going after Reanna.
Her father would come out of exile soon enough, and when he did, Killian would be ready.
{ Chapter 5 }
It took two long days to travel to Holloton. Two days that were a blur to Reanna. A silent, tear-sodden blur.
Had it not been for Miss Melby, the lady’s maid her aunt had hired for her that had agreed to stay on with Reanna after the wedding, Reanna would not have eaten or moved from the carriage the entire journey.
What did break through into Reanna’s consciousness was the moment they pulled through the heavy iron gates marking the entrance to Holloton. Miss Melby drew back the curtains, and they were greeted with the sight of blackened skies and a torrential downpour. It was thick enough that Reanna vaguely wondered how the coachman could find his way up the drive. But fitting that the weather at her arrival reflected her very soul.
Escorted into the large foyer under an umbrella, Reanna did not look up at her surroundings. The house steward, Ruperton, and the head butler, Evans, introduced themselves with proper, but eager decorum, for as they explained, the marquess hadn’t been to Holloton in years. Even if they weren’t to see his lordship, they were delighted to have the marchioness in residence. Reanna barely heard a word they said, and quickly asked to be shown to her new rooms.
The chambers she entered were pleasant, if not stale from lack of use, and the fleeting question of who was the last to use these rooms crossed her mind. But the draw of the peach silk-canopied bed became her mind’s one objective, and she crossed to it, collapsing, weary and beaten.
“Come now, my lady. My heart breaks time and again seeing you so distraught. I have not a way to ease your pain, but me mum would have told me that now that we be here, we best to make the most of it.” Miss Melby went over to one of the trunks just brought in, and flung it open, busying herself with unpacking her mistress’s items. She sighed as she began shaking dresses out. “It just won’t do, these constant tears. I worry for your health.”
No reply came from Reanna, save the silent weeping that had begun again.
“Everything will be all right in the end—you wait and see, my lady. His lordship will come to his senses and demand to have you back by his side in no time at all.”
Reanna’s head lifted from the now wet peach coverlet. “You…you don’t know that. Everything will not be all right. You do not know what he said to me. You did not see how he looked. How he hated me. How he just wanted me to leave his sight.”
“But his lordship, he loves you, anyone with two eyes could see—”
“Stop it!” Reanna sat up on the bed. “You do not know. You do not know a thing. Nothing is all right. And nothing you can say can make it any better. I have done something terrible, and I do not even know what it is. He hates me, and things are not going to get better. Do you not see that?”
Miss Melby stepped back, head down. “I am sorry, my lady. I spoke out of turn.” Her head tilted up slightly, eyeing her mistress. “But you are a beautiful woman, my lady, and I may be simple, but I wish more for you. I wish for you to find a way to make the marriage with his lordship work. I saw how happy you were. How you glowed. I wish for you to be happy again.”
Sarcasm bit heavily into Reanna’s words. “And just what do you suggest I do?”
“I am not sure, my lady.” Miss Melby’s eyes flew around the room. “There, maybe there. There looks to be a sizable stack of stationary on that desk.”
She pointed across the room to a desk carefully positioned under one of the four large windows in the room. A tall stack of writing paper sat neatly in the corner atop the delicate rosewood desk. “Maybe you could start a correspondence with his lordship. Maybe that would help?”
Reanna eyed the desk from the bed. She looked at it, wary, as though it meant crossing a desert to reach the desk. She glanced back
Her father would come out of exile soon enough, and when he did, Killian would be ready.
{ Chapter 5 }
It took two long days to travel to Holloton. Two days that were a blur to Reanna. A silent, tear-sodden blur.
Had it not been for Miss Melby, the lady’s maid her aunt had hired for her that had agreed to stay on with Reanna after the wedding, Reanna would not have eaten or moved from the carriage the entire journey.
What did break through into Reanna’s consciousness was the moment they pulled through the heavy iron gates marking the entrance to Holloton. Miss Melby drew back the curtains, and they were greeted with the sight of blackened skies and a torrential downpour. It was thick enough that Reanna vaguely wondered how the coachman could find his way up the drive. But fitting that the weather at her arrival reflected her very soul.
Escorted into the large foyer under an umbrella, Reanna did not look up at her surroundings. The house steward, Ruperton, and the head butler, Evans, introduced themselves with proper, but eager decorum, for as they explained, the marquess hadn’t been to Holloton in years. Even if they weren’t to see his lordship, they were delighted to have the marchioness in residence. Reanna barely heard a word they said, and quickly asked to be shown to her new rooms.
The chambers she entered were pleasant, if not stale from lack of use, and the fleeting question of who was the last to use these rooms crossed her mind. But the draw of the peach silk-canopied bed became her mind’s one objective, and she crossed to it, collapsing, weary and beaten.
“Come now, my lady. My heart breaks time and again seeing you so distraught. I have not a way to ease your pain, but me mum would have told me that now that we be here, we best to make the most of it.” Miss Melby went over to one of the trunks just brought in, and flung it open, busying herself with unpacking her mistress’s items. She sighed as she began shaking dresses out. “It just won’t do, these constant tears. I worry for your health.”
No reply came from Reanna, save the silent weeping that had begun again.
“Everything will be all right in the end—you wait and see, my lady. His lordship will come to his senses and demand to have you back by his side in no time at all.”
Reanna’s head lifted from the now wet peach coverlet. “You…you don’t know that. Everything will not be all right. You do not know what he said to me. You did not see how he looked. How he hated me. How he just wanted me to leave his sight.”
“But his lordship, he loves you, anyone with two eyes could see—”
“Stop it!” Reanna sat up on the bed. “You do not know. You do not know a thing. Nothing is all right. And nothing you can say can make it any better. I have done something terrible, and I do not even know what it is. He hates me, and things are not going to get better. Do you not see that?”
Miss Melby stepped back, head down. “I am sorry, my lady. I spoke out of turn.” Her head tilted up slightly, eyeing her mistress. “But you are a beautiful woman, my lady, and I may be simple, but I wish more for you. I wish for you to find a way to make the marriage with his lordship work. I saw how happy you were. How you glowed. I wish for you to be happy again.”
Sarcasm bit heavily into Reanna’s words. “And just what do you suggest I do?”
“I am not sure, my lady.” Miss Melby’s eyes flew around the room. “There, maybe there. There looks to be a sizable stack of stationary on that desk.”
She pointed across the room to a desk carefully positioned under one of the four large windows in the room. A tall stack of writing paper sat neatly in the corner atop the delicate rosewood desk. “Maybe you could start a correspondence with his lordship. Maybe that would help?”
Reanna eyed the desk from the bed. She looked at it, wary, as though it meant crossing a desert to reach the desk. She glanced back
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