“I had to leave immediately. I couldn’t possibly face you again. So I just grabbed a few essentials and told Ninette to pack the rest of my things and meet me in London. I was going to wait for her there, to travel to France together, and then ask you for a formal separation.”
“It seems you had your escape well thought out.” The barely suppressed anger in his voice made her flinch.
She stood and started pacing again. “Except... a storm broke out. When I was crossing the bridge, the wind pushed the carriage to the side. I tried to compensate by pulling on the reins, but the horses skidded, the carriage ended up going over the low wall of the bridge and sideways into the water.”
“I was tossed over the side and into the river. Stunned, but not seriously injured. I managed to grab hold of the carriage and pull myself to shore. Fortunately, the rain had just started, and the river wasn’t swollen yet. I was able to keep my footing. If it had been overflowing and deeper as it gets sometimes, I probably would have drowned. As it was, it took all my effort to get out of the water. The current was so strong that it ripped away my cape and hat.”
“We found those two articles down the river the next day while searching for you. It further confirmed that you had gone into the water and reinforced our belief that you might have drowned.”
“I tried to unleash the horses, but they were wild and wouldn’t let me near them. And I was slipping in the mud and wet. I figured they were in no imminent danger, so I grabbed my light suitcase, which by some miracle was lying on the shore, and left.”
“Where did you go? How did you disappear so thoroughly?”
Eloise shrugged. “In part by luck. At first, I wasn’t trying to disappear. Just looking for refuge from the storm. I took shelter in the woodsman cottage. While there, I discovered I was not expecting—”
“So you lost the baby.” The sadness of that invaded him anew.
“No! I just found I had my menses. A few days late, but as normal as ever.”
The news that there had been no lost baby eased the constriction around his heart.
“So I was back at square one.” Eloise continued. “I had no heir to offer you, and I couldn’t continue to be your wife. At that moment, I conceived the idea of vanishing and letting everyone think I was dead. It was probably cowardly, but I told myself it was for the best. I couldn’t be a normal wife, couldn’t make you happy, and couldn’t even provide you with an heir. What use was I to you? I was only a burden ruining your life.”
“I see. But you were completely wrong in one regard. I would have preferred honesty. I would have granted you the separation and even would have sought a way to make us free.” Dale sighed and rubbed his face in an attempt to control his emotions. It wouldn’t do to lash out at Eloise now. What was done was done. “But now I understand a little better the extraordinary circumstances under which you labored.”
“What do we do now? That woman who accompanied you—”
“She is my wife,” Dale said promptly. “At least, she was. We got married a few days ago. Now I don’t know.” His mouth twisted into a bitter line.
“She can continue to be. Nobody needs to know I’m alive. I have assumed a new identity. We can carry on as we were. I swear I will never turn up in your life.”
Dale shook his head. It couldn’t be that easy. “I don’t know, Eloise. I need to consider the possibilities. This changes everything. I just don’t know.”
“I am so sorry, Will.” Tears filled Eloise’s eyes. “I have caused you so much grief, and now when you are finally rebuilding your life, here I am again, standing in the way of your happiness.”
That was true, but looking at her bent head and the patent misery in her eyes, he couldn’t help but feel deep compassion for her. Yes, she had caused him great suffering, but she had acted with good intentions and had not had any easy options.
She had suffered quite a lot, too. He walked up to her and placed a hand under her chin, bringing her face up to look into her eyes. “Everything is forgiven, Ellie. Please don’t cry. We were victims of a difficult situation, and whatever happened, it was both our faults.”
She was still Ellie, his friend. The little girl who had been as inseparable from him as his own shadow. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of her head. And for the first time since they were kids, she did not recoil when he hugged her. Maybe because she sensed that there was nothing sexual about his embrace anymore. It was chaste. She wrapped her arms around him too, relaxing into him as if relishing his warmth and comfort.
And that is how Livvy found them as she entered the room.
