Page 52 of Never Leave Me
“Why does your mother still live at Reider Castle?” One day had been long enough for Ellen to get a taste of the tension and terror of living with Lord Worth. She could only imagine how stressful it was year after year.
Nicholas didn’t respond to her question. But the frustration that radiated from him spoke his answer well enough. He wasn’t happy about the living situation for his mother but was apparently helpless to change it.
He urged the horse up the steep riverbank, slowing as a white-tailed deer bounded away. He guided the horse past craggy boulders until they reached an open area where the moorland spread out rugged and rounded with hill after hill. The wildness of it was so unlike anything she’d seen in the countryside of modern England.
The sky had grown decidedly lighter although the cloud cover prevented spring sunshine from warming her. Away from the protective enclosure of forests and riverbanks, a chilly breeze tugged at her skirt and cloak.
Nicholas directed the horse along a deserted dirt path and nodded to the vast countryside. “Someday I shall have land and a home of my own. Then I shall bring my mother to reside with me.” His voice contained a quiet desperation.
“How much longer will you have to wait?”
“Until the king rewards me for my good deeds, or until I make an advantageous match.”
“And which do you think will come first?”
As the horse stepped into a puddle, Nicholas’s body connected with hers. He steadied her with a hand on her waist, and his touch brought back memories of Harrison’s hold when they’d been in Saint Lucia, when his fingers had caressed her, sliding over her as though he couldn’t get enough of her. Keen longing for him welled up within her. What was he doing today? At this very moment?
Nicholas released her. “I would that the king recognize my unfailing service to him. Then I need not worry about making a match.”
“I can tell you’re a good and kind man. Surely you have women eager to marry you.”
He stiffened. “I have loved once, and that is enough for me.”
To pry further would only open wounds that apparently had yet to heal. Instead, she gently squeezed his hand upon the reins and remained quiet.
After another moment of silence, he nodded ahead. “We are almost there.”
In the distance through the trees, a familiar stately manor came into view. A thrill wound through her. Chesterfield Park in 1382 was smaller than Harrison’s home in the present, but the main three-story structure was much the same, just as regal and imposing. Some of the windows contained glazed glass; others were shuttered. The high tower on the east end was exactly where it was when she’d gone up to watch the sunrise with Harrison.
The outer stone wall surrounding the estate was larger, and the parapets and crenellations along the wall looked as though they could be used to defend against attack. The central entrance consisted of a black iron gate that opened to a gravel path leading to the house before winding off to stables and various outbuildings.Servants scampered about the premises, carrying food from the storerooms to the kitchen, hauling firewood, and drawing water from a well into brass pots.
She smiled. “Even though it is different, I would recognize it anywhere.”
“Then you have visited before?”
“Not here, not like this.”
He slowed the horse as they approached the front gate. “With your unusual accent and your sister coming from the Low Countries, I assume you likewise came from thence.”
Low Countries? Was that a medieval term for the Netherlands? Or Belgium? “I must sound strange to you.”
“I do admit, I am confused.”
“I’m sorry.” She couldn’t keep from laughing lightly, her relief at seeing Chesterfield making her almost giddy. “My being here is a really long story. And it’s a story you won’t believe even if I did tell it to you.” She could still hardly believe it herself.
“I have heard some details, namely that you were attacked and abandoned.”
“I had a difficult journey here.” It was the truth, even if it was incomplete. “And now I’m astounded that I’m really going to see my sister. I thought she was dead, that I’d never get to talk with her again. And look, here I am.” Her blood thrummed with growing excitement. “Thank you, Nicholas.”
“I’m happy to help, lady.”
He reined in a dozen paces from the gate as several armed men showed themselves along the perimeter. “Open the gate and let us in. I bring Lady Ellen, the sister of Lady Marian.”
“We got no word of Lady Marian having family a-comin’.” The young guard standing by the gate glowered at them through the iron grill. “The master’s gone after the physician and doesn’t want anyone disturbing the lady while she’s in labor.”
Labor? That meant Marianhadbeen pregnant in the vision. Was she due already? If so, Ellen needed to get to her right away.
Ellen’s pulse picked up pace. “I’m a midwife.” While she wasn’t certified as such, she’d delivered enough babies in Haiti that surely she qualified.
