KENDRA DASHED into the library and leaned against the large globe, breathless. “Amy,” she panted. “It’s Colin.” She paused for more air. “He’s here. What are we going to do?”
Amy felt as though she’d been punched in the stomach. “Dear heavens,” she whispered. “He’s come to take me away, hasn’t he?”
She looked up to the carved wood ceiling, her eyes tracing the intricate design while her mind wrestled with denial. “There’s nothing we can do,” she said finally, her gaze dropping to Kendra. “I’m lucky he stayed away this long—”
“You fit in here. I don’t want you to leave.”
Kendra’s words warmed Amy’s heart. She rose from the chair and gave Kendra a brief, sisterly hug. “Thank you for saying that; you’ll never know how much it means to me.” She sniffed back tears. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of my month here. But I have another life.”
Kendra’s brow furrowed in concern. “A life in Paris?”
“It’s not so bad as all that,” Amy said, remembering Colin telling her so outside the inn, after the fire. A long time ago, it seemed, but now she believed it. “As much as I love it here, this isn’t my place. I’m a Goldsmith. I need to create, to cast and polish and engrave.”
Indeed, her fingers fairly itched to make jewelry. Her hands clenched as her gaze dropped to the red-carpeted floor and ran along the wide decorative golden stripes, down the length of the long, narrow library to the fireplace. Kendra remained silent while Amy gazed into the distant flames, struggling with her feelings of being uprooted once again.
But she knew it was the only way. Robert must have received her letter and accepted her decision by now…and if not, well, he’d never find her in France. She’d work at Aunt Elizabeth’s shop while she prepared to open her own.
She’d vowed that Goldsmith & Sons wouldn’t die with her, and she meant to honor that vow.
Her trunk was gathering dust in the corner of her borrowed bedchamber, her inheritance locked inside. More than enough jewelry to stock a small shop, plus gold to pay for tools and equipment—gold that would be faithfully replaced as soon as she was able. She’d never deplete the Goldsmith fortune. Like the generations before her, she bore an obligation.
Kendra heaved a mournful sigh. “If you leave, I’ll miss you.”
Amy tried to smile. “Mayhap I’ll hide in here till Colin leaves. Up on the balconies—no one ever looks at the books there except me. You can sneak up food and tell him I’ve gone to Paris.”
Kendra’s laugh echoed through the two-story library. “I vow and swear, for a minute there I thought you were serious.” She relaxed and leaned back against the brass mesh set into the bookshelf doors, then looked at Amy sharply. “You are fooling, aren’t you?”
“Marry come up, Kendra! Have you ever heard of anything more ludicrous?”
“Oh, fine. I’ll go find out what Colin wants.”
“We both know what Colin wants.”
Kendra rolled her eyes as she straightened up. “Colin doesn’t know what Colin wants. I’ll just see what kind of ideas I can plant in his head.” And with that cryptic statement, she left the room.
Amy plopped back onto the chair. The history books in front of her had seemed fascinating a few minutes ago, but now they’d lost their appeal. She pushed them aside and laid her head on the exquisite mosaic table, the tiles cool beneath her cheek. She would miss this family, but she knew her life was destined along another path.
You cannot have everything, she heard her father say.
She sighed and rose to go ready herself for supper. If she hurried, perhaps she’d have time to take a walk around the grounds and think things through. But deep in her heart, she knew there was really nothing to think about.
This was it. Her time was up. Colin wanted her gone, and this time he would see it done.
She had no excuses left.