The Cursed Countess (The Daring Drake Sisters 1)

“Tessa, do not leave!”

Hearing Jack’s voice, she urged Fiona off. “I shall be fine on my own,” she said to the stable boy. She galloped down the path and moved into the pasture. She prayed she could make it to the tree line in the distance before Jack could saddle his horse and find her. It had been ages since she’d had the chance to ride with abandon. The line of trees came closer with each passing minute. Slowing Fiona down, Tessa glanced back and noticed Jack gaining on her. Drat him, he must have already had his horse saddled.

Entering the dense forest, she had no choice but to stay on the path. The sound of Jack’s galloping horse grew louder until she realized he had already entered the forest but unlike her, he hadn’t slowed his gait.

“Tessa, rein in.”

“No, I am riding and I don’t need an escort.”

“Bloody hell you don’t.”

Before she knew it, he had come alongside her and grabbed the reins from her grip. Fiona stopped and Tessa jumped down eager to get away from the man who had broken her heart.

“Where are you going?” he asked as he jumped off his horse.

“As far away from you as possible,” she retorted and strode toward a break in the trees. A small pasture with a pond opened before her.

“You are on the lands I grew up on. I know them like the back of my hand so it is doubtful that you will be able to evade me.”

Tessa walked to the edge of the pond and sat down. He was right. She would never be able to get away from him while she was at his brother’s home. Pulling her knees up to her chest, her tears finally fell. “Please leave me alone,” she sobbed.

“You know I cannot,” he whispered above her.

She heard the rustle of his clothing as he sank down to the ground beside her. “Why?”

“Why? You are a guest here and don’t know the lands. I have no wish for you to get lost.”

“Would you ask for a carriage to take me home? To London?” she asked softly.

“I thought you wanted to travel to Venice.”

“I just want to be left alone,” she cried.

“No, that is not what you really want, Tessa.”

She lifted her head and glared at him, not caring if he saw the tears streaming down her face. “What do you know about my desires?”

“More than you think,” he answered with a rakish smile. “I saw the look on your face when you held George.”

“It matters not since I shall never have a child and family of my own.” She rose and then looked around. There was no place she could go where he wouldn’t find her. “I shall never be a mother,” she whispered.

“Of course you will.” Jack stood and faced her. He lifted her chin until she had no choice but to look into his eyes. “You will be a loving mother.”

Her tears fell again. “I have been married three times, Jack. None of those marriages produced a child. There were times we were not careful and I never conceived. I must be barren.”

Slowly, he brought his arms around her and held her against his chest. “Your marriages didn’t last long enough to prove anything and there were only two times I wasn’t careful. It took Georgiana five months to get with child the first time. And there are four years between Winnie and George.”

She could hear his heart beating in his strong chest. She shouldn’t allow him to give her comfort but she seemed unable to stop until she remembered all that he had done. Pressing her hands to his chest, she pushed him away. “Do not try to comfort me when you are partly to blame for my heartbreak.”

“Tessa, would you please let me explain?”

“There is nothing to explain. You were doing your job, nothing more. You thought nothing of putting me in Newgate to rot just to get a confession out of the duke.”

“That is not true,” Jack said with a scowl. “I thought long and hard about how to get a confession out of him.”

“And that is supposed to make me feel better?”

“I said it all wrong,” he said, walking away from her. “I never wanted to put you in Newgate. It was the hardest decision I had ever made.” He turned to face her again, agony etched upon his face. “It was torture knowing you were alone in there.”