Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I never said you were. I don’t understand your abilities, Elizabeth, your extraordinary senses. Forgive me for my curiosity.” He pursed his lips, turning back to the fire.
She wiped her cheeks, regretful that she’d snapped at him. “No, forgive me,” she said. “Of course you’re curious. But you must know I wish my extraordinary senses to the devil.”
She received a sudden, very clear sense from August, a pang of isolation, of loneliness. She’d been so wrapped up in herself, she hadn’t thought of his emotional burden. This wedding, any wedding, must be difficult for him to deal with, considering the heartbreak of his unrequited love.
“August, have you met any beguiling young ladies since you’ve been here? I had a feeling…” She blew out her breath. “As much as I hate my premonitions, I had a strong feeling you ought to come here to Wales, that you were meant to be here for some reason. I hoped you might fall in love with some young lady while you were here.”
“Fall in love? Just like that? How whimsical you are.” His serious expression softened to a smile. “Perhaps I was merely meant to be here to give you that spanking you needed tonight.”
“Hmm. Perhaps.” She smiled too. “It was a very painful spanking, by the way.”
“Which you asked for.”
“Which you were only too happy to dole out after some token efforts at dissuading me.”
“Token efforts?” He laughed, a real laugh that rang out in the quiet chamber. “You must know by now that I’m only too happy to discipline you, especially when you insist upon it.”
“I did insist, didn’t I?” Goodness, she must be blushing enough for him to see, even in the dim light. She looked away, tracing a pattern upon the arm of her chair. “Ah, well. You don’t seem the least motivated to find a prospective bride. I don’t know that there’s any hope for you.”
“There is always hope, Elizabeth. For both of us, there is always hope.”
It was as if he could see right into her, see all her lovelorn doubts and fears plain as day. She was the one who was supposed to have powers of perception.
“I want you to remember something from our session here tonight,” he said. “Look at me, Lisbet.”
She did, blushing hotter than she had before.
He spoke to her in a warm, authoritative voice. “I want you to remember that you are a catch, Lady Elizabeth Drake. You’ll make an unparalleled wife and mother, and that trail of fiancés from your past…” He made a dismissive gesture. “They are nothing. They have no connection to your present worth. Fortenbury will see the treasure he’s acquired once he knows you better. That is his task, to learn how amazing you are. Your task is to keep remembering that you’re amazing, because you are.”
His eyes flashed with the candor of his words. He was such a good friend. So kind. “You’ll make me cry again. I cannot seem to govern my emotions.” She covered her face, overwhelmed. Confused. At ends. “I’ll be all right presently,” she said into her trembling hands.
“Of course you will.” He reached to pat her back, rubbing it briefly. “It pains me to see you at ends. You’ve always been such a stolid, brave sort.”
“I want to be, it’s just…”
“I know. No one can be strong all the time.”
She stared at the fire, drifting, until her eyes were drawn to the table, to the birch switch he’d used on her. It still hurt so much, she couldn’t believe the stripes would ever disappear. She wondered if Fortenbury would discipline her whenever she disappointed him in their marriage.
If he did, would his discipline calm her, as August’s did…or…?
“I must go soon,” she said. “Or I might fall asleep right here.”
“We can’t allow that to happen.” He grimaced. “Your papa would take off my head if you were found here in the morning, and Fortenbury would use it as an excuse to go off on another of his lecturing tirades.” He stood and fetched her velvet cloak and wrapped it around her. “I’ll walk back with you to the main house.”
“You don’t have to. It’s so cold. I can go on my own. I’m not afraid of the dark.”
He smiled at that, through his own tiredness. “You’re not afraid of anything. You never have been. I’ll still walk with you, lest your faerie friends lure you away to their secret kingdom.”
August made her wear one of his extra cloaks over hers on the trek back to the manor, across the dark, snowy fields behind the house. She felt no faerie presence and saw no warming fires. He took his cloak back once he delivered her inside the door, and she felt cold at its loss, but when she hurried to her rooms, a fire still burned in the grate. She washed her teary face and climbed into bed. What must August think of her after her clandestine visit tonight?