Among the Darkness Stirs

One of the men suddenly chuckled. “Who would have guessed that crazy old bat would have put it all together?”

“Come on,” came the second voice.

Audrey listened as their footsteps retreated and then came the sound of the door opening and closing.

“Henry,” she said softly. Before she could say anything else, she felt her head spin and a blackness surrounded her.

“Audrey,” he said her name softly. She could vaguely feel his fingers at her throat, then the blackness blotted out everything else.

When she came to, they were both on the floor, and she was resting against him.

“I—what happened?” she asked, sitting up.

“I think you fainted. You weren’t out but a second, but Jesus, it scared me,” Henry admitted.

“Well, at least you didn’t let me fall,” she said, touching her chest and feeling the neckline, which he had unbuttoned.

She suddenly felt naked, even though it was only a few buttons and she had been dressed in much less the time he had kissed her on the sofa.

“Of course not, but I didn’t expect it. It must have been what we heard. It was a shock,” Henry told her.

Audrey swallowed. “What does it all mean?”

He shook his head. “Honestly, Audrey, I have no idea.”

She licked her lips. “It’s quite cold. We should leave.”

He nodded, and they stood together as he pulled the shawl about her shoulders. They left the mortuary behind and walked along the orchards, saying little until they reached her cottage.

“I know you can take care of yourself, Audrey,” he said quietly. “God knows of all the people of my acquaintance, you can. But I was sorry we quarreled, and I actually followed you to apologize and make amends. When I saw where you were going, I was worried. Worried for your safety,” he explained.

She shook her head. “You didn’t need to apologize. We had different opinions on the matter. It happens. And I shouldn’t have gone to the mortuary alone. That was careless.”

“It was careless. I didn’t want us to separate on those terms. Quarrelling as we did,” he said. “Oh, that’s right. Only lovers quarrel.”

Suddenly, without warning, he pulled her to him and touched his lips to hers. He released her a moment later, and she stepped away from him.

“What was that for?” she asked him.

“I wanted to feel you in my arms,” he told her honestly.

“You take your liberties,” she admonished him.

“Are you angry with me?”

She bit her lip. “No.”

“Will you be all right alone?” he asked. “Here?”

Audrey cast a glance back at the cottage and then back at him. “This is my home. Where else should I go?”

“Maybe you and Frances should return back to the larger workhouse. You might be safer there,” he said.

“Safer there? Safe like Marguerite? Like Alistair?” He frowned. “I’m not safer anywhere, Henry,” she said. “But you seem to think someone’s after me or might be. No one knows anything about the diary or that we found it. No one knows about the mortuary or our trip there.”

“All that you said is true. I just can’t help but worry about you. Now that I found you, I won’t let you go so easily.”

“You won’t let me go?” she asked him.