AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A short, barking laugh escaped from Alicia’s mouth as she realized “Come now, you’ve learned better than that,” she chastised herself. She had not thought of the countryside as a dangerous place since before she had arrived in Dunwood. Now the thoughts that had harried her dreams all those long days ago seemed ridiculous, like fears that belonged to another woman entirely.
But then, inevitably, darker thoughts still began to creep into the corners of her mind.If he did reach the house,she thought, her hands trembling,then Grace may equally have refused to see him or told him hideous lies. And if the latter, then there it is certain she has done her very worst.
Alicia’s mind swam with all the possibilities of how Grace might choose to hurt her after what Alicia had done.Even worse, she might have done some harm to Laurence!she thought, fighting to keep breathing.For all I know she may have him chained up in a cupboard, or…or sent to jail for some perceived slight. I need to
Clink!
Alicia nearly fell out of her chair, so startled was she by the sound of glass hitting wood beside her elbow.
“There is something I need your help with,” said Mary-Anne, looking down at her friend by the window.
“What is it?” Alicia asked before thinking.
“I need you to tell me if last year’s cider is still any good.” She held up a corked brown bottle and two empty glasses. “This is one of the last bottles, and I want to be able to tell Laurence if the remaining bottles are worth drinking or not before he starts over with this year’s apples.”
“I…apologize for my words earlier. But I’m afraid I am not really in the mood, Mary-Anne,” said Alicia sourly as she turned back to her window.
“WellIam.” Mary-Anne reached over and pulled the drapes closed, obscuring the view of the outside, and sat down heavily in a chair facing Alicia.
“I beg your pardon!” she protested.
Deftly Mary-Anne uncorked the bottle and poured two large glasses of pale yellow cider. “In case you have forgotten, Laurence is my brother,” she said as the liquid bubbled happily into the cups. “And while I don’t like to make this commonly known, I am not very good at sitting still when there’s something bothering me. I tend to fret when there’s a problem I cannot overcome through sheer force of will, and then I grow even more difficult to be around than usual.”
She re-corked the bottle, then passed a glass to Alicia and fixed her with a meaningful look. “Now, you don’t have to drink. You don’t even have to say anything. But if you still care to earn your keep, you’d do well to sit there and help me not fret.”
Alicia felt a crush of thoughts at the periphery of her mind. She had so much to worry about, so much to be ready for, so many foul possibilities to consider. She opened her mouth to turn Mary-Anne away…but then she saw the vulnerability in the other woman’s eyes.
I have been quite rude to her when she has just been trying to help in her own way,thought Alicia amid a rush of guilt.And now she approaches me for help. The least I can do is listen.
From the moment she picked up her glass and tasted the cider, light and sweet and dangerously potent, Alicia was swept up in conversation with Mary-Anne. For the first time since leaving this place, Alicia felt the time pass quickly and pleasurably as they discussed the best and worst of London society, as well as matters that felt much dearer to both their hearts: Laurence, life in the country, plans for the future. Tears of laughter were wiped away with one hand as the other reached out for a consoling touch. The shadows moved across the room, candles were relit, feet put up on footstools.
“There is one thing I’d like you to explain to me, Alicia,” said Mary-Anne at some late hour.
“If it’s anything to do with matters of men, leave me out of it!” Alicia laughed, finishing the dregs of her glass. “I clearly have no head for them.”
“More the matter of one man.” Mary-Anne’s eyes glittered with mirth. “How is it that while you and my brother are evidently two of the most intelligent people I know…”
“Being an excellent judge of intelligence, yourself.”
“Hush. Explain to me how it is that for all your mutual brains, both of you are utterly oblivious to how remarkable your feelings are for one another? The way you look at one another is downright disgusting in its naiveté.”
“No!” Alicia protested, laughing.
“It’s as plain as the nose on your face, Alicia. Or possibly the nose on my face,” she said, tapping a finger on the slight bend in own her aristocratic nose. “The way you keep looking at him when you think he’s not paying attention, the way your eyes light up when he speaks to you…it’s bloody obvious just how he makes you feel. As if nothing else in the world matters. Like as cruel as this life is, it can all be truly wonderful as long as you’re in his presence. There really is nothing like it.”
The room lapsed into a warm, thoughtful silence as Mary-Anne poured the last of the bottle into her own glass. “Has…has any man ever madeyoufeel like that, Mary-Anne?” Alicia asked, stifling a hiccup.
“No,” she answered brusquely. “But I’ve seen it before, from time to time, both here in the country and in London. It’s as powerful a condition as it is incurable by any means known to man. Or woman, more importantly.”
“I had no idea it was such a rare thing,” said Alicia quietly. “Not really, anyway. I only know that the way I feel for him is like nothing else I have ever experienced in my life. The idea that I could spend the rest of my life in his company is just so…self-evidently wonderful.”
She felt Mary-Anne’s hand reach out and brush against hers in a friendly embrace. “He feels the same way for you. Damn my own meddling, I was hoping to spare both your feelings, but I knew there would be no dissuading Laurence. Not from the gentility of letting you go back to your life, and certainly not from the bravado of running after you. When he does get back, Lord help anyone who gets in the way of you two.”
Alicia smiled fondly. “Perhaps you might get your wish of a new sister-in-law after all, then. I know I could certainly use another s—”
She stopped mid-sentence.It’s thunder on the horizon. It’s Dennis closing up the barn for the night. It’s my own heartbeat.
But no, she realized with a swell of hope—it was hoof beats she was hearing. Loud ones, drawing closer. And looking to Mary-Anne, she saw the same hope shining in the other woman’s eyes. As one they threw open the drapes and saw a silhouette approach the dim outline of the barn and throw open the door.
In the pale light of the waning moon, Alicia saw the barest glimpse of his face…but that was more than enough. She had seen that same face every second since leaving this farm days before.
Laurence has returned!
