“Floppy, come back!” Ellie called.
Anne scooped the puppy in her arms and gave it a kiss on the top of its head. “Have you been naughty?” The puppy licked her face. “At least you love me, don’t you, Floppy?”
After admiring the crown of wildflowers Cassie had fashioned, Anne ushered them all back toward the house.
When they entered, Mattie beamed at them. “My lady, Lord Manning requests you wait in the blue parlor.”
Anne handed Floppy off to Ellie, and the girls chased the other two puppies down the hallway. “Did he say what for?” Surely, if Colin had suspected she had planned to leave, Mattie wouldn’t be smiling.
“No, my lady.”
Loud bangs arose from the direction of the library. Tempted to go find out what caused such a commotion, Anne turned toward it.
Mattie’s smile disappeared, and she held her hands out to block Anne’s progress. “No, my lady. My lord specified the blue parlor.”
Anne squinted at the maid. “What’s that noise coming from the library? It sounds like someone dropped something heavy.”
Mattie’s face flushed, her gaze darting wildly and landing on anything other than Anne. “More repairs to seal the passageways.”
Mention of the treacherous passages reminded Anne to tell Colin about Greene and Mrs. Campbell’s plan to torment her. With her decision to stay, Anne would not abide being ill-treated even for a moment. “Very well.”
In the blue parlor, Anne paced the floor and waited. And waited. Would she spend her entire marriage waiting for Colin Bell?Tick. Tick. Tick.The clock on the mantel taunted her.
Thank goodness the banging had ceased entirely.
Until . . .Clank. Clank. Clank.
The rhythmic noise grew louder with each deafeningclank.She crept to the door and peeked around the corner. She blinked, not trusting her eyes as the ghostly knight clanked toward her. Racing back into the parlor, she grabbed a fireplace poker. As if an invisible fist clutched at her throat and squeezed, she fought to pull air into her lungs. With her gaze locked on the parlor’s entrance, she held the poker aloft and prepared to defend herself.
A foot appeared.Clank. Attached to the foot, a leg, also encased in metal, followed.Clank.With steps lumbering and noisy, the man in armor stopped in the doorway and turned toward her.
She swallowed. Was this truly the ghost of Blackthorne Manorcome to haunt her? Or could this be Greene implementing his dastardly plan?
“Wh-who are you?” For once in her life, she wished she could summon some of Charlotte’s icy tone.
“Your knight in shining armor.” The voice, muffled and tinny, sounded familiar.
“Colin?” The poker dropped to her side.
Clank.Clank.In slow motion, the knight took two steps forward. “What dragon may I slay for you today, my lady?”
She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and then pinched herself, although she did stop short of slapping herself.This can’t be real.“What are you doing? Are you mad?”
“Mad for you.” He flipped up the visor, and even from the distance she knew those lovely green eyes. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind coming over here. I don’t know how my ancestors managed this. The damned stuff is inordinately heavy.”
He held out his arms, although even that seemed to strain him, and she raced forward.Clank.Pushed back from the force of her hurtling herself into his arms, he stumbled, nearly falling. His arms flailed for a moment before grasping her around the waist.
Hard metal pushed against her, but she didn’t care. She stared up into the sliver of space where his eyes peered through. “Why?”
“Because I’ve been a fool. So what better way to admit it than to dress up like one?”
She laughed. “Knights aren’t fools. You should have dressed as a jester.”
“Ah, but none of my ancestors were jesters. At least, that I know of.” He chuckled, then took her hands in his, the metal of the gauntlets cold against her skin. “Ever since the day on the folly, I know I’ve pulled away, and for that I’m sorry.”
“I never understood why. Then you were so angry at me when I became trapped in the passage.”
His head gave an almost imperceptible shake. “I wasn’t angry with you. I was angry with myself for not protecting you, and I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. It was wrong and stupid of me, I’ll admit, but I thought if I pretendedI didn’t feel what I did, it wouldn’t hurt if you were taken from me. I was afraid.”
