As she fell into a peaceful sleep, her thoughts dwelt on the dark wooded road somewhere in the country, on the passion in Christopher’s eyes, and the feel of his lips on hers.
The next morning, Christoper came as promised, but as opposed to sitting with her in the drawing room, he went in to her father. Coralyn had no doubt in Christopher’s worth and suitability as a husband, and so did not worry during the time he spent with Father.
They quit the study together a short time later, as Coralyn came down from the library. They descended the stairs together, but when they reached the bottom, Father sent Christopher ahead to the drawing room.
Once he had gone in, Father turned to her. “Forgive me for being hesitant, but this is the second man who has asked for your hand in the last few days. And I want you to make this decision for yourself.”
Coralyn’s heart swelled, both at his thoughtfulness and from the love she carried there for Christopher. “He is a good man, Father. One of the best I know.”
He nodded. “I remember him being a good young man, and his father was as fine as they come. But I do not want you to promise yourself to him for convenience’s sake. He cares for you, to be certain. But I cannot help but suspect that he offered his hand in order to protect you.”
Coralyn’s heart faltered. Would Christopher do that? He had promised to protect her, but would he go to such lengths? Coralyn pushed down the doubt that began to swell within her and met her father’s gaze. “I love him, Father. I would not wish to be with anyone but him.”
Father smiled. “I am glad to hear it, and I fully consent to the union.”
She reached up and kissed his cheek, her heart now in conflict. “Thank you, Father.”
They went to the drawing room to join Christopher. Mother came in a short time thereafter and though Christopher did stay long, Coralyn had to share his company with her mother, who never once left the room. She peppered him with questions throughout the day, clearly enjoying the opportunity to become better acquainted with her future son-in-law.
Christopher handled her questions with grace and ease. However, Coralyn found Mother’s interrogation tremendously annoying, especially as she wished to speak to Christopher alone about her father’s concerns, which, the more she thought on it, were becoming her own concerns.
Later in the afternoon, Mother asked, “How long do you remain in London, Lord Eversley?”
“Not long, actually. I plan to return to Roselund Heights tomorrow.”
“What a shame! We are to host dinner on Friday. I would have loved to have you in attendance.”
Christopher smiled at her. “Another time, Lady Celia, and I would not miss it.”
Mother smiled and Coralyn knew she was already planning the event.
Coralyn looked up from her book. “I think I will return to Roselund tomorrow, as well.”
Mother turned to her, surprised. “But you have just come back.”
“Yes, but my visit was cut short. Aunt Agnes expected me to stay through Twelfth Night.”
Mother returned to her embroidery. “She will survive the disappointment. I would like to begin on wedding plans.”
“The wedding will not be for a time. We will have plenty of opportunities in the new year.” She lowered her gaze to her book. “Besides, what is there for me in London if Lord Eversley is in Roselund?”
She saw her mother glance at Christopher, then at Coralyn. “I suppose you are right. You may go back.”
Coralyn smiled to herself as she kept her gaze on her book. “Thank you, Mother.”
The conversation on the way to Roselund was limited as well, as Coralyn’s maid rode with her and Christopher. Aunt Agnes met them on the stairs, just as she had on Coralyn’ first day there, and embraced her. “Oh, my dear niece. What you have been through!”
Coralyn had written to her with the events that had transpired, but had not informed them of her engagement to Christopher. She had not yet had an opportunity to speak to him alone.
Aunt Agnes held her at arm’s length and clicked her tongue. “And you are pale and look tired.”
Coralyn shook her head. “Why must you only comment on my appearance when I’ve been traveling? It is not very flattering.”
Aunt Agnes chuckled. “Perhaps you are right. But look, Christopher does not look so pale as you, nor as weary. To be sure,” she looked at him closer, “he looks remarkably pleased about something.”
“I am glad to be back at Lynwood.”
Aunt Agnes looked at him as if she did not fully believe him, but turned to Coralyn instead. “Dinner will be ready in a short time. Why don’t you rest until then? You’ll be better company if you are not so tired.”
“If you wish it, Aunt.”
Her aunt leaned close. “I believe there are still some Christmas cakes in the kitchen. I’ll make certain one is brought to your room.”
Coralyn had to smile at that. “Thank you. You always know what will cheer me.”
When Coralyn came down to the drawing room a short time later, she was immediately embraced by Lady Eversley. “Oh, my sweet girl. Christopher has just told me the news!” Her eyes glistened as she smiled at her. “I am so happy!”
The others in the room watched the two women before each looking at Christopher.
“I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you all. Miss Fairchild has agreed to marry me.”
Cries of excitement went up in the room. The men all went to Christopher and offered their congratulations, while the women gathered around Coralyn, wanting the details.
The butler came through the door then and announced dinner, sending up a chorus of moans from the women.
“Do not be dismayed,” Alice said. “I am certain Coralyn will tell us all we wish to know over dinner.”
Christopher took Coralyn’s arm to escort her to the dining room. “Perhaps I ought to have considered a better time to tell them all.”
Coralyn looked at him with mock severity. “You were quite thoughtless.”
“Forgive me, my dear.”
The term of endearment brought a smile to her face and warmth to her heart.
The rest of the evening was spent telling and retelling the events that had unfolded in the past few days. Coralyn accepted the warm wishes for their future happiness with some apprehension. She was certain of her feelings for Christopher, but her father’s concerns had begun her own. Would he offer himself as a means of protecting her? And if given the opportunity to withdraw his hand, would he take it? Coralyn was unsure, but she would not force a man into marrying her, just as she did not want to be forced into marriage either.
The next morning, Alice and Dinah entreated Coralyn to accompany them into Roselund to take advantage of the shops. Coralyn was surprised but pleased when Christopher offered to go with them. The morning was lovely and the town had been dressed up with Christmas decorations.
When the girls had had their fill of shopping, they piled their purchases into the carriage and bid the town farewell. As the carriage turned down the wooded lane to Lynwood, Christopher rapped on the ceiling. The carriage began to slow. The women all looked at him with a measure of confusion. But he only spoke to Coralyn. “Would you walk the remaining way with me?”
At last! A moment alone.
Coralyn nodded. “Of course.”
Christopher opened the door as soon as the carriage stopped and hopped down before extending his hand to Coralyn. He helped her carefully to the ground, laced her hand through his arm, and motioned for the driver to continue on. When the carriage pulled away, they walked down the lane.
“It is a beautiful day, is it not?” he asked.
“It is quite lovely.” Now that she was faced with the moment, she wondered how she might bring up the difficult topic before her.
“I am sorry if you were surprised by my request, but we’ve not had a private moment since we were in London. When I realized the opportunity before me, I took it.”
“I am glad you di
d,” she said with a smile.
When they came to the path to the clearing, he turned them toward it, but said nothing.
Drawing a deep breath, Coralyn began. “I have not had an opportunity to thank you for all you did for me in London.”
“I promised I would protect you. I intend to keep that promise forever.”
She smiled at him, while her heart begged her not to go on. “You are a perfect gentleman, the best I have ever known. But I do not want you to throw away your chances for happiness because of a promise you made to me.”
They had reached the clearing and he stopped and looked down on her, a frown in his eyes. “I am not certain what you are saying.”
Coralyn faltered. “I only mean…” She stared at his cravat. It had to be said. “I do not want you to marry me because of your promise.”
“Do you think so little of me?”
She could hear the hurt in his voice and it tore her heart.
“Not at all! I think that much of you. You are the kind of man who would sacrifice his own happiness to fulfill a promise to a friend.”
He lifted her face so she would meet his gaze. His hazel eyes shone. “You believe I am sacrificing my happiness by marrying you?”
“I… I worried that, yes.”
He brushed her curls from her face. “Have you already forgotten my reaction to finding you on the road to London? How do you explain that?”
Coralyn suddenly felt foolish. “You were overcome by relief.”
“Yes, I was.” There was such sincerity in his eyes that Coralyn did not doubt a word he spoke. “I was overcome with relief that I found you before Seton did. I dared not imagine what he might have done to you. But more than that, I was overcome by my love for you.”
Coralyn’s breath caught in her throat.
“I was so overcome because you are my happiness, Coralyn. You bring out a part of me I thought could not exist any longer, a piece of me I believed had died with my father. I told you that night in London that I wanted you, and I do. But I do not only want you; I need you. Without you I cannot be the man I truly want to be.”
Tears ran down her cheeks and Christopher brushed them away. He chuckled. “You have a way of changing all my most carefully laid-out plans.”
“I do?”
“Yes. What I said at your parents’ house was certainly true, but it was also the least romantic way to ask a woman to be one’s wife.” He shook his head. “I had planned to bring you here,” he stepped back and motioned to the clearing, “and ask you properly.” His lips quirked up on one side. “I had the perfect words planned out to say.”
Coralyn shook her head. “You’ve already said the most perfect words.”
He stepped toward her again. “Then I suppose all that remains is to tell you again that I love you, and ask you if you will honor me with the privilege of protecting you the rest of my days. Will you make me the happiest of men and be my wife?”
Coralyn’s heart nearly burst. “You already know the answer to that.”
“But I would like to hear you say it.”
She looked steadfastly into his eyes. “Yes, Christopher. I love you with all my being and there is nothing I want more than to be your wife.”
Christopher smiled, took her face in his hands, and kissed her with more tenderness than she knew existed in the world, yet with a passion that made her heart race.
Coralyn wrapped her arms around Christopher’s neck and melted into the arms of her best friend and her truest love.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Forgotten Friend, I hope you enjoyed it! Please do me a favor and consider leaving a review or rating on Amazon. Reviews help an author in so many ways, and really are a great way to thank an author.
If you enjoyed Forgotten Friend, I hope you’ll check out Healing Hearts and Daring to Dream, the other stories in the Roselund Heights series.
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Thanks again for reading!
Miranda D Nelson
My many thanks to my family for always supporting me, no matter how crazy my writing schedule gets. Without the help of my amazing husband, I would not have been able to wrap this up by my deadlines.
Thank you so much to my awesome beta readers who helped me out last minute and came together to get this book ready. Thanks to my awesome writing community, especially the writers in Sprint Writers Central for all the sprints and support.
Miranda D Nelson was born and raised in California. From a young age she’s nourished a deep love of stories. Her passion for reading quickly extended to writing and she has been writing this or that as long as she can remember.
As a longtime lover of romance, Miranda believes in true love. While at BYU-Idaho, she met and married her one true love who is her best friend and a shining light in her life. They now live in Utah with their two wonderful, crazy kids.
When she’s not busy chasing her littles or working on her next story, Miranda enjoys reading, crafting, and being outdoors. This is her second published novel and she is very much looking forward to continuing with the series. She hopes to share her love of romance with you and take you on a new journey with each book.
Miranda loves to hear from her readers and looks forward to getting to know them and other writers as she moves forward on this venture!
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Forgotten Friend (Roselund Heights) Page 12