‘As you will, then.’
Regina breathed in the fresh air, letting it lift away her melancholy. The air was growing cooler, and she was glad she had worn a pelisse with her gown. The dog was barking, straining at the lead, and she tried to keep her grip firm but gentle.
She slowed her pace while the puppy sniffed at the ground, and a sudden sadness washed over her with the realisation that she truly couldn’t return to London any more.
But her mother would never live anywhere else...and Ned was sick. When her father eventually died, Regina couldn’t imagine Arabella coming to live here. It made her wonder if she would ever see them again.
In the distance, she saw Lord Cairnross standing outside his house. His pallor was grey, and there was a solemnity to his demeanour. The housekeeper was speaking to him, but he waved her off. Regina wondered if this was not a good day, after all.
‘Good morning, Lord Cairnross,’ she said when she reached his side. ‘How are you feeling today?’
His stare was vacant, but he did perk up when Arthur jumped up, resting his paws on the earl’s knees.
‘I’ll stay with him,’ she told Mrs Howard.
The housekeeper nodded. ‘I’ll put on tea and biscuits, then.’
Regina waited to see if the earl would speak, and when he did not, she enquired, ‘Would you like to go for a walk with Arthur and me?’
Again, he said nothing. The only sign that he heard anything was when he reached down to pet the dog’s head. Something had pulled him deep into memory, and Regina decided to confide in him.
‘Dalton has gone to London, to bring back my father. He left after we received some troubling news.’ She felt a slight chill and said, ‘If you still have your ship, I wouldn’t mind it if you sailed me to an island somewhere. As long as you bring Dalton along.’
It still pained her to remember the way he had looked at her when he’d learned that she had killed Mallencourt. As if she were some horrifying creature. A dark pain caught her with the fear that he wouldn’t want her any more.
Don’t think in that way, she warned herself. Find a way to win him back.
‘My sailing days are over, I fear, lassie,’ Lord Cairnross said.
‘Why do you say that?’ She studied his face carefully, and there did seem to be lucidity in his eyes.
‘I am weary. I miss my wife. I’m an old man, not good for much of anything any more. And some days, what is left of my mind goes wandering.’
‘I met you on one of those days, and I liked you very much,’ Regina said. ‘Come and walk with me. Tell me about Dalton when he was younger. How did he and Brandon get on?’ She touched his arm gently, and at last, he offered it. With the lead in one hand and her other hand resting on the crook of his arm, they began a slow walk.
‘Brandon was the perfect son; Dalton was the very devil. I liked them both, but my daughter much preferred her angel. Her heart broke when Brandon died, and it turned her husband against Dalton, too.
‘The truth was, Ailsa was much more like Dalton than she wanted to admit. She was every bit as wild as he was. Sometimes she behaved like a lady, and she certainly knew all the etiquette and deportment—enough to marry an English earl. But she and Dalton were too alike. Both headstrong and stubborn.’
‘After Brandon died, what happened to Dalton?’
‘He tried to fill his brother’s shoes. Tried to be the good son. But his parents grieved so hard, they couldn’t bear to see him. He had to teach himself what he needed to know. And I was here, so I wasn’t able to help him. I didn’t know how bad it was until he told me, years later.’
She kept her arm in his, noticing how his physical strength seemed to improve as they spoke. His mood was lifting, and she was glad to help him.
‘I am in need of your help, Lord Cairnross. Unfortunately, my husband and I had a...a disagreement, and I want to know how to win him back. I hurt his pride, and I don’t know how to gain his forgiveness.’
The earl seemed to think it over. ‘Dalton is a proud one, aye. But he admires strength of will. Tell him you’re sorry and spend the night in his bed, and all will be well, lass.’
Her cheeks burned at his frank admission, but she supposed there was something to be said for actions speaking louder than words. ‘If he comes home, I will do that indeed.’
‘If he comes home,’ the earl scoffed. ‘Ha. Go and fetch him yourself, lass.’
Regina smiled and bid him farewell. Her spirits were already lifted after visiting with Lord Cairnross, and as she walked with the dog, she spied a coach drawing near to the house. Was it Dalton and her father?
She hurried closer, clutching at her skirts as she approached. But instead of stopping near the doors, the coach continued towards her.
Arthur began barking and straining at the lead, but she held him back, suddenly suspicious.
When the coach drew to a stop, the driver called out, ‘Lady Regina?’
‘Lady Camford,’ she corrected, even though it wasn’t true.
At that, the door to the coach swung open, and a stocky man stepped out. ‘Your husband bid me to come and bring you to him.’
Regina took a step backwards. No, he did not, were the words that came to her lips. Instead, she replied, ‘Why?’
At her question, the man appeared irritated. ‘If a husband bids his wife to come, she should not be asking why.’
‘If a strange man bids me to get into a coach, I have every reason to be asking why.’ She took several steps back. Arthur barked furiously at the man, and she dropped the lead,
