How to Turn a Frog into a Prince - Bree Wolf Page 0,101
and to Markham Hall.”
Abigail returned her smile, her gaze briefly darting to Nathanial. “Thank you so much for inviting me here.” Her bright blue eyes shone with honest emotions and her lips curled up into a warm smile as she took a step toward Charlaine. “Nathanial has told me all about you, what a dear friend you have been for him, and I’m most grateful for what you’ve done for him and are willing to do for me.” A long sigh, liberating and deeply felt, left Abigail’s lips. “I never knew people like you could truly exist, so good and selfless, so giving and kind.” She grasped Charlaine’s hand. “Please, if there is ever anything I can do for you, do tell me.”
Charlaine stared at the other woman, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat for the warmth in Abigail’s gaze caught her off guard. There was nothing pretentious or false lurking behind those wide, blue eyes, and the joy that shone on the other woman’s face looked sincere.
Utterly and truly sincere.
Deep down, Charlaine had expected to meet someone cold and calculated. Someone who had accepted Nathanial’s proposal and then broken his heart on a whim. Someone who was first and foremost concerned with her own desires and wishes. Someone who did not care for others in a deep and meaningful way.
Abigail, however, was not such a person, Charlaine had to admit to her utter dismay. The young woman had made a mistake, yes, but she had not done so out of malice. She had acted hastily out of fear, but had come to regret her actions and now sought to make amends.
Now, Charlaine understood how Nathanial could have forgiven her so easily for she, too, could not bring herself to look at Abigail with hatred in her heart. Indeed, it was worse than Charlaine had expected for if it were not for Nathanial, Abigail could have become a dear friend.
Overwhelmed, Charlaine stammered a reply, then turned to Nathanial. “Why don’t you show her inside? I shall…I shall follow shortly.”
A quick frown danced across Nathanial’s forehead and his gaze narrowed as he looked at her, no doubt noting that something was wrong, that she was overcome by a most powerful emotion. Fortunately, he did not press her for an explanation, but merely nodded his head to her before offering Abigail his arm.
As Nathanial escorted Abigail inside, Charlaine remained behind, staring after them. Her heart ached with such misery that she felt her knees begin to tremble, all strength leaving her body as the reality of her situation flooded her being.
Nathanial was lost to her. Truly and utterly lost for it would only be a matter of time before Abigail would reclaim his heart.
“Are you all right?”
Flinching at the voice beside her, Charlaine spun around and almost lost her balance, her eyes going wide as she found herself staring at Lord Ashhaven, who had all but materialized out of thin air. “My lord?” Charlaine panted, her heart hammering in her chest. “Where did you come from?”
His dark gaze narrowed ever so slightly, the expression upon his face betraying no clear emotion. Still, there was something deeply stirring in the way he seemed to observe every small twitch and quiver in her expression and posture.
Blinking, Charlaine noted his travel-worn clothes and dusty boots before her gaze moved sideways to where one of the stable boys, Henry, was leading Lord Ashhaven’s panting mount toward the stables. Indeed, she had not even heard his approach.
“Are you all right?” he asked yet again as his gaze swept over her before it moved beyond her shoulder to where Nathanial and Abigail had disappeared. Was there concern lurking somewhere beneath that calm exterior of his? Charlaine could not tell.
“Are you here to see Pierce?” she asked instead of answering his question for she did not know how.
Lord Ashhaven inhaled a slow breath, his gaze lingering on her face a moment longer. Then he nodded. “I am. We have…urgent matters to discuss.” For a split second, a hint of anger sparked in his gaze, but vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Charlaine recalled the events of the night Caroline and Pierce had gotten engaged. While Lord Ashhaven had arrested Lord Coleridge for the murder of Daphne’s parents, others had merely been implicated. From what Pierce had said, Charlaine knew that Lord Ashhaven had continued his investigations.
He made to enter the house, but then paused. “Will you be all right?”