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That tugged at Sophia’s heart. “Will you tell her I said good-bye?” she whispered.
“No.”
Oh, that hurt. “Why not?”
“I’ll tell her you said ‘see you later.’”
“But that will probably never happen.”
He pretended to pull a mock knife from his chest. “Let me have my dreams, will you?”
She sighed heavily and forced herself to rise from the warmth of his bed. “Tell her whatever will ease the way for her.”
Ashley helped her dress, taking a moment to trail his lips over her shoulder and the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine as he fastened the back of her gown. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He spun her around and tipped her head up to his. “Thank you.”
“I don’t regret falling in love with you.”
“Good,” he said, and he drew her into his arms.
***
Ashley didn’t have any regrets, either. Not about meeting her, falling in love with her, or continuing to love her. His only regret was that she had to leave him. But he would soon do all he could to fix that. He patted his coat pocket. Perhaps he had some leverage that might help him to get her back. He would have to wait and see.
Her fingers tangled with his as she leaned forward and lay her head on his chest. “I love to listen to your heart beat,” she murmured into his shoulder.
“Keep listening and you might hear it break into a million pieces,” he warned. He took her by the shoulders and pushed her back from him. He protested with a murmur. He looked toward the window. The sun was rising.
“We must go,” he said.
She nodded and tugged him by the fingertips toward the door. He followed her, his arm around her as they traversed the corridors of his home. And then they came to the door of his secret garden. “May I have entrance to your garden?” she asked with a silly smile.
“You always have had leave,” he said. He shoved the door open and found Ronald waiting on the other side.
The gnome looked at his pocket watch and scowled. He closed the fob and tapped it lightly. “Time, it is a-wasting.”
“Your parents?” Ashley asked.
“I already told them good-bye,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him and inhaled deeply. “I want to take the scent of you with me,” she murmured.
“Give me a moment to collect Anne, and you could take all of me,” he laughed.
A gentle wind lifted his hair and a shiver crept up his spine. “The morning wind?” he asked.
“It has come to collect me, I’m afraid.” She stepped onto her tiptoes and pulled his head down to hers, touching his lips softly but fully. He would remember that kiss always. Then she stepped back and took a deep breath, and the wind began to blow harder. It blew leaves around his garden, and caused the plants to shiver and shake so hard that they slung the morning dew about like a gentle rainfall. Yet there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Her hair lifted, blowing about her face, and she moved to brush it aside. “I will not forget you,” she said, speaking over the gusts. Suddenly, the gusting wind stopped, and Sophia’s maid appeared as though out of the mist. “I caught the wind at your parents’,” she said with a shrug. “Your brother and grandmother have gone ahead of us.” She held out a hand to Sophia. “Let me help you, Sophia,” she said, her voice kind. Sophia took a deep breath and put her hand into the maid’s.
Ashley wanted to reach for her. He wanted to call her back to him, but he couldn’t. He bru
shed his hair from his eyes and watched the gentle wind as it seemed to absorb her. It swirled around her, and it looked almost as though her dress became part of it, billowing in the wind. Her hair swirled about, and he feared for her safety. But then she raised a finger to her lips and blew him a kiss.
It was quite ridiculous to do so, but he reached out to catch it. He knew when she was leaving, when he could no longer see her maid. When he could no longer see the color of her dress or the glimmer in her eye.
The garden gnome bowed low before him. “Your Grace,” he said. “Many thanks for your hospitality.” Ashley moved to pay his respects to the little gnome, but at the last moment, he reached for Ronald’s jacket and snatched him from the path of the wind. He held him by the neck of his jacket and watched as his feet kicked in the air. The little man’s hands flailed.
“Put me down,” he snarled.
