If You Were Mine Read Online Free

question.
    After
several moments of indulgent weeping, Isobel swiped the dampness
from her cheeks as she stood on the tree line of the wooded glade.
It felt as though she was in the middle of nowhere. With the first
stain of sunlight breaking over the horizon, she contemplated her
situation before slowly resumed her onward journey, trying
desperately to ignore the growing sense of helpless isolation that
increased with each passing mile.
    Whatever
the future held for her, she could not go back now. She had the
remaining days of summer warmth in which to travel, and knew that
if she was to survive, she needed to make the most of them. If she
kept off the roads and away from the villages, she had every chance
of succeeding in her quest. Life wouldn’t be as cruel as to send
her back to Rupert, would it?
    She had
only a few meagre coins in her pocket. Certainly not enough to get
her through the winter, but she wasn’t afraid to work for her keep.
Indeed, she had thoroughly enjoyed the few times she had been
allowed down into the kitchens to make jam and tarts with Cook. She
had no fear of hard work. But how she was to go about persuading
anyone to employ her without references; she wasn’t sure. She now
understood why Kitty had sent her to her cousin’s house. They would
surely know the best way she should go about trying to maintain her
independence, at least for the immediate future.
    Briefly,
she wondered how Kitty had managed, and if indeed she was far
behind her, or whether she too was locked in the gloomy depths of
the house that had become her prison. She quickly stifled the
wayward thoughts that meandered in the direction of Dominic, and
his residence on his country estate in Melton, firmly eschewing all
notions of happening by his marital home.
    It was
one thing to learn of his heartless betrayal, quite another to see
the woman who had claimed his heart and his protection, in the
flesh.
    Thoughtfully pondering the ramifications of her flight,
Isobel resolutely trudged onwards along the daring new path her
life had taken.

CHAPTER TWO

     
    Two Months Later
    Leicestershire
     
    “ We will have revenge,” Dominic declared softly, staring
sightlessly down at the rectangle of recently dug earth before
them, his heart a leaden weight within his chest. The earth had
been dug only a few weeks before, yet weeds and grass had already
nearly covered the soil. “He will pay for what he has done.” He
shot his friend a darkly menacing look.
    Raw pain
lanced through him as he watched Peter rhythmically tug at the
myriad of weeds, slowly twisting their mangled path around the
simple wooden cross marking her final resting place. Isobel.
Peter’s sister, and the woman Dominic wanted as his wife. He adored
her.
    Dominic
settled down onto the wet grass beside the grave, oblivious to the
increasing wind and driving rain, and allowed himself to think back
to their time together.
     
    Peter
had introduced them several months earlier, when Dominic had
finally been in a position to accept his friend’s invitation to
visit. Having met fighting the French on the horrific battlefields,
Dominic had quickly found a friend in Peter, and had listened to
his frequent reminiscences of Isobel’s exploits. It had been an
attempt by both men to briefly escape the death and destruction
surrounding them. The mental image he had built up of his stalwart
friend’s intriguing sibling had tempted and teased Dominic,
haunting his dreams to such an extent that despite his
battle-hardened cynicism, he found himself almost eager to make her
acquaintance upon their return to England.
    Unfortunately, his visit to Willowbrook, her home, had been
delayed by the demise of his uncle, who had bequeathed Dominic his
somewhat failing estates. They had taken considerable time to
resolve sufficiently to allow Dominic the time to take an extended
visit to Oxfordshire. In the intervening time since his return from
the war, Dominic’s family had frequently hinted