La Flamme (Historical Romance) by Constance O'Banyon

like a lifeline and dropped her eyes, fearful that if she looked at him, she would surely cry again.
    "Thank you, Garreth."
    "Is there anything you need?"
    She shook her head. "No, nothing."
    "I regret that I must leave you now." He stood and brought her up beside him. "My mother sends her condolences."
    "Thank her grace for me."
    He took her hand and brushed his lips against it. She raised her head to him, wishing he would take her in his arms again. Like one in a daze, she moved closer to him, raising her head and parting her lips.
    Instantly Garreth lowered his head and touched his lips to her mouth as softly as gossamer wings. It was a gesture intended to give comfort, but without him even being aware of it, his hand moved to her silken hair and he held her while deepening the kiss.
    Inexplicable, disturbing feelings raced through his veins like molten lava. Suddenly he tore his mouth from hers and stared into her misty golden eyes. What had he done!
    Trying to gather his composure, and bring his thundering heart under control, he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Good-bye, Sabine," he said gruffly.
    Her heart was beating so loudly that she could not speak. Her first kiss had stolen her breath and sent the blood pounding in her body. Oh, how she wanted him to remain with her. "Good-bye, Garreth," she said softly.
    Sabine sat back down on the bench and lowered her head, unwilling to watch him walk away, but she heard the sound of his boot steps fade into the distance, and then there was only silence.
    In wonder, she touched her mouth that was still soft from his kiss. With tears in her eyes, she raised the rose and touched its velvety petals to her lips.
    Sabine thought it was strange, that on such a sad day, she had come to love her husband.

 
     
    7
     
    Sabine's mother had been dead for five weeks, and still her father was inconsolable. He'd shut himself in his study, taking his meals and sleeping there, refusing to see anyone.
    Sabine hardly recognized him as the man who had once been the strength of the family. On the rare occasions when he did venture forth from his seclusion, he was subdued, as if he'd lost direction.
    Sabine kept her promise to her mother and took over the complete care of Richard. On his fourth birthday, she threw off her grief to make the day special for him. If Richard was aware that his father did not attend the celebration, he did not mention it.
    Now, Sabine stood at her bedroom window gazing out at the crescent moon that strained through the ebony sky, lending only a pale light to the land and shrouding the village from her sight. On the eastern horizon, dark storm clouds gathered, making their presence known by the rumbling thunder and the lightening that split through the air like sword shafts.
    She wondered what Garreth was doing tonight. Did he ever think of her? He was constantly on her mind, and she often relived the moment of their first kiss.
    Thea bustled about, going to the small room that had once been Sabine's dressing closet but was now Richard's bedroom. She smiled at the sleeping boy before returning to Sabine.
    "It's late, Thea, why don't you go to bed," Sabine urged her.
    "I couldn't sleep. My bones ache, so it'll soon storm. It'll be raining in the hills now."
    Sabine realized she'd been clasping her hands so tightly that she had dug her nails into her palm. "I've been restless all day, Thea. I don't know how to explain it because I don't believe in premonitions. It's just that I feel something is wrong."
    "And why shouldn't you have feelings of doom? You have the running of Woodbridge and cannot go to his lordship for guidance. It’s too much to bear for one so young."
    "Oh, Thea, what will happen to Richard when I leave? Papa must realize that his son needs him now more than ever."
    "What Lord Richard needs is you, with no mother to love him."
    "Thea," Sabine said wearily, "I only hope—" Her voice trailed off when Richard started to whimper in his sleep. She