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Rebellious Angel Prologue, Lancashire County, England 1814 Lynn Carrington struggled to regain her balance, as she fought the man that was lifting her from her bed. “No,” she protested, drowsily. “Leave me be, I do not want to leave here, my mother needs me.” “Hush now, dear one, do not tire yourself, allow me to give you strength.” Aidan Fletcher the Marquess of Lynley said comfortingly. The warm English spring breeze traveled through the open window, raising the hair upon his bare arms, where he had hastily pushed up his sleeves. “You could be ill, Lynn, and you need to be taken care of. I can’t risk losing you. Don’t you realize how very important you are to me?!” Aidan proclaimed urgently, fighting back the tears that he could feel welling up in his eyes. “I told you to release me, and I expect you to abide by my wishes,” She attempted to slip from his grasp but found to her utter despair that he was far stronger than she had anticipated. “One, day, in the future, you will realize that what I am doing today is only for your own precarious health,” he insisted, wrapping a blanket around her shivering form. “You might contract the fever that your mother has fallen ill with, even now you look as if your health is weakening.” Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she knew that whatever happened, she had to give him the fight of his life. “You stormed into my bedchamber in the middle of the night, and you honestly believe that I am not supposed to be outraged?” She pushed against him with all of her might. Her eyes widened at the thought, as her annoyance suddenly turned to contempt. “Have you gone insane? Can you not tell that it is the middle of the night, and that your place is certainly not here, you have over stepped your boundaries, my lord,” she spat out, finally escaping from his clutches. “You will come with me, my dear one,” he promised resolutely, clenching his teeth. “Even if I have to drag you kicking, and screaming from here. You are my intended, and therefore your health is of great concern to me. I will not have you jeopardizing it, even if it is out of love for your mother.” He finished stonily, at his grimly resolved words a determined gleam had erupted in his eyes, and as Lynn caught sight of it, her heart sank heavily. “You can’t take me away from Lansbury Park, my father and brothers will not allow it. Can’t you see that my mother needs me?” she pleaded desperately, attempting to sway his decision to take her from her family estate. “Have you no compassion for the woman, that you say you love? If you take me from here, I will never forgive you, I can promise you that. Please, Aidan, do not betray the love that we share.” She tilted her head back so that she could stare plaintively up into his glistening emerald orbs. “I am not betraying you my love. I am only protecting you, and I promise you that one day you will come to understand the decision that I have already made.” Aidan voice was calm, as he stepped towards her. “Come with me Lynn, you have no other choice, there is no one left that is worthy enough to rescue you. I am sorry that you feel the way that you do, but I will risk angering you, if it means that I will be saving your life. Come now.” He beckoned to her, and for one brief moment she was at a loss for words. He stepped towards her, and attempted to take her by the arm, but he let out a strangled curse that echoed through the room as she stamped down hard upon his foot. “Bloody hell!” he barked, grimacing widely with pain. Pain shot up through his foot, searing into his leg. For such a small and delicate woman she could deliver one hell of a punch. Even if she had been using her foot, instead of her fist. But it was her defiant scowl that enticed him to regain his calm composure. He wanted to have a resounding fight with her. She had vexed him so terribly. But since he was presently in her bedchamber, in the wee hours of the morning, he realized with instant clarity, that his temptation would have to remain unfulfilled. “Dammit, you little minx. If you think that your display of violence will dissuade me in any way, then our relationship over the past six months has obviously served to teach you nothing.” She stepped away from him, and grudgingly moved over to the side of her bed, where she had left her dressing gown. “Pray, afford me the time that it will take to get dressed,” she whispered, unmoving, her heart racing with the confusion that she now felt overwhelming her. She was suffocating, of that much she was sure. Aidan had always been a constant in her life, one that she had always instinctively turned to whenever she was in need. Right now, she needed to turn to him for comfort, and yet he was the one that was causing her such miserable suffering. “Do not be angry with me.” She remained unmoving even as she heard the desperate despair in his strangled voice. “To my unending despair, I realize know that I can not rely on you anymore,” she declared emptily, as a hollow void began tearing at her insides. “I beg you to leave me, while I dress for the journey that lays before me. I will not fight you again, for you have broken my heart today Aidan. And I fear that I do not have the strength that is necessary to challenge you.” Her rigid posture sank with defeat and her glorious sherry-eyes became heavy with haunted despair. Aidan retreated, and began walking towards the door. “Do not be concerned about your belongings. I will send someone for them once I know that you are safe at Leighton Castle.” “I trust that I will not be alone there?” she queried, absently, as she began moving towards her cherry-wood wardrobe. Sorrow filled her voice, coupled with what remarkably resembled defeat. Aidan’s heart constricted with worry, and he resisted the strong urge to gather her into his arms. “No, I have taken the liberty of calling upon my mother for assistance. She will see that you are never left alone,” Aidan promised, silently imploring her to direct her attention back to him. “That is fine then,” Lynn whispered somberly, as she turned to look back at him. “But know this, you disgust me!” she finished, the finality of her words paining him, almost as if he had been stabbed with a knife. The door closed heavily behind him, as he left her alone, as she had asked him to do. Lynn sank down upon the warm hard wood floor, and allowed the full extent of her emotions to overtake her. She sobbed with complete abandon, as she crumpled the dressing gown that she held in her hands beneath her fingers. Her dreams for the future were no more, and instead, they had been replaced by the worst of injuries. A broken heart. Copyright©2004MarlyMathews |
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