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That made her think that the pleasant conversation that she and Isaac had was nothing more than that – just polite small talk. There was absolutely no way that Isaac could ever see Louisa as a potential wife, and so any interest that he had shown in her must have simply been because he was interested in buying their home.
“Never mind,” Louisa said abruptly. “I am going to take Lloyd for a walk and shall likely not return until our visitor has left. Please give him my best.” Before either Sophie or Martha could respond, Louisa was out the door with Lloyd trotting along happily beside her.
When Louisa was out in the bright early afternoon air, she suddenly felt much less suffocated. Standing there in the sitting room, she had begun to feel like she was watching a wave that her sister had created come slowly crashing down upon her. She felt enraged at Evelyn once more and knew the only way to deal with that was to walk.
Lloyd was as happy as a pig in night soil with this decision, for although he was left to roam about the grounds of the house for much of the day, he rarely ever got to go for a proper, purposeful walk. Louisa looked down at him as she tried to encourage the storm inside her head to dissipate, and seeing him so serenely happy just being out there with her did wonders for her mood.
The girl and her dog reached Louisa’s favourite spot in the whole area after a long traipse through the woods. It was a lush section of the forest that had a small stream running through it. When Louisa was little, she and Evelyn used to come here and pretend they were runaway orphans, and they made this little area into their outdoor home.
That memory only made Louisa sad now, as she realized that Evelyn was a runaway for real now. Of course, Evelyn was not the same type of runaway that the girls had played make-believe, but regardless, the memory was still tarnished by reality.
Despite this, however, Louisa decided to sit by the water and try to focus on anything other than all of the things that were troubling her. Louisa let Lloyd wander around the area, knowing that he was so loyal and obedient that he would go no further than anywhere he could see her from, and then she closed her eyes.
And while she tried to encourage herself to focus on anything other than what was going on at the house right now, her mind kept drifting back to Isaac. She imagined she and Isaac living in her house together with Lloyd, and that made her feel a little happier for a few minutes.
Then, she imagined what it would be like to have Isaac come home to her after a long day of work and how their idyllic little life would seem. That engaged her for another short while. Finally, she allowed herself the sinful pleasure of imagining what it would be like when she and Isaac turned out the light at night, and their bodies were pressed against each other beneath the quilt ...
“Oh ...” Louisa let out a quiet moan at that thought.
But then, she was rudely jarred from her fantasy when she heard a voice say from behind her, “Are you hurt?”
Louisa’s eyes sprung open, and she whirled around to see Isaac on his horse, looking at her with concern in his eyes. “What? Yes, I’m ... I’m fine,” Louisa stammered, trying to stand up.
“It’s just that you made a sound like you were hurt when you were sitting there,” Isaac said gently, “so I thought …”
“No, no,” Louisa reassured him, finally managing to stand. “I was just ... Why are you out here?”
“This is a short cut that I usually take,” Isaac explained gently. “I told my driver to take the carriage home with one of the horses as I felt like taking this route home. I promise that I did not come here to spy on you. I simply came upon you and heard you ... well ... make that noise.”
Louisa could feel herself panicking. She could not honestly tell if Isaac knew that the unintentional noise she had made was a sexual one but knew that she needed to get out of that forest so that they did not have to continue this conversation. “Yes, well, I must be getting home, so I shall leave you to your journey. Goodbye,” she said hurriedly.
But unfortunately, in her haste to leave the situation, Louisa did not notice the algae-covered rock just in front of her, and when she put her foot on it, it slid out from beneath her. She fell backwards and hit her head on another rock, and before she knew what was happening, her world plunged into darkness.
