Page 59 of Her Unsuitable Match

Myles grinned at the closed door, then jumped down the steps several at a time before mounting. “Come, Garrett. We are leaving under fire.”

The lad’s eyes widened comically, but he wasted no time in following Myles, leading Bunny behind him.

No shots chased them out of the earl’s lands, but that did nothing to diminish the victorious hope in Myles’s heart. He had done something for his wife. Something she hadn’t done for herself, and that others might not think important to do for her at all. This would be the first step in showing Pippa his true feelings for her.

Proving that he loved her.

Twenty-One

While some might say Philippa paced in the rose garden, she much preferred to describe her aimless wandering as a pleasant exercise. Even if she moved too sedately to gain any healthful benefits. And despite being so lost in her own thoughts, she did not notice the roses finally in bloom.

In her hands she held two letters. The Greenwood butler had delivered them to her while she read a book in the sitting room. One was addressed to her husband, sealed with the Earl of Inglewood’s crest. She debated opening it, as her natural curiosity wanted to know what sort of impression they had made on a man known for his political work. A man of stone, they had called him in the papers.

The other letter she had opened. Mr. Young had written to lay out his terms for a most exciting proposition she had given him the day before.

If only Myles would return. She wanted him to read Mr. Young’s letter. She needed him to approve her idea before she sent on her proposal to Adam and Elaine. But since he had disappeared a week before, without word to anyone of when he might return or how they could contact him, she had to exercise patience.

Which wasn’t a simple matter when she was fairly bursting to discuss her ideas with someone who understood them. Someone who had invested more energy and thought in that particular topic than she had.

Philippa held up the expensive, well-folded ivory paper with the earl’s seal. She studied the fine hand with which he’d written Myles’s name. Then she sighed and tucked it into the band of her gown. “I will wait for you, Myles,” she murmured to a nodding pink bloom. Then bent to inhale its sweet fragrance.

She missed him.

Pippa took up the basket and garden shears she had brought outside with her. Lady Greenwood planned to send a single bloom to her friends, along with an invitation to take tea in the garden the following week. In need of a distraction, Pippa had volunteered to clip the flowers herself.

Myles’s family treated her well. Better than her own mother and eldest brother. They felt as much like family to her as Adam and Elaine. Each day she spent with them taught her more about the man she married, whether they shared stories with her about Myles’s childhood or Lady Greenwood performed some kindness for another member of the family. They were thoughtful of one another, yet that did not lessen their ability to tease or laugh.

Lord Greenwood had proven an exceptional conversationalist, and she found his dry humor a match for his son’s. He treated her with respect, and a fatherly manner she could not recall her own father showing toward her. She quite adored him.

With another snip of the shears, Pippa laid the pink blossom in her basket. She walked from bush to bush, mindful of the thorns each time she took hold of a flower. A dozen perfect blooms. That’s what she needed to fulfill her mother-in-law’s request.

Snip.

When would Myles return?

Snip.

Why had he left without speaking to her?

Snip.

Though they had argued, and she had said all the wrong things, never did she think he would disappear without taking his leave.

Snip.

Then she sniffled. Her eyes burned with tears, though she refused to so much as acknowledge them. Tears. How silly. Myles would return. And when he did, he would tell her where he had gone.

Snip.

And she would tell him…what? How she spent her days waiting for him? Rising every time she thought a horse or carriage approached, looking out the window? She had hoped for his return every day.

Snip.

But he might not even be halfway finished with his journey. Errand. Whatever it was he had undertaken to accomplish without telling her.

Snip.

It bothered her less that he had left than that she did not know when to expect his return. Left in a state of constant anticipation, her heart and mind had run away with her. She dreamed about Myles. She woke missing his presence at her side. She struggled to sleep at night without him near.