Chapter Twenty-One
It had been three days since she’d been back at Ashfield Hall, and Isabella found that she missed walking the bastions at Walmer,andlistening to the waves crashing upon the shore. While she had taken toexpansive walksamong thegroundsevery afternoon, the weather remaining pleasant enough for her to do so, she vowed that once she arrived in America, she wouldmake sure tolive next to the ocean where she could be reminded of one of the happiest times of her life.
Granted, at first her journey to Walmer hadn’t been anything to celebrate. She’d beena woman whowasabandoned after a marriage thatturned out to be nothing more thanafalsehood, andlater thata blessing in disguise.
She still remembered the precisemoment she’dseenRidge at that inn, the eye-patch giving him a fearsome, intimidating countenance,andshehad the feelingthat she would never be the same. She just didn’t realize how much he would come to mean to her.
Or that she would end up falling in love with him.
But she had to get that out of her head.
While their brief, torrid affair had obviously meant more to her than it did to him, she was set on a new path, one that would take her farawayfrom England.
And Ridge Claymoore.
Korina would likely accuse her of running away, and perhaps she was, but time and distanceis whatwould heal her wounded heart, although it might never mend completely.
At least her leg continued to heal from herinjury. Shortly afterthey’darrived, Montgomery had sent for the local village physician to attend to her. He’d carefully removedher stitches and complimented the work that had been done. Whileitwas still tender, it was healing nicely and eventually, all she would have to show for her adventures in France was a faded white scar, even if the memory would take a bit longer to diminish.
As she meandered throughthe brick walkway near her mother’s rose garden,Isabella couldn’t help but shake her head,recallingevery detailof their journey to Franceas if it was still taking place. She could just imagine the astonishment on herparents’faces, and even her brother, Jeffrey, if she were to recount the particulareventssurrounding her daring flight from Simon and sailing into smuggling waters on a privateer ship.
While it had been scary andmore than a littledangerous, Isabella admitted that she’d found a certain thrill in theunknown.Of course, they had been extremely fortunate toescape virtually unscathed, for she could have easily beenfatally wounded,orelsetaken prisoner by the French. She shivered at the very thought, hugging herself even though the sun was warm that day.
But when it was all over,and she had time to ponder it all,she could see how Ridge might gain acertain sense of satisfaction asa spy, knowing that, at the end of the day, you had outwitted the enemy.
Perhapsthat waswhy she’ddonnedthesame, deepblue dress that afternoon, the one with the gold trimthat she’d worn on that fateful evening, whichClaudia had somehow managed to miraculously restoreonce she returned from France.Because she just wanted to be close to him again.
With a sigh, Isabella sat down on thestone steps along the west side of the manor where the sun beat down on her.She rested her chin on her knuckles and glanced down at her lap. She had been deluding herself to ever think that Ridge could ever give up that sort of lifestyle. After all this time, the hunt was imbedded in him.
Could he ever becontent just tossing it all aside to live a simple lifestyle?
Apparently not, whichwaswhy she sat here—alone—telling herself that America would be the answer to all of her problems.
A shadow abruptly crossed in front of her. At first, she thought it was simply a cloud passing over the sun, but when a pair of scuffed boots came into her line of vision, she lifted her head.
For a moment, theglareshining behind the stranger blotted out his face, but her breathing quickened, as if her bodyrecognizedwhoit was, even if her mind hadn’t yet caught up to thereality.
Could it be?
Isabella rose to her feet. Her heart somersaulted in her chest as she looked upon the man who had taken control of her thoughtsfrom the first time she’dlaid eyes upon him. She wasn’t even sure if he was actually therein the flesh, or if her mind had conjured him from her fantasies.
But then, that deep, husky voice pierced her brain. “Hallo, Isabella.”
Andthat waswhen sheknew.
Throwing her dignity out the window, she threw her arms aroundRidgewith a cry. “It trulyisyou.”
After a brief pause, she felt his hand upon her back, stroking gently.When she’d gathered herself enough where she thought she could look at him without kissing him senseless, or smacking him for putting her through all this torment, she reminded herself thathe hadn’t yet told her why he was even there.
She pulledawayand asked him plainly, “What are you doing here?”
Ridgeput his hands in his pockets and blew out a heavy breath. “I wanted to say that I was sorry for not saying goodbye at the castle.”
Hmmm.Isabella wasn’t sure how to interpret that. “I…see. So you came all this way just to tell me that?”
He nodded, those dark eyes glittering with anticipation and perhaps a bit of…hope?“Among other things.”
“Oh?” Dear God, the anticipation was killing her! Why didn’t he just blurt out what it was he wanted to say? If he would just shout out that he loved her, she would do the same.
