But for now, it was Frederick she wanted to see.
Caroline rode the length of the beach twice, taking her time on the second pass in case Frederick had been delayed somehow. But he was nowhere to be seen, the beach empty without him, a shell of what it had been when they had been there together last.
Had he forgotten their assignation in the emotion of Oswald’s revelation? Or was he avoiding her?
Perhaps he blamed her, in part, for she had been the one to make Oswald feel the election was his from the start.
A thought struck her, making her feel as hollow as the wind on the beach. What if he had left? Left Trelowen?
She could not believe he would do something so rash, so…heartless. A panic took root inside her, all the same.
She looked toward the outcrop of rock, where a wave broke mercilessly, for the tide was rising. Surely, he would not have attempted to pass it?
She guided her horse toward it when she spotted something. At first, it looked like nothing more than a rock. A moment’s surveyal more made it clear that a pair of riding boots sat beside it—and a man’s coat and waistcoat.
Her eyes scoured the scene, moving to the waves, where she finally saw a head break up through the water behind a wave. Frederick was turned away from her as he wiped the water from his eyes and pushed his hair back.
“Frederick!” The waves and wind drowned her voice.
She slipped down from her horse and dropped the reins,hurrying toward him, her progress slowed by the sand as it grew less firm and more waterlogged.
A wave crashed and washed over her boots, pulling the skirts of her riding dress backward and then forward as it retreated.
Determined, she continued into increasingly boggy sand as more water washed over her feet. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Frederick!”
He went still, then turned.
Their gazes met, his full of surprise as a wave crashed into him from behind, pushing him forward with merciless power.
He disappeared.
Caroline picked up her skirts and hurried further into the waves, the water reaching her knees and pulling down on her clothing.
Frederick’s head came up again, only to disappear yet again.
Her eyes searched, and she started as he emerged from the water mere feet away from her.
He pushed back his sopping hair, revealing a dark, knit brow. His shirt was plastered to his body, one brace haphazardly hanging. He slipped it over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” he called as a wave crashed, making Caroline stumble, for her focus was on him.
He strode through the waves and grasped her arm.
“I might ask the same of you,” she said over the sound of the water.
“I am clearing my head.” His brow looked anything but clear, however. He kept hold of her arm, guiding her out of the waves.
“I have been looking for you this past half hour,” she said. “We had an assignation.”
He said nothing, so she pulled her arm from his grasp andstopped to face him, ankle-high in water, impeding his progress.
They stared at one another, the water crashing and wind gusting.
His expression, always so ready with smiles and charm, was as unforgiving as the waves. “Why would you wish for an assignation withme? I have nothing, Caroline.”
She stepped toward him and reached for his hand, but he retracted it.
She went still.
