Authors: Cathy Maxwell

The Marriage Ring (20 page)

BOOK: The Marriage Ring

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He started walking in the direction they’d indicated Grace had taken. She’d gone toward the river and the center of town.

“And what do I tell Banker Montross?” Richard’s father demanded. “He’ll be furious you jilted his daughter. He may not support the Hockingdale business.”

“My uncle is glib,” Richard said. “He’ll come up with a reason. Or better yet, tell Banker Montross I was wanted for murder. That fact should give any father pause.”

“And have you no heart for Abigail?” his father wondered.

“Father, Abigail knew you better than she did me. I’m doing her a favor. Now she is free to find a man she knows and can respect. A man she can love.”

He started walking again.

Jonathon MacEachin stood in the cottage doorway. He’d probably heard all. Richard didn’t give a damn. The man meant nothing to him and would never be part of his life.

Instead, his focus was on catching Grace.

Richard found her standing on a stone bridge, her head bowed as if she were studying something in the rushing water beneath her. She was a lone, pensive figure amongst the late-afternoon foot traffic.

Gathering his courage, he moved toward her. He knew she could send him packing. She probably would…but he had to speak to her. He had to gamble all.

When he drew close, she spoke. “I’m not surprised you followed. I knew you would.” She faced him, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “After all, you stayed with me during that awful interview inside my father’s house.” She paused, released her breath. “I truly thought him innocent. All these years I believed in him.”

Richard shrugged. “It is what you make of it.”

“I wasn’t expecting a wife,” she admitted. “I felt foolish. Did it show?”

“No, you handled yourself well.”

“Liar,” she said softly.

Richard stepped to stand beside her at the stone railing. “You are right and I’m not a very good one.”

She looked out over the river. The wind off the water gently blew her curls around her face and dried the tears.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“I’m wondering where I should go from here? What should I do?”

She was so independent. So proud. Her words pulled at his heart.

He held his hand in front of her. She looked down and saw the gold wedding band engraved with leaves and Celtic symbols in his fingers.

“This is yours,” he said. “Take it.” He pressed the ring into her hand.

“Mine?” she said, accepting the ring in her surprise.

“Yes, yours.” He turned and began walking off. It was a gamble. The biggest one of his life.

“What is this for?” she called after him.

“What do you think?” he tossed over his shoulder. He kept walking, praying she would follow.

“Wait. Richard,
wait
.”

He paused at the foot of the bridge, and to his everlasting joy, she came to him. She held his ring in her fingers as if it were something precious.

She stopped when they were a foot apart as if unwilling to move closer. “Where is your father and your uncle?”

“On their way back to London.”

“And
what
is this ring for?” Her words were defiant, almost angry.

He drew a breath, releasing it before admitting, “I bought it for you. Yesterday. I’d thought that we would marry.”

Since she stood on the curve of the bridge, for once they were almost eye to eye. The corners of her lips tightened. She reached out and brushed back a stray bit of his hair. “You don’t want to marry me. You could do so much better, Richard.” She looked down at the ring. “I’m not the sort of woman a man marries.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “You, yourself, said that.”

“Grace, I was a pompous ass when I said those words. I love you. I always will. I can’t imagine any other woman more perfect for me.”

“And your intended?” The words sounded as if she had to force them out.

“It’s over. Finished. Abigail doesn’t love me and I don’t love her. I’m in love with you, Grace. Pure, sweet love, just like the poets sing. And I’m going to break a family tradition right now.”

“What tradition is that?” she asked.

“The tradition of not being honest with oneself. You were right. My father and uncle did embezzle the money.”

“And they admitted it?”

“They never will. It will always be something due to them. But your father admitted all three of them were in on the scheme. However, none of that is important any longer. I’m not going to live a life of lies. It’s not what
I
want.”

“What
do
you want?” she asked, almost as if not trusting his answer.

He smiled and took her hand. “I want a wife who is happy to see me when I come home,” he said. “One who waits at the door with my children, eager to see me at the end of the day.”

“That’s a good thing to want,” she agreed, the beginnings of a smile coming to her face.

“And I want to take time to enjoy that wife. I don’t want to spend my life poring over ledgers. I have all the money I need, Grace. What I don’t have is someone willing to help me spend it in a meaningful way.”

“And what way would that be?” she wondered, sounding as if she was almost afraid this moment wasn’t real.

“I was thinking a small farm. A gentleman’s farm. Some place where my children can have ponies to ride and enjoy clean air and meadow song.”

“Would Scotland suit you?” she asked.

“Scotland is lovely,” he agreed, “but not Inverness. I will not walk down the street and greet your father civilly. It’s wrong to be rigid. Very much like my former self, but I will not wish the man a good day as if there is no history between us. And finally, what I want is a woman who, in spite of all the mistakes I’ve made, and how notably human I am, would be proud to wear that ring. It’s not just a marriage ring, Grace. It’s my heart I’m offering. My soul.”

At last, tears ran down her cheeks. She could hold them back no more. “I was so angry with you yesterday. I felt betrayed.”

“With some cause.”

“What of your father? Your uncle? I do not think I could like them overmuch.”

“I doubt if they’ll visit our farm,” he assured her.

“And so what you are saying is that we live our lives for ourselves.”

“’Tis the way of marriage. We create our own family, and you know what, Grace? We won’t make the mistakes our parents did.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because I love you, Grace. I’ll always love you. They don’t even know what those words mean.”

“Here,” she said, offering him the ring.

Richard hesitated—and then she raised her left hand.

“Place it on my finger,” she said, “and I swear by everything holy, I shall never remove it. My blessed, blessed man, you are everything I’ve ever desired. I was standing on this bridge wondering why I wasn’t more upset with the turn of events, with the lies I’d been given all my life—and then I thought of you, so strong, so wise, and right there by my side even after I’d been cruel. Please put the ring on my finger before you change your mind. I love you, Richard Lynsted, and will do so all the days of my life.”

He slid the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly, but then he’d known it would.

She placed her hand in his and together they went that moment in search of a parson. By dark they were married.

Grace wouldn’t even take off the ring for the ceremony so he could place it on her finger again and Richard didn’t ask her.

Instead, he made her his heart, his soul…his wife.

About the Author

C
ATHY
M
AXWELL
spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, “Why do people fall in love?” It remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness.

She lives in beautiful Virginia with her children, horses, dogs, and cats.

Fans can contact Cathy at
www.cathymaxwell.com
or PO Box 1135, Powhatan, VA 23139.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

By Cathy Maxwell

T
HE
M
ARRIAGE
R
ING

T
HE
E
ARL
C
LAIMS
H
IS
W
IFE

A S
EDUCTION AT
C
HRISTMAS

I
N THE
H
IGHLANDER’S
B
ED

B
EDDING THE
H
EIRESS

I
N THE
B
ED OF A
D
UKE

T
HE
P
RICE OF
I
NDISCRETION

T
EMPTATION OF A
P
ROPER
G
OVERNESS

T
HE
S
EDUCTION OF AN
E
NGLISH
L
ADY

A
DVENTURES OF A
S
COTTISH
H
EIRESS

T
HE
L
ADY
I
S
T
EMPTED

T
HE
W
EDDING
W
AGER

T
HE
M
ARRIAGE
C
ONTRACT

A S
CANDALOUS
M
ARRIAGE

M
ARRIED IN
H
ASTE

B
ECAUSE OF
Y
OU

W
HEN
D
REAMS
C
OME
T
RUE

F
ALLING IN
L
OVE
A
GAIN

Y
OU AND
N
O
O
THER

T
REASURED
V
OWS

A
LL
T
HINGS
B
EAUTIFUL

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE MARRIAGE RING
. Copyright © 2010 by Cathy Maxwell, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © January 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-198788-5

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