Chapter Six
John listened while his sister berated him for not going after Annette.
The reckless woman! What had she been thinking to ride out when a storm was approaching?
He was certain that when she realized the danger she was putting herself in the lady would shortly return.
No person in their right mind would ride a horse out into an approaching storm. Now he was worried, as he should be.
What he should have done was find Annette last night and explain that Lady Torshell had made up her story.
Did Annette really think so little of him that she would honestly think he would plan to meet two women at the same time?
If Annette had been thinking clearly, she would have seen the truth of the matter for herself.
Jemima had outright lied and John could only assume she’d done so in order to put a rift between himself and Annette.
The woman’s plan had worked but John thought setting the matter straight first thing this morning would give Annette time to cool down.
He fondly remembered her response to his kiss, more than willing to give herself to him with total trust. She had felt so right in his arms and at the time he’d had to remind himself he had been a fool to ever think they wouldn’t suit.
His stubborn determination to remain indifferent to her had backfired.
He had no one to blame but himself. His parents, and hers, had been right all along. He and Annette belonged together.
Now, here was his sister telling him he should be riding out to find her himself. The rumbling of distant thunder had him raising his head to stare at the darkened skies past the window. When the first droplets of rain began to pelt the panes of glass, he knew he had waited too long.
“John… please go and search for her. I’m worried since she planned to go to the lake,” Clara beseeched him.
He kissed her forehead and gave her a quick hug. “I promise I won’t come back until I do. Ask for my horse to be saddled,” he ordered her before taking the stairs two at a time and making his way up to his bedroom to change into riding clothes.
He didn’t waste any time before he was once again heading down the stairs. Darby was at the ready holding out his heavy greatcoat to help protect him from the storm and out in the yard, the stablemaster stood holding his horse. Before John could mount the animal the man spoke.
“Lady Saxton’s horse returned without her just now, Your Grace,” the man said loudly to be heard above the downpour.
Fear raced through John knowing Annette was now without her mount. He put his foot into the stirrup, swinging his leg over the saddle and taking hold of the reins. He saw Clara, Alistair, and the Duke and Duchess of Stonehaven staring out the windows of the front room when he left.
He was as unwise as she was to be out riding in a storm, but he kept control of his horse despite the wind and cracks of lightning around them.
It seemed like forever before he finally reached the lake, but Annette was nowhere in sight.
He wondered, not for the first time, if he could possibly have missed her.
The torrential downpour made it hard to see anything whether it was close or farther off into the distance.
He continued riding for what seemed like another hour but was probably less when a flash of lightening lit the sky; briefly he could see a lone figure huddled beneath a tree.
He raced his horse to find Annette hugging her legs and shivering.
She lifted her hazel eyes to him, and he watched as her whole body was shaking from the cold.
He jumped from his horse, still holding onto the reins for fear that it might also bolt for home, and tied them to the closest tree. Then he hurried to Annette to lean down next to her.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, in concern.
“I-it’s m-my a-ankle,” she stammered. “I think I sprained it when I fell.”
“Senseless woman. Why the devil are you out here in the first place?” he scolded as he began to lift her up in his arms.
“Put me down, Your Grace! This is highly improper,” she ordered him even as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Can you walk on your own?” he inquired smugly as he pulled her even closer and she snuggled into his chest.
“No. This was as far as I could walk after my horse bucked me off.”
“Then you’ll have to indulge me so I can get you on my horse. My cabin is close by where we can get warm and dry.”
“That was where I was headed but my ankle gave out and I couldn’t make it any farther,” she began, before looking up at him from her place against his chest. “What will people think if they find out we were alone in your hunting cabin?”
“I don’t give a fig what anyone thinks. Besides, everyone who is anyone knows we were to marry. This will only confirm their suspicions that a wedding will soon take place.”
He heard a slight laugh even while she continued quaking in his arms from the cold. “That’s awfully presumptuous of you to say. Why, you haven’t even asked me to marry you yet,” she replied softly.
“We can discuss it further when we get to the cabin,” he murmured before leaning down to place a brief kiss upon her lips. “Can you manage getting on the horse if I lift you up?”
She nodded her head. “I can.”
After she settled herself sideways into the saddle, John began leading the horse.
Luckily she had almost made it to the cabin, so it wasn’t that much farther.
Once they’d arrived, he lifted his arms to her, and she slid down his body causing a part of him to rise at the lovely distraction she presented.
He continued to hold her up without her feet touching the ground.
“I think I can manage getting inside by myself, Your Grace, so you can see to the horse,” she said as her hands rested on his chest.
“I believe I told you to call me by my given name, Annette,” he said, frowning.
She shook her head. “Not until we establish and settle things between us. Now go see to your horse, who is also in need of shelter. As I said, I can manage.”
Instead of obeying her, he once again swooped her up into his arms, adjusted her slightly so he could open the door and then proceeded to place her in a chair next to the fireplace.
He reached for the tinderbox kept on the mantle to light a candle.
After several minutes of fiddling with the flint and steel, he at last succeeded and placed it the table, where the candle’s soft glow at least gave them some light to see.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move. I don’t want you to injure yourself further,” he ordered before leaving again to ensure the horse was stabled in the barn and fed.
When he returned a short while later, he took off his greatcoat and hung it on a hook near the door.
He saw Annette sitting on the floor with the tinderbox, in front of the hearth.
She was fanning the small flames of a fire in the grate, and she turned to gaze at him with accomplishment shining in her eyes.
“Look what I did,” she said. “I never started a fire before, but I’ve been watching my maid and the footmen do it since I was a child, so I thought I’d try. And it worked!”
“Will you always disobey me throughout our lives together?” he teased as he went to kneel down beside her and take over the task of seeing to the fire. Soon the room began to warm, and he could only stare in fascination at the woman before him.
“Would you expect anything less of me, Your Grace?” she asked in a sweet tone.
A chuckle left him. “I suppose not. Let’s take a look at that ankle,” he said as her eyes went wide in shock. She was so endearingly innocent that his heart lurched in his chest knowing he would cherish her as his soon-to-be—and forever—wife.
She held out his hands to halt him. “We can call a physician to look at it when we return to the manor house.”
“I think not. Besides, we’re not going anywhere tonight and if nothing else, we need to make sure nothing is broken,” he replied as he began undoing the lacings of her boot. He couldn’t see past the stocking she wore to access the damage.
“Roll down your stocking so I can see how injured your ankle is,” he ordered and watched her mouth open and close several times before she clamped her lips shut. A becoming rosy blush began to flush her cheeks. “Unless you need help…”
A gasp escaped her. “I can do it,” she muttered. “Turn around.”
An amused smile lit his face but to save her modestly, he did as he was told. “You do realize I will one day see far more of you than just your lovely leg.”
She swatted his back before she gave a heavy sigh. “When we’re married, John,” she insisted before he heard the rustling of her riding skirt. But she had called him by his given name, and he considered that a turning point about which he was pleased. “You can turn around now.”
She held up the material to reveal no more than her ankle and again John had to smile, wishing he could run his hands up the silky skin just beyond his view.
He took hold of her foot and saw the bruise that was beginning to form along with the swelling.
He pulled his shirt from the band of his trouser and tore a section off, then began wrapping her injured ankle.
“You ruined a perfectly good shirt,” she protested softly and he took her hand in his and place a kiss on the warm skin. “Will I live?” Her tone was teasing.
“For many years to come, my dear,” he whispered as his thumb ran across her hand in a slow motion.
He pulled her over to him and settled her inside his arms. “I am sorry about what happened at the fountain last night. I didn’t ask Lady Torshell to meet me there, not when all I’ve been able to do of late is think of you. ”
She leaned back so she could peer at him while offering him a small smile. “I came to the same conclusion during my wild flight from the manor. I only needed the ride for me to think clearly… and… a long painful walk in the pouring rain. I could do nothing more than think of you, too.”
“Can you forgive me for being so heartless as to break things off after my father’s funeral?” he asked with a sincere heart. He reached out to caress her cheek, and she leaned into the palm of his hand.
“You were forgiven a long time ago, John. Why do you think I never gave up on us, along with waiting for you to come around all these years?”
“I thought I had lost you when I saw you with Beaumont. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure if his affection went to you or Clara,” he mumbled with a frown.
She reached up to touch his brow. “You were worth the wait. I have loved you from the moment we were thrust into each other’s company, John.
No one else has ever held my heart but you,” she said with another serene smile.
“Besides, Alistair is in love with Clara. Now he plans to pursue her completely, so she sees him for who he is and not just a friend of the family.”
He ignored her talk about his sister and Alistair and focused on what truly mattered between them. “You love me?” he asked, in awe that he still held this woman’s affection.
“Always.”
He leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. “I was a fool not to see that I had been love with you, Annette. Please tell me you’ll become my wife,” he said holding his breath as he waited for her answer.
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
“Yes.” He swore he could barely contain himself, not knowing for sure if she would agree to be his bride.
She took both his cheeks in her hands to stare into his eyes, much as she had done when they were children. Now a smile spread across her face. “There you are,” she murmured softly, “and yes, I’ll marry you, John.”
“You’ve made me a happy man, my dearest.”
“Then perhaps you should kiss me to seal our pact and to know that forever will we belong only to each other,” she said giving him a mischievous look.
“I am only too happy to oblige you, my lady,” he said before he bent forward to whisper against her lips. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” she murmured before her hand wrapped around his neck and she pulled him forward to receive his kiss.
And as she melted into his arms, he swore he would never let Annette go again.
She was the other half of himself that had been missing and it had only taken a house party for him to finally realize that he was now right where he belonged.
He would spend the rest of his days, and nights proving his devotion and love to the lady who had waited for her duke.