by Freda, Paula
"I’m not ill, and what’s keeping me from you—" How easy to tell him, but then would follow the disbelief, the contempt. "I can’t... not yet. But, William, I do love you. And I will join you anytime you ask my cousin to contact me. This is all I can tell you."
The ferry bell rang and the captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker informing that they were approaching the mainland. "We best gather our belongings," Elizabeth said. She turned and hurried away, leaving Lord Hayden downtrodden and more confused than ever.
Mrs. Chola welcomed them back and during the next few days listened with pride to Lord Hayden’s account of how her nephew Ronne became Tangata Manu and rescued the people of Easter Island from the talons of a madman. Elizabeth, too, listened, noting with admiration how Lord Hayden omitted most of his part in the venture. She spoke to Mrs. Chola privately, and completed the tale. Without Lord Hayden’s intervention, neither she, nor Ronne, would have survived. She was as certain of this as the unhappy fact that the time had come for her to resume her role as the dowdy Professor Elizabeth Eldridge.
That evening, biting back the desire to stay one more day as Grace Quinlan, the woman Lord Hayden professed to love and wished so ardently to marry, prepared a short goodbye note to Mrs. Chola, thanking her for all her kind hospitality. Her note to Lord Hayden was also brief. Once more she promised to join him in future expeditions, if he wished it, and signed the note, "With all my love, always, Grace." When everyone had retired, she dialed first for a plane reservation, and next for a taxi to pick her up at the entrance gate to Mrs. Chola’s estate. She cautioned the dispatcher to tell the driver not to sound the horn. Finally, carrying only a small valise with her most basic needs, she padded silently down the stairs, placed the two notes on a lowboy near the door, and quietly left the house.
The Romance and Adventures of Grace Quinlan and Lord William Hayden continue in:
Volume 5 - Conclusion
Love and Adventure in the African Jungle
(Golden Sofala)
All five volumes are contained in the full length novel,
In Another Life
(from the Journals of Grace Quinlan and Lord William Hayden)
Other novels, novellas, short stories and articles
by Paula Freda
E-BOOKS
The Blue Jay and the Sparrow
Driscoll's Lady
Henderson Sands
Adventure in Panama
The Heart Calleth
The Sketchbook (novella)
Inspirational Stories - Set I
Inspirational Stories - Set 2
Inspirational Stories - Set 3
Blonde Angel
The Ugliness Without
The Lord's Canine
Is There More To Life
Than What The Realists Claim
(with a special bonus)
The Giftless Christmas
The Camellia Lady / My
Three Fathers
Cathy and the Dolphin
A Valentine Bouquet
Stardust
(Old Woman in the Park )
A Cup of Humanity
Shannon and the Angel
(A Mortal Man)
Welcome Home, Amy
The Scent of Camellias
The Intangible
The Lonely Heart
A Ghost of a Story
The Gently Cursed
The Offering
The Good People
The Novices Guide
To the Art of Writing
Blossoms in the Snow (2011)
PAPERBACK EDITIONS
Time Encapsulated
(Poetry of the Soul)
Romantic Short Stories
Science Fiction and Fantasy
Short Stories
Inspirational Short Stories
The Complete Collection...
Sets 1, 2, & new Set 3
The Novices Guide
To the Art of Writing
In Another Life
(from the Journals
of Grace Quinlan and
Lord William Hayden)
Roses in the Dark
Heartsongs
Blossoms in the Snow (2011)
Paula Freda's websites
http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/dpfenterprises.com
http://www.thepinkchameleon.com
VIEW A VIDEO TRAILER OF MY BOOKS
AT MY WEBSITE