Despite her frailty, Mrs. Rutley’s voice rose above the others. “I knew it was only a rumor.”
Tears of joy filled Louisa’s eyes as Ruth took another step forward. She stood tall and proud, her still-strong voice piercing the silence. “Even Death himself cannot stop me from fulfilling a promise I made so long ago.”
Julia was the first to push forward and throw her arms around their friend, soon followed by Jenny, Diana, Emma, and finally Louisa.
“How did a rumor that you had died start?” Jenny asked.
“And what about Unity and Theodosia?” asked Emma.
Ruth smiled as she removed her cloak and hung it on the back of a nearby chair. “The twins are well and living in America with their husbands. They sadly could not make it.” She turned to Mrs. Rutley. “But we can discuss that later. I would guess that our headmistress has been entertained with stories of romance. I suppose it’s now my turn to tell mine.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Rutley said. “That is exactly what I want. Even though I already know it well.”
The girls gathered around Ruth, who said, “Then I must tell everything, Mrs. Rutley. Have you a problem with that?”
Louisa knitted her brow. “Why was Ruth seeking permission? What did she know the others did not?
Mrs. Rutley nodded her agreement, and Ruth turned to the Sisters.
“My story begins the week after Louisa left. For it was then that Ashton, Lord Lenten, arrived at the school. To fulfill a promise on behalf of Lord Ezra, who wished to see our headmistress ruined for what many believed she had done.”
A collective gasp filled the room, and Louisa’s mind raced. What could Mrs. Rutley have possibly done?
A flash of lightning filled the room with bright light, followed immediately by a peal of thunder that made the panes in the window frames shake.
Ruth glanced at Mrs. Rutley before saying, “Mrs. Rutley once told us a great storm was coming. And she was right. Lord Ezra assembled an army, and all came to see her destroyed for the death of her late husband, Mr. Phillip Rutley.”
Ruth gave a sad shake of her head. “And the captain I loved was among them.”
The End
Thank you for readingKnight of Destiny!
Read the thrilling finale to the Sisterhood of Secrets series,Captain of Second Chances, and learn how Ruth finds love with a captain who had once won her heart!
Coming February 2023!
In the meantime, have you already read Julia’s, Emma’s, Diana’s, and Jenny’s story inDuke of Madness(book 1),Baron of Rake Street(book 2),Marquess of Magic(book 3), and Earl of Deception (book 4)?
And what about Mrs. Rutley? Have you ever wondered about their secretive headmistress’s past?
Miss Agnes Fitzimmons and Mr. Phillip Rutley each have a Christmas wish—to marry one another. Yet with financial burdens threatening to keep them apart, it will take a Christmas miracle to have the happily ever after they deserve.
Their story will be told in the Christmas novellaGentleman of Christmas Past, which was just released in theHoliday Regency AnthologyNaughty or Nice.
Read on for a sneak peek!
CHAPTER ONE
Chatsworth, England November 1777
Five times Miss Agnes Fitzimmons had intercepted the courier. Today would be her sixth. As she waited, she pushed a stray strand of chestnut hair back under her bonnet. Leaning against the trunk of a tree beside the country road, she took a moment to gaze over the sweeping faded green hills dotted with tiny white cottages. A gentle, chilled breeze rustled the skirts of her green and yellow pelisse, one far finer than anything a young woman like herself could have owned if her life had not changed as it had.
Winter had arrived; the bitterly cold weather said as much. Yet, it did not deter Agnes from her mission as she pulled her coat tighter for extra warmth.
Beside her stood Amy, her lady’s maid. A lady’s maid! Who would have thought that she, Agnes Fitzimmons, would ever have a lady’s maid? Yet, here stood Amy, wringing her gloved hands in the skirts of her maid’s livery. And on the verge of tears.
A confidante and friend, Amy had been hired on as Agnes’s personal maid four years earlier, when Agnes was but fourteen and Amy twenty. She had golden curls beneath her mobcap, a round face, and was a head taller than Agnes. If the maid did not have plans to leave to get married and thereafter move to Wales, she would have remained as Agnes’s lady’s maid after Agnes was ready to make her debut into society. Not noble society, certainly, but the gentry had their place. Which was beneath the aristocracy but certainly above where she had come.