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Without uttering another word, he was gone

She fumbled with the , sat back in the seat and exhaled Tristan would need a hot bath to warm his cold bones, a tonic to keep a chill off his chest Please God, she hoped he did not come doith a fever She could not have another man’s death on her conscience

But Tristan was not just any other man

Despite all that had happened, she could not lose hier in it would be the end of her

The carriage lurched forward The coache the spiritless horses to push through the storm They rattled on for ten , before each revolution of the carriage wheels seemed to take a tremendous effort

They stopped Jerked forward Stopped again

Her world tipped to the left, her sense of balance thrown off kilter by what she suspected was a wheel stuck in the mud

Dawes climbed down from his perch and rapped on the“We’re stuck, h the pane

Isabella opened the door ajar “Is it the wheel? Can you not free it?”

Dawes shook his head “Not on my own, my lady I need to fetch help”

“How long will it take?” Being a gentlee before entering her home She could only hope he would take shelter in the stables

“I can’t leave you here, ust of wind ales “I can free one of the horses from its harness, but there’s no saddle”

The sound of a horse’s hooves squelching in theand coht of old Dawes stepped back

“You’ll need to coripped the reins with one hand and held the other hand out to her “Do you have a cloak?”

“Yes Give me a moment” Isabella unfol