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It was one thing to learn of his heartless betrayal, quite another to see the woman who had claimed his heart and his protection, in the flesh

Thoughtfully pondering the raed onwards along the daring new path her life had taken

CHAPTER TWO

Two Months Later

Leicestershire

“We will have revenge,” Dole of recently dug earth before theht within his chest The earth had been dug only a feeeks before, yet weeds and grass had already nearly covered the soil “He will pay for what he has done” He shot his friend a darklylook

Raw pain lanced through hi at the led path around the si place Isobel Peter’s sister, and the woman Dominic wanted as his wife He adored her

Dorave, oblivious to the increasing wind and driving rain, and allowed hiether

Peter had introduced them several months earlier, when Dominic had finally been in a position to accept his friend’s invitation to visit Havingthe French on the horrific battlefields, Dominic had quickly found a friend in Peter, and had listened to his frequent reminiscences of Isobel’s exploits It had been an attempt by boththee he had built up of his stalwart friend’s intriguing sibling had te his dreams to such an extent that despite his battle-hardened cyniciser to land

Unfortunately, his visit to Willowbrook, her home, had been delayed by the demise of his uncle, who had bequeathed Do estates They had taken considerable time to resolve sufficiently to allow Dominic the time to take an extended visit to Oxfordshire In the intervening time since his return from the war, Dominic’s family had frequently hinted that they expected him to find himself a suitable wife and establish his nursery without delay

When he was eventually able to accept Peter’s invitation, he was stunned to discover Peter hadn’t done his sister any justice at all He hadn’t described her rosebud lips, the teasing glint in her periwinkle blue eyes, or the delicate curls in the luxurious mass of jet-black hair she usually tried, and failed, to keep confined in a bun at the nape of her slender neck Her gentle, somewhat eccentric nature and infinitesi wohtly wilful nature had intrigued rather than offended hily difficult to be parted froth of time

Thankfully, her brother Peter hadn’t been averse to Doh not outwardly encouraging a union, had ensured the couple had been allowed sufficient tiet to know each other Dominic had remained at Willowbrook with Peter and Isobel for several weeks, before the pressing need to return to his own estate in Melton had driven hi to him to discover how much of a wrench it was to leave her behind It had been even more of a shock to learn how entle huhten his day Once at Melton, he had held out for as long as possible before he had sought an excuse to make a return journey to see her

Over the course of several months, Dominic had visited Willowbrook, and Isobel nurown rather than diminished When the occasion didn’t warrant a visit to Willowbrook, Doht excuses to visit his uncle who resided a few miles away Luckily this put him in the same locale as Isobel, and et to know hi relationship, hopefully without the need for hi for her hand

If only he had known then what he kne He should have thrown hied for her ht her acceptance of his proposal before leaving her for Norfolk Instead of following the dictates of his ent, he should have waited even a couple of days and rushed through a hastyher within the safe confines of Havistock Hall under the protection of his staff If he had, she would most certainly be alive now, and would not have spent the last weeks of her life at the hands of her merciless, despot uncle

In a cruel twist of irony, the certain knowledge that if they had only been a feeeks earlier, she would have been alive, lay like a heavy weight in his heart She would not have been driven to run for her life, into the darkness of the night, to face God knohat