She approached him, coming to a stop a short distance away. “My niece is many things, but she is stubborn, almost to a fault. She had to keep busy in order to overlook what was right in front of her.”
“Which was?”
She pointed directly at him. “Falling in love with you.”
Alden looked heavenward. “Not this again,” he muttered. “How do I know she isn’t lying just to keep what she has?”
“What does she have to gain by lying now?” Mrs. Hardy asked.
“Regardless, I have made my decision,” Alden stated firmly. “I am leaving Scotland and Elinor will continue to run the horse farm. She wins. She got precisely what she wanted.”
Mrs. Hardy lowered her finger, her expression softening with compassion. “That is not what she wants, at least not anymore,” she insisted. “I know you are scared, but you mustnot let the lessons, the experiences of your past, harden your heart. You deserve a new beginning with Elinor.”
He looked at Mrs. Hardy incredulously. “How can I even trust Elinor again?” he asked.
“She could have kept this from you, but she decided to tell you the truth. What does that say about her?” Mrs. Hardy asked.
“My mother would lie to my father…” Alden began
Mrs. Hardy stepped closer to him, her voice gentle but firm. “Elinor is not your mother, and you are not your father. You two love one another.”
“I never said I loved Elinor,” Alden stated.
“You didn’t have to,” Mrs. Hardy said. “I can see it in your face, in your eyes, and hear it in your voice. You love Elinor.”
Alden turned away from Mrs. Hardy, finding himself conflicted. “So what if I do?” he asked. “Am I supposed to just forgive her and move on?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“It is not that simple,” Alden declared. He wanted to believe Elinor, but the wound was too fresh, the betrayal too deep. How could he just move past this?
Mrs. Hardy shook her head, her voice filled with emotion. “I have loved one man in my life, and I would do anything to spend one more day with him,” she said, her words cracking with emotion. “Love doesn’t come around very often. My question is: what do you intend to do about it?”
Alden watched as Mrs. Hardy spun around on her heel and walked over to the door. She placed her hand on the handle and stopped. “In your heart, you know what the right thing to do is,” she advised.
Once Mrs. Hardy departed from the room, his valet stepped back in with questions in his eyes. “Sir?” he asked.
Alden had a choice to make. He could do what he always did and leave, or he could stay and fight for what trulymattered- Elinor. The woman that he loved and would always love.
Botheration.
He couldn’t leave Elinor, not now. If he did, he knew he would always regret it. She had quickly become his everything, and no one else could surpass her in his heart, now and always.
Glancing at the open trunks, Alden asked, “Is love worth the risk?”
His valet gave him an understanding look. “Only if you’ve found the right woman.”
Alden closed his eyes, a wave of realization washing over him. “I have,” he replied. And that was the truth. No one would ever compare to Elinor. She was his, and he was hers.
“Then my advice is to hold on to her and don’t let her go,” Hastings counseled. “Life is much better when you have the woman you love by your side.”
Determined, Alden walked over to the door. “You might as well unpack. If I have my way, I won’t ever be leaving. But I did make a muck of things.”
Hastings smiled. “Go to her, sir.”
Elinor tightened the cloak around her as she stepped into the stables. She needed to be alone with her thoughts. How had everything gone so terribly wrong? It was all her fault, and she knew it. She should never have tried to deceive Alden. But if she hadn’t, would she have still been married to him?
As she walked down the aisle, Calen greeted her with a tip of his head while brushing down one of the horses in a stall. “Guid mornin’, my lady,” he greeted.
