Page 79 of Once Upon a Reckless Rogue

“Yes. She wrote to me, but it was peculiar. She said my mother and sister just turned up and were scared to death and said they would not return. She urges me to go there so they can see I am alive. She believes this is the only way they will return home.”

Elena looked away from him for a moment, then back at him, and nodded. “When do you leave?”

“At the end of the week. Kingsley is trying to find out if any of the staff speak French. I thought it might be easier for you.”

“They look at me like I am from another world when I try to speak English. Then they talk back at me so fast I cannot grasp all their words. I fear I am failing at learning it.”

“You are doing very well. I admit that we have a lot of different accents, which makes it even more difficult, but you will master it. You know why? Because you are a smart woman.”

“I do not feel it,” she said, looking out at the river again.

“I need to do this. I will try and return as quickly as I can.” Thomas watched her.

She sighed loudly and turned to him. “All right.”

“I’m sorry. I would not leave you unless it was important.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“I know. I will not sleep until you are back; you know this.”

Thomas turned her to face him and saw that she had tears in her eyes. “I do not want you to get sick over this. This is my worry. Let me carry it.”

“Your worry is mine also. I am your wife.”

He could not argue with that. It would be the same if it were reversed. “I will always return to you.”

“Promesa?” she said, then corrected herself. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He hugged her to him and could feel her small frame shaking. He hated that he was leaving her, but what choice did he have?

*

Elena had wanted to tell Tomas of her suspicion of being with child, but now it did not feel like the right time. He had a heavy burden to carry already. He had looked so haunted, so full of apprehension. She hated that there were shadows in the beautiful depths of his blue eyes. She hated that his homecoming had been more nightmare than celebration. She hated that she did not know how to speak her mind here. Now she would not even have him to translate the simplest thing. And he would be gone for weeks, she suspected. She had never missed Spain as much as now.

The house seemed to work around her, and she doubted whether she was even needed here. Hence, she spent her days in the garden.

“Elena!”

She turned and looked over her shoulder to find Tomas standing there. “Are you leaving already?”

“No. I will go in the morning. I wanted to tell you that I have found someone who speaks French. He will help you. His name is Davis.”

“That is good,” she said, but she could not muster any enthusiasm.

He crouched down next to her. “If there was any other way to do this, you know I would.”

She sat back on her heels. “I understand, I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I don’t like it either, but I cannot leave my mother and sister there scared out of their wits for God knows what reason.”

“I would not like my family to be frightened, and they are my family now.”

“Come inside now. Let’s have dinner, then a bath and lie in bed all night together.”

Elena nodded, but all through dinner she thought about telling him about the baby, but he was already struggling to go, and she did not want to add to his burden, so she kept it to herself. There would be time to tell him when he returned.

*

Thomas lay on the bed and watched as his beautiful wife soaked in the big copper tub in front of the fire. It reminded him of when he had watched her bathe at Carlos’s inn. She had been happy then. Now, she seemed to be distancing herself more and more. Spending all her time in the garden, where no one asked her questions in a language she hardly knew. He knew she felt out of place, and this was not how he had pictured their first few weeks here.