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SOPHIE RELAXED IN the nice comfortable chair she’d stolen from the music room and stared out at the moors in the mist. Edwina had given her paperwork she was only too delighted to sign and it felt . . . it felt as though at long last the manor was beginning to breathe with life again. For so long it had been dormant and forlorn, perhaps she was silly to consider that it felt as though it was so much warmer now.
A knock sounded on her door and she checked her watch. It was getting on for two o’clock but the house was busier than it was in the day.
“Come in.” She focused on the moors, happy to banish Henry’s malice to some buried memory.
“Ma’am,” Morgan whispered. “Do you have a minute?”
Sophie raised an eyebrow and studied her. Odd, it sounded almost like Morgan had only just arrived. “For you, of course.”
Morgan beamed, reflexively, unconsciously, and took up a visitor chair. Her green eyes tracked over the desk then over Sophie’s new chair and she smiled then it faded. “Ma’am . . .” She let out a long breath. “I agreed to come to Hayefield in order to help Edwina find the truth and confirm your innocence.”
Sophie’s heart started a slow sinking slump at the professional tone. “Yes?”
“And I was placed as head of security for that purpose with no real qualifications.” Morgan rubbed her left hand over her uniform trousers. “Although, somehow, through luck more than anything, I’ve helped show you’re innocent . . . I’m the worst head of security in history.”
Sophie managed a small chuckle, unable to meet those pale green eyes. “What are you saying to me, Morgan?”
“I’m resigning,” Morgan spluttered out then her chin wobbled and her eyes misted. She scrubbed at them with her right hand. “I’m sorry . . . this is really hard . . .”
Sophie swallowed the ache in her throat.
“So . . . you see . . .” She shuddered out her tears, then sucked in her breaths. “You see . . . you know how I feel and I love it here, I love you.” She rounded her lips to suck in her breaths. “But . . . you have a daughter who clearly wants to stay on the estate and Eugenie clearly does too.”
Sophie nodded. She fiddled with the switch for her implants in her pocket, debating turning them off. She was not sure she wanted to hear any more of Morgan’s words.
“So . . . they are here and you want them to be . . . and you should be a family.” Morgan stood and handed over her keys. “I never want to be in your way and I can’t share you . . . I’m sorry. I can’t be someone who lets you seduce maids or have a mistress on the side.”
Sophie stared at the keys.
“And you see . . . I lost a baby once and . . . well . . .” She rubbed her hand over her tear streaked face. “I want children . . . I want . . . and I’m not sure that’s really something you want or need. You don’t need me weighing you down.”
Sophie continued to stare at the keys.
“Anyway . . . I really do love you and . . . I’m glad you’re not a lunatic . . . and . . . call me if you need a lawyer sometime.” Morgan shrugged, stuck her hand through her blonde hair, turned, and strode out.
Sophie kept on staring at the keys. Then closed her eyes.
Who was she to argue? She gripped the keys and turned back to the moors. There went the warmth.