Chapter Five
Annette double checked the girth holding her saddle in place before leading her horse out of the stable toward a mounting block.
After spending the entire night tossing and turning, she only wanted to leave the manor and ride out her frustrations.
How could he be so cruel as to agree to meet Jemima at the same place where he had given her their first kiss?
What had started out as something so perfect from the deepest recesses of her dreams had quickly turned into her worst nightmare.
And to witness Jemima’s look of satisfaction when she knew she had won John over had been the last of Annette’s patience.
She should have known this whole farce was destined to fail.
There was nothing redeemable of John’s honor, and she was done waiting for the man!
“Please reconsider, Annie,” Clara pleaded, her concern written all over her features. “Look at the sky… the heavens will pour down upon you within the hour or even less.”
“I’ll be fine. I need some fresh air and to get away from… him,” she had answered, pulling on her leather riding gloves.
“If you need fresh air then open a window or go to the gazebo in our garden. No one with bother you there and why risk getting drenched?” Clara came to take hold of her arm. “Be sensible.”
A snort of disdain had left her lips. “If I had been sensible in the first place, I wouldn’t be heartbroken all over again.
I should have never agreed to your plans to put your brother and me together.
He clearly can see me as nothing more than your best friend.
” The memory of his kiss raced across her mind causing her face to flush.
She could almost feel his arms still wrapped around her.
And the feel of his muscular chest beneath her fingertips…
With such a memory it was a wonder if she had gotten any sleep at all.
“I don’t know why you’re complaining. I thought things were going splendidly,” Clara replied with a slight smile. “You may not have noticed but John can’t take his eyes from you. Believe me when I tell you he’s finally thinking of you as wife material and not just as my friend.”
Her temper got the better of her. “Then he shouldn’t have agreed to meet Lady Torshell at the garden fountain at the same time he was kissing me!”
Clara’s mouth opened in an O of surprise before she finally found her tongue. “He didn’t!”
Annette scowled. “Didn’t what? Kiss me, or arrange to also meet with Lady Torshell?”
“Kiss you, you ninny!” Clara teased but a sob caught in Annette’s throat and Clara reached to wrap her arms tightly around her. “I’m sorry to have made light of the situation but if John kissed you he would never have asked another woman to meet him, too.”
“She was so… smug, Clara. Like she knew she was going to win his favor, and that I would come out the loser for his affections.”
“I’m telling you, Annie, he is in love with you and he’s only now just coming to realize how much. Please give him another chance. I know you will be together, if only you’ll forgive him.”
“How can I forgive him if I don’t even know I can’t trust him?” Her thoughts wavered as she considered Clara’s words. Could she trust him to do the right thing and continue their original arrangement to marry?
“Of course you can trust him, Annie. It’s Lady Torshell you can’t trust. I’m certain she was lying about the whole thing and if you would only listen to John, he could explain everything,” Clara said, taking Annette by both arms and staring at her with worry.
“I don’t know…”
“My plan has worked, Annie. He’s spent the entire time watching you when you weren’t looking, especially when I seated him next to you during meals.
He’s in love with you. You only need to give him a second chance,” Clara said with what sounded like a fair amount of hope that Annette would see reason.
“I need time to think.” Annette shook her head, took up the reins, put one foot in the stirrup, and settled into the saddle, hooking her knee over the pommel and adjusting her skirts. “You know how much a ride always clears my head. I won’t be gone long, just to the other side of the lake or so.
“To ride that far could take you perhaps an hour. Are you crazy? There’s a thunderstorm approaching, if you’d care to take notice. You really need to come inside and not be so careless as to put yourself and your horse in danger.”
“I’ll take shelter under the trees if it starts to rain too hard.
I won’t be gone long I promise.” Annette clicked her tongue and put her heel to the horse’s side.
The animal took off in a slow trot even as she heard her friend yelling at her that she was going to go find John.
That threat only made Annette want to put even more distance between herself and the duke.
She wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to face him.
As she left the staple yard, thunder rumbled in the distance.
For one moment, Annette began to question her judgement that this was indeed a good idea.
Instead of listening to the small voice warning her to turn around, she put her horse into a gallop and began to race across the countryside.
She no longer wanted to think about how miserable her life had become, John and his kisses, and the smug-looking Lady Torshell.
When she reached the lake, she continued riding.
She didn’t’ care where she was going or how far she had ridden.
But when it started to rain, she turned the horse to head back to the manor.
Now, getting drenched felt more uncomfortable than her angry feelings.
Then a crack of lightning hit a nearby tree, causing a limb to fall, and it spooked the animal.
The mare reared, her front legs striking the air.
Annette tried to gain control of the horse, but another burst of thunder sounded nearby as a bolt of lightning hit the ground close to them.
The horse bucked and Annette was thrown from the saddle and flew into the air.
She tried to control her fall but that was impossible.
The ground grew closer and her right foot twisted when it met the dirt.
She cried out in pain and reached for her ankle as the earth began to shake beneath her.
Startled, she looked up to see her horse racing back toward home.
She was now stranded miles from the manor.
She came to a stand, but the pain was almost unbearable as she cried out in agony at the injury to her ankle.
She saw a tree limb that had fallen and carefully made her way over to the branch to use it as a crutch to help her to walk.
She was a long way from home; as the rain continued to pour, she tried to get her bearings on where she was on the property.
There was a hunting cabin nearby where she and Clara had often picnicked and played as girls, but that was fair distance away.
Annette wasn’t sure if she could make it that far, but that was the only place that would be close enough where she could find shelter from the storm and maybe start a fire.
With no other choice but to walk no matter how much her ankle hurt, she began to slowly hobble in the direction of the cabin, reminding herself with each painful step that she’d been foolish and Clara had been right. She should have just stayed put.