These Haunted Hearts: A Regency Ghost Story Read Online Free Page A

glorious angel of heaven, his exquisite diamond of
Ind, his shining pearl of the Orient.
    But all his playful praise had meant only one thing.
Isabella was his love and he’d lay down his life for her.
    “I’ve scoured the house for you.” He stepped closer,
wondering at her silence, at her lack of movement toward him. She’d
so rarely been still. It was part of the quicksilver brilliance of
her character. She’d been endlessly fascinating, flashing like a
jewel, his darling Isabella.
    His darling Isabella who stared at him now as though
she beheld a monster.
    Her frozen expression made him pause before he
touched her. His belly dipped with foreboding. “Isabella?”
    She was trembling and pale as she’d never been in
life. He couldn’t mistake the terror in her beautiful black eyes.
She still wore the sumptuous dress of blue French silk she’d had
made for the wedding. Delicate pearls and summer flowers twined in
her intricate coils of shining black hair.
    In an unmistakable attempt to ward him off, she
raised her hands. “Stay…stay away from me.”
    Of all the numerous shocks of the day, this was the
worst. What the devil had happened on his wedding day? What the
devil had he done?
    “I don’t understand,” he said dully, dropping his
shaking hands to his sides.
    “Don’t come near me.”
    She sounded so frightened, his lovely girl who had
never been frightened of anything in her whole life. This was the
woman who had galloped hell for leather at the most dangerous
fences. This was the woman who had faced down her ambitious father,
Lord Fenburgh, and insisted she’d marry no man but the Earl of
Stansfield.
    The Earl of Stansfield who apparently she now
loathed.
    Outraged questions jammed in Josiah’s throat, but he
could see she verged on fleeing if he pressed too hard for answers.
Now he’d found her, he couldn’t risk losing her. And who knew
whether he’d ever find her again? He still wasn’t sure of the laws
that prevailed on this immortal plane.
    Very carefully he stepped back, giving Isabella space
and hopefully demonstrating benign intentions. He had to find out
what was going on, but first he had to banish the dread from her
expression. Her quivering fear hit him with the force of a blow to
the stomach.
    “I won’t touch you.” The words cut at him like
razors. “Trust me, Isabella.”
    A disbelieving huff of laughter escaped her as she
retreated onto the landing, preparing to run.
    “No…” He surged toward her again before remembering
that she didn’t want him to touch her. Quickly he lowered his arms
but not before he caught another flash of panic in her eyes.
    Whatever he’d done, it set his intrepid bride quaking
with fear. Good God, what was going on here?
    He forced himself to remain still. After a few
suspenseful seconds, she too came to an unsteady halt against the
balustrade at the top of the stairs. She watched him unwaveringly
as if expecting him to strike at her like a snake.
    She lifted her chin, a poignant echo of the vibrant
woman who had led him such a dance before promising to be his. “You
can’t hurt me anymore.”
    He frowned in incomprehension. “Hurt you? I don’t
want to hurt you.”
    She flinched at the hint of impatience in his voice.
“Don’t lie to me, Josiah.”
    Sucking in a breath, he struggled for calm when
everything inside him wanted to insist that whatever evil she
thought he’d committed, it couldn’t be true. “I’d never lie to
you.”
    Bitter cynicism unfamiliar to the woman he’d known
tightened her expression, although at least she stopped edging
away. “Of course you would.”
    With every moment, he understood less. Foolishly he’d
imagined that he’d understand everything if he could just find
Isabella. Well, he’d found her and the mysteries became more
baffling than ever. “Won’t you tell me what I did, Isabella?”
    Something in his tone must have convinced her to take
his question seriously. A series of emotions crossed