Yearning Heart Read Online Free

brown, woolen dress, a linen chemise, a black skirt and white high-necked top were placed over her prized possession. Her black slippers were dusty, having been worn only to church. She wiped them with her hand, made a trough on either end beneath her clothing and poked them down. There was a red shawl, the only colorful piece of clothing she owned. She rolled it into a corner under the dark dress.
    A hesitant knock came at the door.
    “Come,” she said, and her mother stepped into the room. They stared at each other, and then Rebecca ran into her arms.
    Lady Elizabeth patted her shoulder.
    “It is best for you, Rebecca.”
    “But, Mama, I do not wish to go with him. I know nothing. I...”
    “Papa has made the bargain, Rebecca. You have to go.”
    “But—can you not—please, tell papa it is not right to, to trade me. For what? More land? I have never seen this man, Mama, and I do not wish to marry him.”
    Eyes bright with tears, she pleaded with Lady Elizabeth, knowing it would do no good. It was the way of the master. His word was law. Elizabeth had never defied her husband. What he decided would take place, no matter the pain for Rebecca.
    “You will be happy with Sir Stephen. Papa says he is a rich man and influential with the king.”
    Rebecca sniffed and pulled away to look up into her mother's vacantly pretty face. Lady Elizabeth had never been her champion where papa was concerned, but at least, she lamented not the fact she had given birth to a daughter instead of a son—the way papa did. Elizabeth had taught her to cook, how to plan good meals, to sew, to garden, but they did not talk of a girl's duties in marriage. Marriage to a stranger.
    “It is far away, Mama,” she said in a small voice.
    Lady Elizabeth nodded, and Rebecca waited for a word of reassurance.
    When none was forthcoming, she said, “Will Richard come to say goodbye?”
    “I think not, Rebecca. He must go to Worcester trading today.”
    Her throat tightened as she turned away from her mother. She would not, would not , let them see her cry. Mayhap it was best not to see Richard. Had he known about Papa's bargain? No. No, Richard would have told me. He would have objected.
    Sadness such as she had never known settled in her heart at the thought of not seeing him again. She would miss Lady Elizabeth, of course, but Richard was her staunchest support in the cold Grinwold family. If she had but known she wouldn't see Richard again, she would have hugged him more tightly ere she left him.
    * * * *
    Rebecca stood stiffly by as Sir Stephen's driver lifted the one case to the top of the carriage. A hand touched her arm, and Sir Stephen helped her inside. She turned once to look for Lady Elizabeth, but her mother was not there. Sir Oliver stood smiling benignly at the prancing horses in front of the carriage, but he did not look at Rebecca as the driver shouted to the team, and the carriage lurched into motion.
    Rebecca huddled in the far corner of the carriage, looking across the cold, winter-dead fields. They looked as she felt—abandoned.
    “I thought you were eighteen,” Sir Stephen said after they had traveled miles in silence. “You are young.”
    “I will age in time, I should imagine,” she said, still turned away from him.
    Long fingers lifted her chin and directed her to face him. Deep blue eyes beneath thick brown brows smiled at her, and a wide mouth opened slightly to reveal white teeth, one of them crooked out of line with the others.
    “I daresay that is true.” A slim forefinger brushed across her mouth. “It will be all right.” Abruptly, he released her chin and looked toward the road in front of them. “Try to rest. It is a long journey.”
    They stopped at a roadside inn for the night and were served cold lamb and dark bread by the innkeeper. Rebecca was surprised when Sir Stephen bade her goodnight and went into a room across the hall. She had no idea what to expect from this stranger but assumed he would take