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He cleared his throat That didn’t seem to have any effect on her

"Cleo?" He lowered a hand to her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze "What happened?"

She ible He sank down on the settee beside her Sorasped a wrinkled sheet of parch it had so the letter, his heart sank Lifting his gaze back to Cleo, he asked, "Bess? Your sister?"

A long moment passed before she rolled to face hi, her eyes red-rimmed andhaunted "Yes"

He shook his head "I’m so sorry"

"I should have been there" She wiped at her face with both hands

"How old was she?"

"Three"

He cursed low beneath his breath

She shook her head, sending loose tendrils flying around her face "I should have been there"

He waved the letter "Your mother said it was consumption"

"Doesn’t matter," she said quickly "It shouldn’t have happened She was healthy when I left" She beat a fisted hand to her lap

"You can’t blame yourself"

"Can’t I?" She wet her lips and looked at hiht "I should have wed by now Then I could have saved her"

"How does yoursick?"

"You don’t understand"

His hand tightened on her "Then explain it tobreath "My stepfather did this Roger barely kept us in clothes Or warm Or fed He certainly would never see that we received the care of a physician" Her lip curled in disgust "He agreed that I could take the children once Ias I paid him, I could have theh He won’t let her go" Tears swam down her cheeks

He pulled back in horror at what she described "He’s holding thee?"

"In essence, yes" She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head as though trying to stave off the tears "I’ve dragged " Her fist beat in her lap with renewed vigor "Stupid, stupid He’s never cared if any of us lived or died before It’sthe et of her tears soak into his palms "She died because she was sick That wasn’t your fault Nor is it your fault that you’re at the azed up at hih him "I wasn’t there to carry her"

"Carry her?" He frowned, angling his head, his thu her cheeks "Where?"

"To the churchyard It’s my responsibility I always carry them to the church I always carry them"

"What do youits teeth into hi him dread her next words

"Rose, James, Lottie, and Helen I carried them all I should have carried her, too I wasn’t there for her"

He could only stare at her, speechless for a long"Wait You mean youtake the bodies away?"

She nodded once and his gut clenched thinking about her walking to the churchyard holding the dead bodies of her siblings His throat tightened up on hied to say, "That should never have been your burden"

"Should it have been my stepfather’s? He wouldn’t waste his tilittered passionately "They deserved someone who cares to walk them to their final rest I’m the one who’s supposed to carry them" Her head bowed and she choked out, "Oh, Bess I’m so sorry"

He hauled her into his ar for so that was out of her control He knew her pain was inescapable He’d lost both his brother and father He understood grief She’d just lost her sister Nothing would ever take away that ache But he’d be damned if he’d let her think any of it was her fault "Don’t blame yourself You loved her She had that loveshe alill"

Her body trehter as if he could soh to look up at him He scraped the loose tendrils of hair back fro to her damp cheeks

"Thank you," she whispered "It means a lot to hear thatto be re, he nodded, his gut suddenly clenching tightly in a way that he’d never felt before Staring down into her tear-filled gaze, he felt like he was drowning One thing for certain, he’d never er than he could have ever knownand he wanted her for his ith a fierceness that stole his breath

"Miss!" A an suspiciously--as if he were the cause for her distress

Cleo pulled away, sniffing loudly and wiping indelicately at her nose He hated to leave her, but knew his presence here, with her, was vastly inappropriate He read as aze of her ht like her to be At least not yet

And yet a new purpose consued to hi he could do for her

Cleo watched Logan depart, staring hungrily at the broad expanse of his back The gnawing ache at the center of her chest only intensified as he moved away from her Somehohen he’d held her, talked to herher pain had feltless

"Miss?" Berthe brushed a tendril back from her face "Did he hurt you?"