Hopeless Heart

Georgiana, who had been leaning toward him, froze. She looked at the closed expression on his face and saw that he was coldly furious. Even in the darkness of the carriage, the tension in him warned her that he was not in any mood to talk.

“You need to see a doctor.”

“It’s fine,” he said more sharply this time.

Without causing another argument, Georgiana had to accept that he didn’t need help and settled back against the seat.

CHAPTER TWENTY

She must have fallen asleep during the journey because the sudden jerking motion of the carriage suddenly stopping made her jolt in alarm. She opened her eyes in time to watch Will disembark. Confused, she studied the building outside of the window. She looked hesitantly at the hand he held out to her and reluctantly took it. The cold night air made her shiver, but it was insignificant against the deep sense of foreboding that swept through her when she stepped down from the carriage and studied the front façade of the tavern in front of her.

Will paid the driver and removed their bags from the carriage. Georgiana watched it trundle away and then turned to him.

“Come on,” he ordered with a nod to the tavern door.

“I can’t come in with you,” she replied.

“You are going to come in here,” he declared flatly. “I am just going to pack the rest of my things and then we are leaving.”

“Leaving? For where?” she asked, struggling to understand. She looked at her aunt’s door longingly. “I will go on ahead.”

She started to walk toward her aunt’s house only for Will to stop her. “No, you are coming in here with me. Then we are leaving the village.”

“To go where? Simeon is back in town, most probably with the magistrate by now. There can be no further threat tonight. Ruth is at Mrs Merriweather’s house but she won’t mind that I have returned home early given what has happened,” she protested.

Will sighed impatiently. It was clear that his battles weren’t over yet.

“You cannot stop in this village any longer, Georgiana,” Will snapped. “Now, I have spent a lot of time here waiting for you to get over whatever issues you have and stop these shenanigans but I have just about run out of patience. It is time all of this stopped, right here, right now. It is not a game. There are no second chances if anything goes wrong–like it has done tonight. It is time you returned to Cranbury. Get the rest of your things–we are leaving.”

Georgiana watched him disappear into the tavern, completely aghast. He had clearly expected her to lose interest, or get over whatever tantrum she was having, and change her mind about being here. It was clear from both his tone of voice and his high-handed behaviour, that he still intended to override her wishes and get her back to Cranbury. It frustrated her that after all the times she had repeatedly told him she had no intention of leaving here he completely refused to listen.

Arguing with him was futile. There wasn’t anything more she could say to him. If he didn’t want to listen, he wasn’t going to listen it was as simple as that. With that in mind, Georgiana walked to her aunt’s house. By the time she reached the front door she was positively shaking from the force of her anger. Once inside, she closed and bolted the front door and carried her bag up to her room where she promptly unpacked it and pushed the empty bag under her bed out of sight.

When the dull sound of knocking broke the silence of the night, Georgiana ceased her pacing before the fire and marched to the front door.

Once inside, Will looked around the empty hall.

“Where are your things?” he demanded with a frown.

Georgiana crossed her arms. “I am not going back to Cranbury. Why do you persist in considering me incapable of making decisions for myself? I am an adult. I have told you all of this. You might ignorantly refuse to believe what I have told you, but take it or leave it the truth is there. If you are going back to Cranbury, you are going to go alone and that is final.”

“I have to go back to Cranbury, Georgiana. I can’t stay in the village any longer, there are matters back at home that need my attention,” Will said calmly.

“Yes, you have a wedding to prepare for, and a bride waiting for you,” she whispered.

Will tipped his chin up proudly and kept his face impassive. He wasn’t going to beg. “You truly want to stay here?”

“It is what I need,” she whispered.

“You need to be with people who love you,” he replied harshly.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he wasn’t sure that he did. He didn’t want his reluctance to let go of a childhood friend to be clouded by his need to take care of her, which had been a part of him since the day they had first met. He wanted to love her because it was her he wanted to be with–the woman, not because he was afraid to let go of the past.

“I am. Ruth doesn’t just love me, she respects me and my decisions in life,” Georgiana replied sadly.

“I respect your decisions in life. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Will countered.

Georgiana sighed. She knew what he was going to say even before he said it. When he began to speak, something inside her died.