Page 92 of The Rules of Matrimony
Perhaps his horse was not yet put away, and he could meet her at her destination. “To where?”
“To Oak End.”
He clutched the door handle. “To Oak End! When did she leave? And why aren’t you with her?”
Mrs. Tyler finally looked up from her sewing. “It’s been nigh to two hours. I am to stay here with you.”
“With me?”
She smiled. “That was Amie’s plan.”
Oh, joy. Was this her way of punishing him?
“She left a message with me for you.”
“Where is it?”
“Right here,” she said, tapping her head. “‘Dear Lord Grumpy.’ Now, I questioned the address, but she said it was an affectionate name you liked, and who was I to argue with a lover’s nickname?”
Embarrassment singed his ears, and he waved his hands. “Proceed, please.”
“If you insist. ‘Dear Lord Grumpy, good luck with your business. Do not miss me too much, because I do not hope to see you until you have sorted matters with your father.’”
“And?”
“That is all she said, I’m afraid.”
“Blast.” He raked a hand down his face.
“Pardon?”
“Excuse my language.” He backed away from the door. “The business she speaks of, it’s time sensitive. I’ll take my leave.” He rubbed his temples and stumbled into the corridor and toward his office. In the long hours of research on the Bloody Code, had helearned nothing? Not even the lesson to hold your dear ones close and do your best to live a good life?
He set his hands on his desk and leaned into them. Nothing blurred his vision, but his surroundings were mere shadows to his frenzied mind. The vote was tomorrow. If he left now to find Amie, he’d never make it. An entire nation depended on the outcome of the vote. Amie was just one person.
But she was also everything to him.
He groaned, wishing he could undo this morning and have a second chance to say all the right words. He thought of Edna and the fear in her eyes when she’d been caught thieving and then of all the people who would never have a second chance at life, let alone a chance to love. Could he abandon them?
A low rumble sounded in the distance.
Thunder.
His head jerked up.
Amie. He could still hear her quiet sobs in her closet on the night of that first storm they’d spent together.
Changing the world was his dream.
Loving Amie was something he’d never planned.
But there was no question now of what he had to do.
Chapter 44
The carriage slowed its progress,nearly to a standstill. At least two hours passed with little progress in the relentless wind and rain, with Amie gripping the bench with white knuckles. She was alone and desperate. This was worse than losing Papa. Despite the ache in her chest, she knew he was in a better place. She’d held to that hope—clung to it.
But where was the hope for her marriage? The longing she could not suppress would be her undoing. Her emotions were already on the precipice of strangling her, the tumult of the storm pushing her over the edge. Lightning struck, and she crumpled to the floor of the carriage. Curling into a ball, she covered her ears and hummed to herself through her tears, praying the sound of the rocks beneath the wheels would drown out the sky and the moaning of her soul. Nothing, though, could shut out the sudden onslaught of memories, born from her anxiety. These were not of Ian but of a dark day from many years ago, flooding over her with vengeance.
