Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Arabella looked at the back of the stranger, who had berated her, riding into the distance.

Still smarting from his words, she turned to Henry, still cradling Dash in his arms.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt anywhere?" she asked him.

"No, Mama, you've asked me twice now. I am not hurt. Dash has a very sore paw. Look, there's blood."

"He'll feel better now the thorn has been removed," she reassured Henry.

"That gentleman who took out the thorn said we should bathe the paw in hot water and keep the paw clean," Henry informed her with a serious expression.

"Did he?" she queried in surprise. "I didn't hear him say that."

"He was very specific. He also suggested that the cook might boil some, now what was it, rosemary and thyme I think, and add it to goose grease and put that on the paw."

Arabella was stunned that in the short time the stranger had been with them, he had removed the thorn and given Henry advice on caring for the injured paw.

"Henry, Henry. Where are you?" a woman's voice was crying.

Arabella recognized Emma's frantic tones and then a deeper baritone voice. "Henry, can you call back? We're worried about you."

She called in response. "Over here. All's well."

Emma and the Reverend Nathaniel turned the corner. Arabella saw Emma turn pale and race towards them. "Henry," she cried. "Where did you get to? I turned around, and you weren't there."

"I'll explain later," said Arabella. "No one is hurt. Dash had a thorn in his paw, and a passing stranger helped remove it. We need to get home now."

This was not the time for Arabella to explain that her cousin, so intent on talking to the vicar, had not even noticed Arabella walking past them.

"I'll carry the spaniel," offered Nathaniel. "There is a shortcut to Horton Hall, down that path over there."

Arabella pretended not to notice when the parson patted Emma gently on her arm before cradling Dash in his arms and setting off along the woodland track.

On returning to Horton Hall, Arabella found herself involved with explaining what had happened to Henry and comforting Emma. Emma blamed herself for the incident when she had been so busy talking with the vicar that she had not noticed Henry wandering off into the woods.

"I'm so sorry. That horse might have killed him," Emma said, sniffing as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Emma, Henry is always getting into scrapes," Arabella reassured her cousin.

"He's so tiny, and I should have kept my eyes on him."

"He craves adventure, and if wildlife or nature is involved, then he can disappear for hours. Truly, Emma, it is a nightmare sometimes keeping track of him."

"I told him he could play on the green. I swear he was there, throwing sticks for Dash. And yes, Arabella, I did get lost in that conversation with Reverend Colbrooke."

Arabella smiled at her young cousin, who was fast becoming a friend. "Of course you were. He seems such a nice young man, and I believe he admires you."

How old I sound, she thought. It hasn't been so long since I was young and in love myself.

Emma's tears dried, replaced by thoughts of the Reverend Nathaniel Colbrooke. "He has such a way of listening to what I say as if I am the only person in the room. He isn't at all stuffy for a clergyman."

"I look forward to meeting him properly. Aunt Grace said she might have a small evening soirée later this week. I'm sure he'll be invited. Now, I must leave you, my dear, and check on that rapscallion, my son."

She reflected that it was Henry's adventurous spirit that Christopher had seized upon in his fight to be declared Henry's sole guardian. The conditions of the will and settlement specified that Arabella should oversee Henry's day-to-day welfare and decisions about schooling.

However, there had been no way to avoid the nearest male heir overseeing financial matters. Christopher wanted to step beyond financial oversight and take on full responsibility for Henry.

She knew that if he succeeded, then Henry would be sent away to boarding school immediately, and Christopher would sideline her and keep her away from her son as much as possible.

After Emma had settled and Henry was happily engaged in playing with Tabitha in the nursery, Arabella could collapse in her bedchamber. Nervous exhaustion and fear for Henry had pushed aside all else as she dealt with the situation and Emma's vapours.

Now in the solitude of her room, she felt the weight of the afternoon events press on her. Henry needed to be occupied and his mind stretched; his thirst for knowledge was immense. He tended to follow his ideas, which could involve climbing trees, disappearing along woodland tracks, or collecting tadpoles in a stream. All of which had an element of danger if he investigated alone.

She had a sudden flashback to hearing Dash whining and howling, racing along the track, turning the corner, and seeing Henry sitting in the middle of the track, with an out-of-control horse heading towards him.

She lit another candle and curled into the chair near the hearth. The fire was almost hypnotic, with flames giving an orange glow. She reached out her hands, feeling the warmth and finally relaxing.

As she gazed at the flames, another image came into her mind of mesmerizing azure blue eyes. Blazing blue eyes filled with rage.

Despite her concern for Henry, those eyes had been compelling. She remembered her cheeks flushing and a moment when her gaze caught that of the stranger, and she could not look away. A sensation of being drawn into the depths of a crystal blue pool.

Would they meet again? She thought not, but then it was a small neighbourhood, and perhaps one day, when walking in the woods, she might just catch sight of those bright blue eyes again.

***

Later that evening, Arabella sat next to Henry's bedside. Tabitha tidied the room, singing softly in the background.

Arabella suspected Uncle Joseph had spoken to Henry and told him what a shock he had given his mama and cousin Emma by wandering off into the woods instead of staying on the village green.

Henry looked at her with sad eyes, seeming close to tears. "I'm so sorry, Mama. I didn't think we'd gone so far. I saw the path leading to the woods and wanted to see if there were toadstools under the oak trees."

He looked so small and sorry, and her heart filled with love for him.

"Aunt Emma looked so worried. I think I scared her," he continued seriously.

"You can tell her you're sorry tomorrow. Why don't you draw her a picture of the daffodils in the garden? She would like that."

"She would? I'll do that tomorrow. I like Aunt Emma."

"She likes you too," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "It was an accident; no one was hurt.

"Do you think Aunt Emma likes fishing?" he asked. "I could take her fishing to say sorry."

Arabella smiled to herself. Henry had been planning a fishing expedition for days. How swiftly he had connected the need to apologize with fishing.

She nodded. "I'm sure she would be interested in watching you fish. You could show her the wildlife at the side of the lake too. There will be tadpoles, and you might see a frog or newt. Now, time to sleep. Let's tuck you in." And he put his arms around her as she gave him a small kiss.

As she walked back to her bedchamber, thoughts whirled around. She went over and over whether she could have done anything differently. Henry's personality was not going to change, and she would not want it to. He was interested in nature, and if he saw an adder in the garden, he would probably follow it rather than standing safely at a distance.

Henry may have wandered off after being told to stay on the village green, but the reason he had been sitting in the middle of the track was care and concern for Dash, who had a rose thorn in his paw.

The difficulty remained that he could have been seriously hurt today, and she would have needed to inform Christopher as co-guardian. On paper, the careless lack of oversight and the potential injury to Henry would look dire and reinforce Christopher's case that she was an unfit mother.

It took Arabella a long time to fall asleep. She had not had the strange dream since arriving in the North Riding, but soon after she fell asleep, she dreamed of the stranger in the distance and the urgency to follow and find them. She awoke suddenly feeling anxious and immediately wide awake.

Of course, I had the dream. I had to chase and find Henry in the woods today. I couldn't see him but could hear him around a bend in the forest path. Of course, I had the dream tonight.

Yet as she lay awake, she kept seeing a face with piercing blue eyes. She had to admit to herself in the dimness of candlelight that she found the stranger handsome and compelling.

Could he be the stranger in her recurring dream? Surely not.

He had left her, telling her in no uncertain terms what he thought of her. Even if they met again, she doubted very much that he would speak with her. In his opinion, she had been negligent and put her child in danger.

Wrapping herself in her robe, she sat in the winged chair next to the fire, which still burned brightly. She lit a candle, took her notebook on her knee, a graphite pencil clutched in her hand, and began writing.

In the distance, a figure did stand,

All alone, she held out her hand

The shadows crept around her feet

Tell me oh stranger, shall we ever meet?

The words flowed with images of her getting lost in a strange land and a figure on the horizon who was always in the distance. She could never get any closer to the stranger and their identity, try as she might. Poetry was her refuge, the place she poured out her emotions since Edward's death. Something had changed, and Arabella knew the themes were about searching for and finding something. If only she could discover the right path.

Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy, and she fell asleep in the chair. The housemaid found her asleep there, covered with a blanket, when she came to make the fire the next morning.