Read Online Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening (Summerset Abbey Trilogy) by T. J. Brown - Free Book Online Page A

gone mad.” She quoted Robert Southey, her voice pained:
    When innocent blood,
    From the four corners of the world cries out
    For justice upon one accursed head.
    “Ah, but whose accursed head shall we heap the justice on?” Kit asked.
    She shrugged. “Any of them. All of the leaders. Old men over their cognac and cigars planning war like a chess game while all our friends are sent to face death in foreign countries.”
    There was a moment’s silence. “Victoria, I’m leaving for France next week.”
    Her breath caught and her entire being went still. The lightcoming through the windows had dimmed as they spoke, but she could still see the pensive expression on the intelligent planes of Kit’s face. Something caught in her heart and she wanted to go to him and offer comfort, much as she had Prudence earlier.
    “Kit,” she said softly. He gazed at her with such yearning on her face she almost cried out.
    Susie came in and lit several small gas lamps. “Sorry for interrupting. You don’t want to be sitting here in the dark.”
    And the moment was broken.
    “Would you like to stay for supper?” Victoria asked. Even to her own ears the invitation sounded false. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
    He must have heard her insincerity because he stood. “No. I’m meeting some friends at the club. I should be going, actually.”
    She stood and he stared puzzled at her still-bare feet. He raised his eyebrows.
    She blushed. “We’re very informal here.”
    “God bless informal Hen-Pens. See you in the morning?”
    “Yes, where?”
    “We’re meeting at your uncle’s house at nine and then going over to the church together.”
    Their farewell was oddly formal, and she was glad to see him leave. As much as he’d been needling her recently, she couldn’t help but feel that she already missed him, and he wasn’t even gone yet.
    God only knew how she would feel after he actually left.

chapter
six

    R owena stood at the altar next to Annalisa, watching her cousin and her friend get married and wondering when she and Sebastian would finally be wed. Now that she had made up her mind to get on with her life, fate had conspired to keep her stagnant.
    Annalisa’s brown eyes were soft with love every time she looked at her husband-to-be, and Colin couldn’t stop staring at her. Rowena’s heart twinged with longing and regret. This was how it was supposed to be. They were blissfully happy at the prospect of a lifetime with one another.
    After the ceremony, the family, including Annalisa’s parents and younger sister, all attended an elegant wedding breakfast at the Coburg. The floor-to-ceiling, beveled mirrors, ornate columns, crisp white linens, and delicate gold-and-white Spode china, all set a festive tone to the wedding party. Platters of scones, kippers, fresh fruit, deviled kidneys, and sausages were heaped on a table beautifully decorated with orange blossoms, ferns, and lilies. Aunt Charlotte and Annalisa’s mother had accomplished a great deal in little time. It seemed incredible how quickly things had changed, and how drastically. The wedding Rowena and Sebastian were meant to have had taken months of planning already, whereas this spur-of-the-moment ceremonywas sweet in its simplicity and in the obvious love the bride and the groom felt for each other.
    Victoria talked animatedly to Annalisa’s mother, Aunt Charlotte, and everyone besides Kit, who was rather silent, especially for Kit. Rowena wondered what was going on, but knew better than to ask her little sister, who had always been rather cagey on the subject of Kit.
    As Rowena chatted with the others in this stunning and extravagant restaurant and toasted the couple’s happiness, a lonely hollowness carved itself out in her chest. She desperately wished Sebastian were with her. Sebastian had been a steadfast friend, and over the past months as she’d healed from Jonathon’s departure, they had forged a deep friendship during the