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It had been a wonderful time, and even though things had not turned out the way she hoped, the memories would keep her warm on the cold nights alone in her bed. As long as she could stop crying.
Love was not supposed to hurt. But this did. Tremendously. So bad was the pain that she wanted to wrap her arms around her middle and curl up into a ball of misery. But life must go on, and her business needed her. She’d been very happy before Lord Berkshire had walked into her store and her life. She would be again.
Alfred Tennyson said, “'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. Although, she agreed with the adage at the time she’d read it, now that she’d experienced love, she wasn’t so sure Tennyson was as brilliant as she’d thought.
By the time she reached the Bath Spa train station she was exhausted, tired of crying, and determined to claim her life back. She hired a hackney to return her home.
She walked into the small house she loved so much and didn’t feel the rising sense of happiness it always had given her. But then, she left the house with the idea of going to London to help Grayson find a tutor for Michael.
She returned an unwanted and unloved bride. With those somber thoughts, she climbed the stairs to her bedchamber and collapsed on the bed, falling into a dead sleep.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Grayson handed his coat off to Brooks. He’d just returned from his meeting, which had gone very well, and now was ready to speak with Addie and get to the bottom of whatever it was that was making her so unhappy.
“She left shortly after you all arrived back from the hearing,” the man said, as he took Grayson’s gloves and hat. “She said there was a note for you on your desk in the library.”
Grayson strode down the corridor, a sinking feeling in his stomach. There was no reason for Addie to have left for Bath before the rest of them.
The note was in a cream-colored envelope propped up against the lamp on the desk. With shaky hands, he picked up the envelope and slid the folded paper out. Taking a deep breath, he read:
Dear Grayson,
I haev returned to Bath. To my own huose. We do not nede to remain togethr. This was obbviousle a misteke.
Yours,
Addie
The paper floated to the floor as he dropped his head in his hands. This was the first time he’d seen a note written by his wife. He smiled at the misspellings caused by the word blindness, or rather dyslexia, she suffered from. Then he realized how very difficult her life had been because of it.
She was a courageous woman. She left the comfort of her parent’s home, struck out on her own, and made her business a success. No wonder she resented him dismissing it so easily.
He’d been an arse. There was nothing else to be said for it. He needed to go after her and tell her how proud he is of her, and how much he loved her, will always love her.
She was his other half. The warmth to his coldness, the last piece of the puzzle that put his heart back together. She was a great mother, a wonderful friend, kind and gracious, and the most important person in the world to him.
No, my love, our marriage was not a mistake. We belong to each other and will always until the day we die.
Grayson walked to the end of the corridor and shouted, “Brooks, get that carriage ready to take me to the train station.”
The man beamed bright enough to light up the cloudiest day in London. “Yes, my lord. Right away, my lord.”
Grayson bounded up the stairs, determination in every step. He would get his wife back and never let her go. The two of them and Michael would be a real family. And more children would follow. Lots of them. A nursery full of them.
He threw a few items in a satchel and crossed the corridor from his room and entered Michael’s room. Mrs. Banfield was sitting with him at a small table, both of them sharing tea.
“Mrs. Banfield. It has come to my attention that I must leave for Bath this afternoon. Please continue with the original plans we made to return tomorrow. I purchased the tickets today and will leave them, along with money for your trip, on the desk in my library.”
“Yes, my lord.” The woman must have known something was in the air by the bright smile on her face, too. He’d begun to feel that everyone surrounding him knew he loved Addie, but he hadn’t made sure she knew it. They were correct, and he was on a mission to straighten all of that out.
He squatted in front of Michael. Using the little bit of sign language he remembered, he told Michael he was returning to Bath and that he and Mrs. Banfield would join him the next day.
The boy smiled and signed back that he loved him, and loved his new mama, too.
Right. That was what this was all about. He loved Michael’s new mama, too, and it was time and past that he told her so.
He accepted Michael’s hug and left the room, racing down the stairs. “Is my carriage ready?”
“Yes, my lord.” Brooks handed him a piece of paper. “Here is the train schedule. You have three more trains leaving today.”
