Redemption by Rebecca King Read Free Book Online

hurriedly left the
room. Once in her bedroom, rather than make her way to bed she
began to trawl through her wardrobe, choosing only the items of
clothing to take with her that she desperately couldn’t bear to
leave behind. She dug through her bureau until she found the
notebook she was looking for and carefully placed it on the bed
with the rest of her belongings. The pitiful handful of clothing
she eventually gathered to take with her left half of her carpet
bag empty, but at least it was light enough for her to carry by
herself.
    As she
closed her packed bag she realised just how frugal her life had
actually been without her even realising it. It highlighted just
how little a burden she actually was to her step-brother, and that
made his need to off-load her seem incredibly spiteful. It went
some considerable way toward obliterating any trace of guilt she
might feel about helping herself to his money.
    “He
deserves it,” she muttered with a sniff as she climbed into
bed.
    She wasn’t sleepy but settled down anyway because needed to
get as much sleep as possible while she could. Tomorrow as going to
be an extremely busy day and, thanks to Julian’s callous disregard
of her, she had no idea where she would be tomorrow night. She
needed to rest. She didn’t bother to change into her night gown;
she had packed the only decent one she had in her bag and couldn’t
be bothered to fish it back out again. Instead, she lay down with a
weary sigh and tried to think about how long her journey to
Derbyshire was going to take. It would be
a perilous journey at best because she was young, unchaperoned, and
really hadn’t travelled much at all in her lifetime, but she had no
choice.
    Willing herself to sleep she closed her eyes. To her
consternation the image of Ben immediately swam into the forefront
of her mind. A small ache began around her heart and blossomed to
life the more she tried to close all thought of him, and the events
of the evening, out. She wouldn’t be sorry to see the back of
the ton and the
smog-filled streets of London. In fact, she would be quite glad to
put the false niceties of the aristocracy far behind her. If only
there was some way she could see Ben, just once more before she
left, then she would. Unfortunately, she doubted she would ever see
him again now. She wondered briefly if she should write him a note
to explain what had happened. After all, the least she owed him was
an apology for what had happened earlier, but what could she say?
Sorry for the terrible misunderstanding? I am sorry you thought I
was Melissa Bradwort? I am sorry I didn’t tell you who I really was
because I was enjoying the kisses too much?
    The
memory of the pure venom on Melissa’s face was more than enough to
quell any idea Lizzie had about writing to Ben. It would be better
for her tender heart if she never had to set eyes on him again and
was reminded of everything that could never be a part of her life.
It hurt to even think about Benjamin McArthur. The thought of
having to leave London, and him, behind tomorrow brought forth an
ache deep within her that was so fierce she had to force her
attention to more mundane matters, like where her walking boots
were, and which shawl she was best to wear beneath her cloak
tomorrow, but the tears fell steadily into her pillow
anyway.
     
    The
following morning, Ben knocked on the front door at Pendlebury
House and waited impatiently for the butler to answer it. He was in
no mood for any of Julian’s arrogance today, and was going to see
Lizzie whatever the man said.
    When the
door finally did open, Ben stalked into the hallway only to be
stopped by Julian, who came out of his study to meet him, his face
wary and unwelcoming.
    “She
isn’t here,” he said bluntly before Ben spoke.
    “Where
is she?” Ben demanded. He refused to allow the man’s arrogance to
prevent him from speaking to his intended bride.
    “She has
gone. She left this morning and won’t be back.” As he