“No,” she said slowly, her resolve strengthening. “I don’t think I will be.”
When Benjamin had asked if she would be willing to visit London, she had dismissed the idea out of hand. But he hadn’t been trying to take something away from her. He was trying to offer her somethingmore.
She had been wrong to judge her self-worth on her loyalty to her village. Leaving its borders for a time wouldn’t mean she loved it any less. He had come here, to a town filled with ghosts and bad memories. Surely she could survive a trip south to an unfamiliar city.
Her heart pounded. She didn’t want to let go of Benjamin. She wanted to hold on tight. Only together would they be whole.
She shoved the documents into the solicitor’s hands and spun back toward the castle exit.
He stepped aside and clasped the papers to his chest in bafflement. “Where are you going, miss?”
To Benjamin. There was no time to waste.
“I need to see a lady about a horse,” she called over her shoulder and ran out the door.
Outside, the weather was just as cold as before, but no longer felt so bleak. This time it seemed the winds of change, a breeze of possibility hurrying her along her way.
Her pulse raced with urgency.
Noelle had no carriage of her own and Cressmouth was too small a village to have a plethora of hackneys one could hire in order to chase after a lost love. She would have to make do on horseback.
She slipped on a patch of ice and caught herself on a wooden pillar as she skidded off the street and onto the famous Harper stud farm.
Olive was in the barn tightening a leather tack when Noelle arrived.
“Horse,” Noelle panted. “Please.”
Olive looked at her doubtfully. “I’ve just saddled up Earl. He won’t be a sedate ride. He’s been restless all day and—”
“Perfect,” Noelle said quickly, grateful Olive was the sort of friend who didn’t ask questions. “I’ll have him back by nightfall.”
Probably.
“Earl is a full-grown pony. He hasn’t a curfew,” Olive said with a smile as she pushed a mounting block beside him. “Good luck.”
Noelle glanced at her friend sharply, then launched herself into the sidesaddle. Perhaps the real reason Olive hadn’t asked any questions was because she had already surmised the answers.
“Thank you,” she said and meant it. “For everything.”
Olive moved the mounting block out of the way and gestured toward the open road. “Go get him.”
Noelle turned into the wind and gave Earl his head.
Benjamin might have had a two-hour head start, but he was also pulling a heavy coach. A single rider on a fast pony ought to be able to make up the same distance in half the time.
Noelle blinked falling snowflakes from her eyelashes and held on tight. She had to do more than merely catch up with Benjamin. She had to let him know how much he meant. How much she would love to stay together. How she was even willing to give him a proper goodbye, if that was what he preferred.
Just as she began to suspect her limbs had frozen to the back of the pony, she caught sight of a distant carriage ahead, a coal-black smudge in a world filled with white.
It wasn’t the coach she was searching for, however. This carriage wasn’t leaving Cressmouth. It was heading right toward her at breakneck speed.
She coaxed Earl to the side of the road to allow the carriage to pass.
When the driver drew close, he halted the horses and a well-dressed gentleman leapt out of the coach right before her eyes.
Benjamin. Her heart soared. He had come back for her!
“I love you,” he said before she could open her mouth. “I didn’t tell you when I could, so I’m telling you now. I love you, Noelle Pratchett. I’ll never tire of saying so.”
