The Silent Songbird (Hagenheim #7)(33)

Then he remembered—the voice at Berkhamsted Castle, the one he’d been dreaming of hearing again. But how could that be?

Sabina pulled on his arm, urging him forward. They moved through the trees and ferns, then finally came to the tiny glade. Two women sat on the ground—Mildred and Eva. He stared. Mildred’s mouth was not moving. It was Eva’s voice he was hearing. Eva was singing.





Chapter Twelve


She lied. A sharp pain went through his chest. But why would she pretend to be mute? Had her voice come back all of a sudden? No, she had been making a fool of him.

He walked away, his hands curling into fists. If he confronted her now . . . Heat welled inside him.

“Where are you going?” Sabina came from behind and caught his arm.

“Did you know Eva could speak?” When they were back on the open path near the river, he stared Sabina in the eye.

“I thought she was mute. We all did.” Her eyes were wide and she placed her hand over her chest. “Could she have lied to us? Could she have been deceiving us all this time?”

Mildred had said she had been beaten, that her throat had been severely injured.

Westley turned and went back through the trees.

“Where are you going?”

“To confront her.”

He made his way back and burst into the small clearing, abruptly bringing an end to the singing.

Mildred and Eva both stared at him with their eyes wide and their mouths open.

Westley stomped toward her. He wanted to demand answers. Had she lied to him? But he read the answer on her face, and it made his heart sick.



Evangeline jumped to her feet, her heart dropping. Westley had heard her singing. How could she possibly explain? Her cheeks tingled. She should say something, beg for forgiveness, but somehow she couldn’t speak.

“Was it all a lie? Were you not ever mute?”

Evangeline could not allow Muriel to lie for her any longer, and she could not lie to Westley either. “Please forgive me. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

“So you were never mute.” His face was turning red, his eyes accusatory.

Evangeline shook her head. The look on his face twisted her insides.

“Why did you lie?” A coldness infused his voice.

“I . . . I wanted to get away . . . from someone. It was the only way I could think of to disguise myself.”

He just stared, not saying anything.

Sabina was standing just behind him. She took hold of his arm. “Let’s go, Westley.” Her voice had a distinct note of disgust. “You don’t deserve to be lied to.”

Sabina tugged on his arm, and he walked away with her.

Evangeline sank down on the ground and put her head in her hands.

“Now do you think it’s time to go back to Berkhamsted? Now that you know Westley le Wyse is not going to marry you? Sabina will have dragged him to the church altar to say his vows before you can even speak another word to him.” Muriel’s arms were crossed over her chest, looking down at her.

“Do you hate me so much?” Evangeline was too miserable to even cry.

“I don’t hate you, as I told you before, but I am worried about you.” Muriel knelt beside her. “You are a gentle-hearted maiden who has never had to live in the world. I underestimated you, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you would hate the hard work. I thought you would work half a day and beg me to take you back to Berkhamsted. In fact, I did not imagine you would walk so far. But you’ve worked hard, taken your blisters, and hardly complained.” A wistful smile quirked the corners of her mouth. “But you still don’t want to leave Glynval, do you?”

Evangeline shook her head.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Seeing Westley walk away from her with Sabina . . . Was there any way Evangeline could get forgiveness from Westley and show him that she was not a bad person? For a long moment Muriel said nothing. Then, “I will help you fight for him, if it’s him you want.”

“Fight for him?” Evangeline shook her head. “He is not a laurel wreath or a piece of money. He is a human being.”

Muriel shrugged. “If you want to let Sabina have him, that is all very well. Just as you choose.”

She certainly did not want Sabina to have him. And she certainly did want to marry him herself. But the thought of “fighting for him” did not feel right either. “I don’t plan to ever go back to Berkhamsted, Muriel. I’ll do anything to keep Richard from finding me and forcing me to marry Shiveley. But to marry Westley, a good and noble person who could choose anyone as his wife . . . Well, if that were to happen, I would believe anything in life was possible, and that God was on His throne, granting miracles to His children.”

Muriel sighed. “And if you don’t get what you want? Does that mean God is not on His throne and that He is not granting miracles to His children?”

Evangeline sighed. “I suppose that is not very good reasoning, is it?”

“Perhaps it is not for mortal man to reason out such things.”

“I’m sure Sabina is praying she will be the one to marry Westley. But hopefully Westley is praying he doesn’t marry someone unkind.” Evangeline picked the tiny wildflowers on the ground around her. “I don’t want to fight for him. That sounds low and common. I do want to gain back his favor, though.”