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Edwina stared between her husband and the magnificent creature before her. "You cannot be serious." Her heart leaped.
"I have never been more serious." He released the reins and started to draw her to him. Rufus averted his gaze, then left the stable. “All you had to do was marry me to have her.” He touched his nose to hers.
"Oh, Albert," she took his face in her hands. "I have never received such a gift before. I do not know what to say."
"Say nothing, Darling," he murmured. The sincerity in both his voice and his eyes broke her heart and mended it at the same time. He gave her a dangerous sort of hope, but it was a hope that she wanted to embrace and nurture because she loved him. She loved him no matter how much she had tried to protect her heart. She did not think she needed to protect her heart anymore because she could trust him with it.
"Thank you, Albert." She stood up on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. His arms immediately tightened about her waist.
“I am not going to accept that kiss from you. I am going to ask for more.” He kissed her lips.
"Shall we continue where we stopped this morning?" Edwina ran her fingers through his thick hair.
"Here?" He sounded astonished.
"Where is your sense of adventure, Darling?" She laughed, taking his hand and pulling him to an empty stall. He made a deep growl in his throat, and once they were within the confines of the stall, he bunched her skirts in his hands, hiking them up. When Edwina's heels hit a hay stack behind her, she mindlessly pulled him down onto it with her with a little chuckle.
"Albert, I want you. Now," she breathed. He began to unfasten his breeches, but an agitated neigh stopped him. He looked up, and their equine company, whom they had momentarily forgotten about, began to stomp the ground about them, digging up dirt.
Albert cursed and stood to see what was troubling the horses. Edwina stood and smoothed down her skirts, preparing to follow him. That was when she spied a familiar face in the distance, beyond the stable doors. Shock rooted her to the place where she stood, and she felt as though her blood was leaving her body, her spirit too.
Her knees started to buckle under her, and she grasped something to stay upright. Her chest tightened, squeezing the air out slowly and painfully. “Johnny,” her voice came, distant and strangled. The horses’ disturbed neighs and her husband's cooing faded into the background as a dull ringing began in her ears.
In such a state, she found herself a prisoner until a hand came upon her shoulders, shaking her. "Edwina, what is the matter?" Albert's voice cut into her trance, drawing her out of it. His alarm was evident in both his voice and on his face.
When Edwina's gaze found its way back to where she had seen John, the field was empty. She shivered. What she had just seen could not be. It was all a trick of the mind. "Edwina?" Albert touched her cheeks. “Talk to me, My Darling.”
"I… I—” She cleared her throat, swallowing to chase away the fear and shock that had gripped her. “I think I am unwell.”
Albert picked her up and marched out of the stables.
* * *
Albert was equal parts dumbfounded and alarmed by Edwina’s sudden illness. She buried her head beneath the bed covers and refused to tell him exactly what was wrong with her.
“I want to look after you,” he said, smoothing her hair that was peeking from under the covers. She shook her head. He released a frustrated breath. “Do you want me to call someone? Lady Matthews and Miss Matthews perhaps?” She nodded now.
After calling the Baroness and her daughter to tend to her, he decided to leave her until she was better. She obviously did not want him there, and he was wounded by it.
That evening, he sat through the inquiries of her absence from their guests at dinner and supper, then he dragged himself back to their bedchamber when it was nearly midnight. She was asleep in their bed, and he went to her, touching her forehead. She did not seem to have a fever, thankfully. He left the bedchamber and paced the sitting room, unable to remain still. He believed he knew her very well now, and he could tell there was something about her that he did not know. He had known nothing but bliss since the night they had married, and he had nearly forgotten about those letters she had received.
Seeing her frozen and staring beyond the stable doors reminded him of them. Her state had been unnatural, and he was determined to find the cause. After what felt like an eternity of pacing, he went to his study. Perhaps putting some distance between them while he thought was best.
In the hallway, he heard curious sounds that had him following them to the ballroom. He walked in to the sight of his cousin boxing a dummy that stood in the middle of the room. "What did that poor thing ever do to you?" Albert asked at Steven's aggression.
"However hard I punch it, it is still not enough to clear my head,” he panted. That reminded Albert that Steven had not been himself over the past days.
"You weren't at dinner," Albert said slowly, approaching him. "Supper, too."
"Was she there?" Steven suddenly asked.
"Who?" Albert asked even though he suspected a certain young woman.
"Kitty." He threw another violent punch at the dummy that made Albert wonder how the thing remained intact and was still standing. The force should have toppled it despite the heavy iron base.
"Miss Mathews, you mean?" Albert returned, a mischievous smile creeping to his face.
"No, Baroness Mathews," Steven answered irritably. "Of course, I meant Miss Mathews!"
