on alienating him. She had signed with love, which means she hasn't stopped loving him even after everything. It was more than what he deserved.

Emma felt empty, she didn't know what she wanted anymore. When she turned up in Stevenage, Amanda and Amy were beside her with happiness saying they missed her. Only Amelia looked like she knew something was amiss.

'What are you doing here?' Amelia asked vehemently, one evening when Emma was sulking alone in a field nearby.

'I just came for a walk,' Emma said.

'I mean in Stevenage.'

'I.. just visiting.'

'Didn't papa chuck you out? Don't tell me he saw through you.'

'Well, well, I came for one and I ended up getting two,' came a drooling voice.

Emma gasped in fear and shielded Amelia on seeing a gun pointed at them.