Page 60 of The Rake’s Convenient Bride

If only it could reach the back of his head where agony thundered in time with his heartbeat.

If only he wasn’t so damnably tired and had the energy to move. If only he’d managed to arrive at Spinster’s…cottage?

The world around him grayed out around the edges.

Of course his life would end like this, fading away as he finally found someone who loved him precisely for who he was. His only regret was not first seeing Elizabeth.

To tell her he loved her.

Elizabeth sat in the window seat of her bedchamber at Spinster’s Sanctuary, a book sitting in her lap like dead weight.

The exquisite manor contained a music room, an art room, and a well-appointed kitchen, should any of the women decide to try their hand at baking, as Amy had so often claimed to want to do. And, of course, a sprawling library, stacked with volumes of books.

There was no reason for Elizabeth’s ennui. Especially when she had only arrived within the last hour, yet an entire day seemed to have passed in that short time she’d been there.

Her sigh puffed a cloud of fog on the window. She had come here to escape her woes, to be free of the burden of her troubles, and they had followed her, like specters, haunting her every thought.

Rain lashed at the windows, streaking the glass with rivulets that ran together, drawing her attention from the forgotten volume of Sense and Sensibility in her lap as her mind spun and spun and spun.

Movement in the yard caught her attention. A horse, black as pitch, its saddle empty as it trotted about in the front lawn of the manor house.

She sat upright, peering through the rain-streaked glass to better see. Yes, there was indeed a horse on the lawn absent its rider.

Had someone come to call and their horse jolted off without them?

But who would possibly be by to call?

Frowning, Elizabeth set aside her book and called for Susan, the maid her parents had spared to accompany her to Spinster’s Sanctuary.

The young woman, a nervous, newly employed maid who had a tendency to wring her fingers together and chatter on about her younger sister who she doted on, appeared immediately.

“Am I mad, or is there a riderless horse outside?” Elizabeth indicated the window.

“Mercy me.” Susan put a hand to her chest. “I’ll notify the butler immediately.”

Elizabeth ran after her, desperate for a distraction from the prison of her mind and that endless churning of her thoughts. The butler immediately summoned a footman who ran out into the driving rain while the stable master was called.

Despite the awful weather, Elizabeth followed the footman outside and waited on the porch as he approached the black stallion. Even from a distance, Elizabeth could tell it was a fine animal, the muscles strong beneath the glossy, wet coat. This was a gentleman’s horse to be sure.

But what gentleman would be out in this area when the London season was on?

Her heart caught, especially as she recalled having been told of a certain horse who was beautiful and powerful and all black.

No. She would not allow herself to accept that the rider might be Jasper. While their engagement had not yet been formally called off, it was as good as done. They had said their piece, and there was nothing for it.

He would not have come to her.

And yet…

A breath caught in her throat as the horse continued to dart away from the footman, rushing toward the gate leading to the main road. As if trying to encourage the man to follow him.

“I think he wants you to follow,” Elizabeth called, her breath forming little clouds in the damp, icy air.

The man could not hear and jogged closer to Elizabeth. “I beg your pardon, my lady?”

The horse immediately followed the footman as though trying to reclaim the man’s attention.

“He wants you to follow,” Elizabeth tried again.