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“Can you make it?” he asked Adelina, more than willing to carry her the last few yards.
She nodded, though he suspected from the bedraggled state of her clothing and the weary lines etched on her fair face, she was nearing the end of her endurance. She still looked beautiful. There might never be a better time to risk his heart. “I love you, Adelina de Quincey,” he whispered close to her ear.
She let out a long, slow breath and looked into his eyes. “I fell in love with you before we even met,” she confessed with a smile.
Elated by her confession and filled with renewed strength, he took her hand and led the way to the longboat, more determined than ever to get them all home to Montbryce.
* * *
The revelation of their love for each other loosened the knot of fear in Adelina’s stomach. Her belief he would do his utmost to protect her eased the agony in her leg muscles.
Settled with Terric’s help in the well of the overloaded longboat, she gave all her attention to Roland’s broad back as he took up an oar and helped get the vessel underway.
They soon glided silently out of the harbor, thanks to the efforts of his competent crew.
“We followed the coast,” she told him, glad to be able to play a small part in their escape as they headed for the open sea and turned south.
The wild coastline she’d observed on the journey north was only a dark, brooding presence. She stayed awake as long as she could, but the rhythmic splash of the oars eventually caused her head to droop and she fell asleep, grateful for calm seas.
