The Wrong Woman (22 page)

“Aunt, that was not very supportive of you,” Isobel said, her eyes closed in rest again.

“I'm sorry, my dear. But I must say that I agree with Cat on this. If I had the chance at love, I believe I should seize it and never give it up.”

Isobel sighed. “But if you knew the man you loved did not love you? Would that not change everything?”

Cat howled in protest. “But, Izzy! What you say isn't true! I told you all about how Miles has acted.”

“And I believe you've told me what you wanted to see. But I know that he does not love me.”

“Yes, he does!” Cat nearly stood out of her chair in frustration.

Isobel had no passion left to waste on the subject. She had spent all night thinking of the man, considering what Cat had told her and, more carefully still, considering Miles' own behavior toward her.

Isobel watched Cat pout. She knew her younger sister still believed that the fairy tales they loved could come true for real people. But Isobel knew they did not. Real life stories did not have satisfying conclusions. They faded away.

So Isobel had made an ending for herself. She had decided that she would move on with her life. Besides, she needed to concentrate on her own recovery. As she was discovering, it took a lot of time to learn how to use one's limbs again.

Isobel closed her eyes and drifted into a half-sleep. She heard the quiet sounds of her sister and aunt in the room. She heard shuffling in the hallway as the servants moved back and forth. The pleasingly normal sounds of life soothed her.

“Izzy,” a voice whispered. It wanted to draw her out of the peaceful rest. But Isobel did not want to go. It was so blessedly quiet and restful where she was.

“Izzy,” it repeated. She moaned in response, trying to get it to go away. But it was too late. Her mind was slowly being coaxed back into awareness. Cat was whispering her name, trying to get her to wake up. And Miles was standing opposite, watching Isobel.

No, that couldn't be right. She must still be halfway between dreaming and waking. Isobel blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear the unwanted image. She had already thought too much about that man. And now she was having visions of him.

But the image would not leave her. No matter how many times she blinked, Miles still stood in front of her.

“Izzy,” Cat whispered in her ear, “Miles is here.”

Isobel looked into her sister's face. Surely Cat could not be dreaming along with her. That must mean that Miles really was in the room.

“Miles! How are you?” Cat asked in an overly loud voice as she stood up from the bed, blessedly allowing Isobel to compose herself.

“I am well, Cat. Thank you. And yourself?”

“Very glad to see you.”

Isobel cringed. Did Cat have to be so plain with him? It made them seem desperate. She wanted him to respect her. His pity and condescension was not what Isobel desired.

“And now, I shall just pop out and get some tea things together, shall I?” The blasted girl did not wait for an answer before skittering out the door and slamming it closed behind her. Isobel looked to where Aunt Hetty had lately been and found only the remnants of her embroidery. When had she left? Isobel suspected a plot between them.

But she had no time for worry. There was a very real man standing in front of her and he seemed to be waiting for something.

“Lord Revere, won't you sit down?”

A look of pain crossed his face. “I thought we had agreed on Christian names,” he said as he took a place in a chair across from her.

“Of course,” Isobel swallowed her nerves and smiled. “And how have you been... Miles?” It was hard to say his name.

“Fine... Isobel. Thank you.” Silence again. This was going to be a long afternoon. Isobel suspected that her sister would take her sweet time about getting the tea things.

“And you? How are you this day?” He asked the question without looking at her.

“A little stronger, thank you.”

“I am very glad to hear it.” His brow creased in concern as he raised his eyes to hers. Her heart beat faster.
It is nothing. I must be calm.

After an interminable moment of tension, Miles spoke again. “I have news of Davenport.”

“Yes?” Isobel looked up at him.

“The man was sentenced this morning.”

“To death?” Isobel was frightened.

“No.” He leaned toward her.

“He will not die?” Isobel searched Miles' face. He looked steadily back at her.

“No, he will not.”

“What? I am confused.”

“Davenport will be transported to the Australian colony.”

“But he will live?”

“Yes. And transportation is not a bad thing. The man lost all of his money and would have had to leave the country to avoid his creditors. It is the kindest punishment for him. He will be able to work in the colonies, perhaps make some money for himself. And six years is not such a long time, after all.”

Isobel was astonished at this news. “But I thought they were going to hang him.”

“They were,” Miles spoke the words quietly and looked down at his lap.

“Then...” It did not make sense. Why would the court change his sentence? “Oh,” it occurred to her what had happened. “Miles,
you
asked for mercy.” It was not a question.

“You said you did not want him to die.” Miles shrugged but did not look at her.

“You did that? Because I asked?” He nodded and her heart overflowed. “Thank you for being such a good friend.”

Miles grunted and shook his head.

“We are not friends?” Isobel quailed.

“Isobel...” Miles looked at her sadly.

“After all that has happened, I thought we might at least put down our old enmity. But if you do not want that...” Isobel looked at her hands, trying not to cry. The disappointment overwhelmed her. She had lost her chance with him. He did not want to be friends at all. It was one thing to convince yourself that a man did not love you. It was another thing entirely to hear him say it out loud.

“Isobel.” Miles knelt by the bed. “Isobel... Have you not guessed why I am here today? Why I have been here all these days?”

She turned her head away. She could not swallow the lump that had risen in her throat.

Miles sighed and began to speak. “I have been coming to know myself, Isobel.” There was a long pause, but still she dared not look. This must be the moment when he crushed her hopes.

He continued. “I have found that for many years I did not let any feeling in. It is not quite fashionable to have a heart, you know, to care about something… or someone. When my brother died, I did not want to care for anything anymore. For years I had forgotten about that part of me. Until...” His choked voice finally drew her eyes to him.

“In these last weeks, Isobel, I have discovered something... someone... that has become very important to me.”

“Oh?” She whispered.

He paused for a long time before he said, “Isobel... you are my Medora.”

He must have seen the confused look on her face. He reached up and took her face in his hands. “You are the woman I will always come back to. Once, you called me the Corsair. I have been so lost, like he was. And I did not know I wanted you until I thought you were lost to me.”

Happy tears rolled down Isobel's cheeks. “But how could you feel this about
me
? I am nobody. I have no beauty or title or accomplishments. I am fat and old. I am everything that society does not want. I am everything that
you
should not want.”

For a moment he did not speak. He grabbed her hands and kissed them tenderly. When he looked up at her, Isobel’s breath caught.

“Shall I tell you of the first time you made my heart skip a beat?” He smiled when she nodded. “I watched you in front of a statue in the grand hall. A statue I'd seen a dozen times. A statue whose perfect limbs I'd admired, whose beauty could not be denied. But this time I did not want to look at
her
. I watched you as you admired her. I watched as your face changed in so many small ways. You made me laugh when I caught you touching her foot.”

Isobel smiled through her tears. His words overwhelmed her.

“I will always be sorry that I made you feel like you were not worth ten times every other woman in the town. It was only to make my stupid self feel better. But now I see the most beautiful, caring woman, who opened my heart again when I had thought it long closed. You reminded me of the man I want to be. It is I who cannot believe, would not dare to wish that you could care for me, a man who has injured you and could not protect you from harm.”

Isobel could only stare at him. Her mind raced with the words he spoke.

“Yesterday I wanted to speak to you, but my courage failed me. I thought that if Medora had a second chance at her life, as you have now, would she waste it on a no-good pirate who had deserted her?” He dropped his eyes to the bed, unable to look at her.

Isobel reached up and nudged his chin until he looked at her.

When he was looking into her eyes, with all of his uncertainty and vulnerability, she smiled.

“Yes.”

“What?” The word was strangled by the emotion in his throat.

“Yes, Medora would spend her second chance on her no-good pirate.”

“Why?” Now Miles could not believe it.

“Because he came back. And because he spoke his heart.”

Slowly, Miles leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was tender with promises.

“I love you, Isobel.”

“And I love you, my pirate.” They kissed again with all the emotion in their hearts. “I think we are both imperfect souls that have managed to make it to the right person.”

They laughed as he stifled her smile with another kiss.

“Izzy!” shrieked a familiar voice.

“Finally!” exclaimed Jack.

Aunt Hetty only smiled.

“So you've asked her then, Miles?” Jack asked excitedly.

“What the devil are you doing here?” Miles asked sternly, but with a smile on his face. He still held Isobel in his arms.

“I rushed over as soon as I got home and Watson said you'd come here. I wanted to see if you'd actually do it this time!”

“Such faith in me, brother!”

“Well, have you?” Jack prompted, a sly smile on his face.

“Has he asked you, Izzy?” Cat's whole body vibrated with excitement.

Isobel looked at Miles, who was smiling back at her.

“Well, Medora, will you marry me?”

Isobel looked around at the expectant faces before her. These dear friends only wanted her happiness. She turned back to Miles.

“I think that I will.”

Their lips met again in a happy kiss as the three spectators struck up a round of applause.

Through their delighted whoops, Aunt Hetty declared, “At last! I knew my Isobel was the right woman.”

Acknowledgments

First of all, thank you to the readers who have been patiently waiting for something new. When I wrote
My Dear Sophy
last year, I had no idea anyone would read it. I have been overwhelmed with the love and support you all have shown. I hope that you like this new book.

As always, I cannot offer enough thanks to my incredible beta readers who dealt patiently with multiple drafts of this story and made each one better than the last. Thank you to Jessica Grey, Katie Conner Bennett, Devon Roll, and Nancy Kelley.

And of course, I must thank my family for their constant support, in this endeavor and all others.

About the Author

Kimberly Truesdale is a writing and literature teacher who has a line from
The Great Gatsby
tattooed on her arm and has worn out at least five copies of
Anne of Green Gables
. In July of 2012, Kimberly published her first Austenesque novel,
My Dear Sophy
, about how the Admiral and Mrs. Croft from Jane Austen’s
Persuasion
first meet.

Follow Kim on Twitter @playsthetart or Facebook at Kimberly Truesdale or email [email protected] Please let her know what you think of the book!