Page 39 of The Silent Songbird

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. Hadshe 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 evenspeak 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, Iwould 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?”