An Earl’s Broken Heart by Ella Edon
Chapter Thirty
What had happened earlier was a big surprise to Alex, but it had to be like that for them to clear the little difference they had.
Isabel thought about her father just before they found their horses. She now understood where he was coming from, but she wasn't ready to speak to him. His actions had come from a place of love, but it didn't stop the fact that he had hurt her immensely.
Now, she felt better. Hands intertwined with the only man she had ever loved, a very bright ray of hope for an amazing future for them—this was the heavens finally answering her prayers.
They came to a stop, and she looked up to see that they had come to their horses.
“Get on,” he told her as he began to help her.
She obeyed him. Her cheeks red from smiling excessively. When she had completely climbed the horse, Alexander patted the animal and planted a kiss on her thigh.
She watched him keenly as he got on his horse, her eyes noticed every movement he made.
“Ready?” He asked her as he gathered the reins of his horse.
She nodded and did same. They rode away from the compound, their home as their destination.
For Isabel, they weren't just riding to go back to Alexander's Manor; they were riding to start their future, and nothing had ever made her happier.
She wondered what it was that Alexander had to show her, she really couldn't wait.
They got home and he helped her down from her horse. He was being extremely nice and caring—not like he had never cared about her before—he was being completely honest with his feelings this time.
“Go in, have a warm bath, and get a change of clothes. Your lady's maid will help you with that," Alexander instructed as soon as her feet reached the wet ground.
The sky was brighter, and the rain had completely ceased. She glanced at it, wondering when the sun would finally come out from behind the clouds.
They walked into their home, their steps disrupting the silence of the Manor. “This silence that will soon be filled up with screams of little children.” Alex said out of nowhere.
Isabel chuckled. She could not wait for them to start raising their family. She looked around the hall, imagining it all. She tightened her hold on his hand. She was distracted when someone spoke to her.
“My Lady, can you come freshen up?”
She looked up to see that it was her lady’s maid.
“Go,” Alexander told her and pecked her cheeks. He left her, walking in the opposite direction. She looked at her empty hands before she turned around, following her lady's maid.
They walked down the hallway till they finally got into her chambers.
“Your bath is ready,” the maid said, as she excused herself.
Isabel was left alone in the room as she entered to bath. She undressed, taking off each thing step by step.
She started with her jewelry, placing them back in her little box where others were being kept. Then, she took off her shoes before her garments. By then, her water was ready.
She stood up, her towel wrapped around her slender body. She smiled at her reflection, all was going to be well, that much she was sure of.
She was fast about it, not taking the usual time she took when she was in the bathroom. When she got out, her lady’s maid was waiting with a new set of clothes that were sure to keep her warm during the cold weather.
She thought about everything that had happened earlier at her father’s place. She shook her head, deciding not to think about that for now. She didn't bother to put on jewelry as it was already well into the evening now.
When she was done, she wanted to go out of her room in search of Alexander, her husband.
She dismissed her lady’s maid and stepped out of her room, one step at a time as she began looking around the hallway for him.
She walked to the study room. It seemed like the most logical place to search for him, second to his chambers. He wasn't there and she couldn't help walking in.
This morning, it had felt like they were at their most distant moment, like time couldn’t even heal their wounds and bring them back together again.
It felt like yesterday when they were not the best of friends or even a good enough example of a couple, but it also felt like years apart because of how everything had changed. Elizabeth had been right, she and Alexander were too in love to be separated by any force.
Her eyes roamed the room as everything in it brought back a memory that made her smile—not because it was one of her happy moments but because somehow, it had helped to bring both of them closer, that had all led to the way they were now.
She stood by the windowpane and her eyes closed as the evening breeze hit her face. She had not bothered to do her hair. She looked outside, up at the clouds. The sun still wasn't out.
“Isabel,” she heard her name and turned in his direction.
It was Alexander. He stood by the doorway, arms folded across the other.
He looked as ravishing as ever. It was evident that he had cleaned up and she took note of his new set of clothes.
“Alexander," she sighed, her eyes still roaming his body, a job her hands would not mind taking over her thoughts.
“I looked for you in your chambers and didn't see you. I immediately knew you would be here," he said and began to walk into the room.
She turned away from the window fully as he came to stand in front of her.
“I came here to look for you," she told him.
He nodded softly then looked past her, outside the windows. “Are you okay?” He asked her.
She was fine, better than she had ever been in a very long while. and it was all thanks to him.
“I'm fine,” she replied but, as though her mind wanted to remind her that she wasn't so fine, she immediately thought of her father.
He must have noticed her face fall as he asked again, “Are you sure?"
There was no way she was going to keep anything from him. The way he stared at her so intensely, like his eyes could bore joy in her soul. She felt like she was at her most naked and vulnerable moment when she was with him.
“It's my father, I really don't know how I'm going to forgive him but right now, I forgive him already.”
He took her hands and she looked down at their joined his as he massaged the back of hers with his thumb, causing her to relax already by that single movement of his fingers.
“Don't feel pressured to forgive him, he understands you. He hurt you, after all, even though it was aimed at your benefit. Just try to understand him, too; it will help you to forgive him faster. He was doing it because of how immensely he loved you and how overprotective he was of his daughters.” Alexander paused for a moment. After a second, he continued. “If I were him and I had such an amazing daughter like you, I would really go out of my way to protect you. He just made a mistake.”
He was right. As much as she hated it, Alexander was right about everything he had just said.
“I'll talk to him as soon as I can,” she said, not still sure when that would be.
He didn't push the matter further. She was glad for that. The silence was loud enough, and they enjoyed it, both not saying anything or making a move to disrupt it. He had his arms around her waist, and she had her head laid on his chest.
She listened to his beating heart, a sound she had grown to love hearing. It filled her with so much peace and she allowed it to synchronize with hers.
She immediately remembered that he had something to show her, and she drew back to have a good look at his face.
“You wanted to show me something," she reminded him as she searched his face.
“Yes, I haven't forgotten," he said and turned away as he reached for her hands.
She took it and he started to lead her out of the room.
“I'll show it to you but first, we have to eat.”
Her curiosity was growing by the second, she didn't want to eat or spend any more time without seeing what he had for her.
“We can eat after, I'm not so hungry,” she began to protest. Somehow, she knew her request was going to fall on deaf ears.
He was so stubborn when it came to her and she appreciated that but right now, she needed to convince him otherwise.
“I instructed Wilson to get our meal ready, and the weather is cold, I really wouldn't like it if it went cold."
She looked down, giving up. They were still walking down the hallway, to the dining table where their meal was supposed to be waiting for them.
The walked into the room and sure enough, it was ready. He drew out a chair for her and when she sat down, he took his hands across her.
They ate in silence. She was lost in her thoughts as she chewed each bite and swallowed.
When she was done, she kept her plates aside as she waited for him to finish. Her eyes were trained on him as he took his last spoon filled with his food then went ahead to drink up his water.
“You really can't wait, can you?" He asked with a grin plastered on his face.
She rolled her eyes then pursed her lips as she looked at anywhere but him, trying to subdue the blush that crept up her face.
“I don't like to wait so much for something," she finally replied when she felt like she could.
She watched him lean back on his chair as he chuckled, his laughter ringing out softly.
“Alexander," she called out to him, the frustration in her voice ringing out clearer than ever.
It only made him laugh some more and soon, she found herself joining him. It was in moments like this that she felt her happiest when they were together and nothing else mattered except for what they felt.
“I love you," he said out of the blues, catching her off guard.
She didn't have a time to respond as he quickly got up and stretched his hand for her to take. She did that and he pulled her up.
“Let me show you to it before you beat me up," he joked.
She smiled so much, she feared that her lips would tear apart. She was glad that he was beside her and not in front of her and that he couldn't see her smile. She wasn't smiling at his joke; she was smiling because he had reminded her that he loved her, and her mind still hadn't gotten used to hearing him say that. Her insides had burst in an explosion of emotions and all she wanted was to be with him while the rest of the world gone behind them.
They made their way down to his chambers and when they got in, he closed the door behind them. She stood in the room as she watched him move over to a corner of the room.
“Remember how I said I never stopped loving you?” he asked her as he moved behind a table.
“Yes,” she replied while nodding as she watched him show up with a box.
“This is proof of that, come over here,” he waved her over.
She moved her feet till she was beside him. He opened the box and she watched carefully.
“I never read any more letter of yours, but I kept them safe, locked in here.”
He opened it to reveal some of his valuables, his watch, and a few other things, but what caught her eyes were her letters sitting in the middle of it all.
She reached for it, and he shifted a little, allowing her to have her moment.
She buried her hands in the sea of paper, then she reached for one and retrieved it. She accessed it, looking at it carefully. She saw that it was sealed.
She didn't intend to open it but from the date on the envelope, she guessed it was among or even the last letter she ever sent him.
This was proof enough that he never stopped loving her, that all those nights that she felt abandoned by him, she was all that filled his mind.
“You kept all of them, every one of them?” She asked and glanced at him.
“Indeed," he replied as he draped his right hand around her shoulder. “I couldn't bring myself to read any one of them. Truthfully, I couldn't understand why you still sent me these, and as much as I was hurt by the first letter you sent my way, I couldn't bring myself to throw these away. Somehow, it made me feel closer to you; it became my most prized procession even though you weren't what I wanted to be thinking about.”
“Alexander,” she sighed. She didn't know what to say. “Can I open one of them?" She asked him as her hands hovered around one.
“Go ahead.”
She carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Unfolding it, she began to read, and she found tears dotting her eyes.
With every word she read, she felt like she was transported to a time before when she had sat down and written the letter, a time when her hope threatened to dwindle down, but she held onto it with everything in her.
She dropped the letter, unable to control her tears anymore. She turned to him and found solace in his hands. He rubbed her back and she closed her eyes, half for his presence, and where they were now in their lives.
“Why are you crying?” Alexander asked her.
“I just feel so, I don't know...” She couldn't find the words to use. “I have never felt so loved in my life.”
“Well, get used to it.”
She moved back at the sound of his voice, and she noticed the way his eyes stared at her lips.
“I can't believe we're finally together, with nothing that can come between us anymore," she confessed.
He smiled. “We found a way to be together, we found a way to fight everything.”
“Yes,” she sighed, the sudden feeling of wanting to take a stroll coming upon her. “Can we take a stroll around the Manor?”
She waited for him to reply, as she held her breath. She feared he wouldn't agree.
“The weather is—”
She stood on her tiptoes and shut him with a kiss. “Please,” she said against his lips immediately she broke the kiss.
“Okay, let's go.”
Together, they walked out of the room and the house, into the fields that stretched to the gate.
“Are you still going to leave?" she asked as she remembered what he has told her this morning.
The dark was setting in, and she was certain that soon, the moon would be out. She could see the yellow coloring which revealed that the sun was returning to its hiding place.
“No, I'm really not sure yet. A lot of things are going to change and that is one of them. I don't want to be distant from you anymore.”
“Me, too.”
She looked around, taking note of how big the fields were. “I can almost see our children running around this place," she said, repeating his words from earlier.
She heard Alexander chuckle beside her, but she didn't turn to look at him. She was too lost on the imagination she had portrayed in her head.
“It would be so amazing, everything we've ever wanted.”
“They will be so little at first that they'll need us to help them with everything, but it will seem so funny when the time comes that we will get to hardly see them, and they will be their own persons.”
She turned to Alexander. “It's scary but I still can't wait to experience it.”
“Soon, soon.” Was his reply.
She turned away from him and allowed herself to continue dreaming. Her lips curved in a smile as he took her hands again, she had no idea when they had left each other but he had noticed.
He was being so observant of her, like she was all that mattered to him in the world. She didn't want to turn to look at him, she just allowed her smile to grow.
His hold on her caused her to feel things, things so beautiful she never wanted to stop feeling them.
“Everything here is ours," he said in a soft voice, pulling her out of her reverie.
The Manor, the horses, everything. Even Alexander was hers as she was his.
“Isabel, we're a family now and family sticks together no matter what," he continued. It was then that she turned to look at him.
“I love you, Alexander,” she said.
“I love you too, my darling.”
Family stick together no matter what, the sentence continued to echo through her mind as a feeling of guilt stirred up inside her. She thought of her father, she had to go to him. No matter what he had done, he was still family to her.
“I've forgiven my father, I'll go see him as soon as I can," she told Alexander as she stared out into the field. Her life was at its best, she had all she ever wanted and as she looked out, she could almost hear the high-pitched laughter of children accompanied with the thudding sound of their feet as they ran.