Lovers Forever Read Online Free PDF

daintily shaped figures. Neither woman was any longer in the first blush of youth, and with their gentle manners, Aunt Meg’s fluffy white hair, and Hester’s clear, candid violet eyes, it would be hard to think them guilty of anything more serious than napping through vespers!
    Choking back a sob mingled with laughter and despair, Tess shook her head. “No, and I’m quite certain that you would be able to pull the wool over most people’s eyes, but...”
    Aunt Meg clucked her tongue. “Stop it! We are not in danger—you are.” Sending her great-niece a look of mock severity, she said firmly, “If you are really worried about us, you will leave immediately. The sooner you are gone, the sooner we can return to Avery the key to your room and remove ourselves to the safety of our rooms—where that monster will find us soundly asleep when he finally does awaken.”
    Not giving Tess a chance to argue, Hester thrust the small bag she was carrying into her hand and said, “We gathered up all our ready money and packed some cold meat and cheese for your journey. Once Aunt Meg informed me about the contents of the letter—we didn’t have much time to plan things.” Hester took a deep breath. “You must get away from here at once!”
    Still Tess hesitated, unwilling to leave the other two. A stubborn expression on her face, she demanded, “Why can’t you come with me? You know my uncles will welcome you and protect you from Avery.”
    Aunt Meg pursed her lips. “And how do you expect us to come with you? I’m sure that between us we could harness the horses to the coach and, more than likely, manage to drive the vehicle, but we would have to stick to the main roads and we would be traveling much slower than a horse and rider. Should Avery attempt to find you, people are more likely to remember a coach than a lone rider.” She sent Tess a kind look. “My dear, it has been a number of years since we have done any serious riding. We would only imperil your escape.”
    â€œShe’s right, and you know it Tess,” Hester added grimly. “You have to go alone. And if we are not to come to grief, you must leave now!”
    For a second longer, Tess stood there. Then, the bag Hester had thrust at her in one hand and the pillowcase containing her jewelry box in the other, she flung her arms first around Aunt Meg, then Hester, and muttered, “I’ll be back for you! I will not desert you to Avery’s care.”
    â€œOf course you won’t,” Aunt Meg said soothingly. “Now go!”
    Without a backward glance, Tess left the room, running down the wide hallway. Her eyes half blinded by the unshed tears that shimmered in their depths, her ears alert to any sound of danger, she swiftly made her way to the rear of the house, to the long gallery that ran across the back of one entire wing. Off the gallery there was a large balcony with a stone staircase curving grandly down to the terrace below; this seemed her safest choice for escaping unseen by either of the two remaining house servants.
    Breathless, her heart thumping madly in her breast, Tess finally made it to the gallery. Stopping for a moment, she glanced around nervously, the silence of the house unnerving, and again she was struck by the uneasy sensation that the house itself seemed to be holding its breath, waiting . . . waiting. . .
    Tess shook off her fears and took a resolute step forward, wishing she had remembered earlier how spooky it was at night in this section of the house, how lonely, how deserted, how the shadows seemed to leap out at one in the flickering light from the burning candles that reposed in a pair of sconces at either end of the room.
    The gallery was long and narrow, the high walls hung with portraits of the ancestors of the Mandeville family; as she moved slowly along its length, Tess felt as if the condemning gazes of all those long