The Bride Wore Red At The Ladies Club: Arabella's Story

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her, standing his ground.

Jack was the most obstinate man she knew. She had been considering all the worse case scenarios when he turned up, like taking any job she could at the Old Hall once it was sold on, just so she could stay in touch with the place. The bank had foreclosed that morning, so the house would be sold on. The race was over. The battle was lost. "You've won Jack," she admitted. "It's too late to save the house, and the Old Hall deserves better than I can give it, and so do the people who used to work there. They deserve to get their jobs back, and that's something I can't give them."

Jack held up his hands, palms flat. "Stop right there. You say I've won?" His frown was so deep it cut canyons in his face. "How have I won, Bella? I'm defeated. You've defeated me. Without you I'm nothing but the orphan I always was—the man without a home, or a family, and without anyone to love. I don't have anyone to build a future with but you. If you think that's winning, then I don't know what more I can say to you—and as for the Old Hall deserving better than you can give it? How can anyone give back more than you?"

"It's too late, Jack," she said again. "The Old Hall belongs to the bank now."

"But all you ever needed was the money to put things right—"

"Aren't you listening to me, Jack? I said it's too late."

"It's never too late," he argued fiercely.

Shaking her head in exasperation, she turned to go.

"I can buy anything—everything Bella," he called after her, "except the one thing I need, which is you."

She stopped and turned. "Even if you gave me the money to pay off the debts, I would be forever in your debt, Jack, and I'm done with being in debt."

Turning on her heels, she strode away, head down, hands thrust deep in her pockets. He thought about going after her, but he'd said enough for now. And he'd seen her. He had to be content. She'd been through the wringer, and if anyone needed to cool off, it was Bella. He would give her all the time she needed.

Okay, so maybe not all that much time, he conceded as he watched her walk away.

She couldn't sleep that night after seeing Jack. Everything had fallen into a big black hole. The future of the Old Hall wasn't hers to decide. It would rest in the hands of the new owner. She didn't even know how long she could stay here. She hadn't heard a word yet. Maybe she could get a job as she had planned, she mused, thumping the pillow as she tried to find a comfortable position; that was if the new owner didn't bulldoze the place...

On that unhappy thought, she drifted off to sleep, and woke bleary–eyed and exhausted to hear someone knocking at the door. Grabbing her robe, she threw it on and belted it. Stumbling downstairs still half asleep, she opened the door to the mailman. "Yes?" she said, staring at the box in his hand.

"I've got a delivery here for a Ms. Delavinci?"

The mailman looked as puzzled as she felt. "Oh, yes, that's me," she said, remembering.

The poor man had been delivering mail to the house since shortly after she'd married Harold. No wonder he didn't recognize the name. "Sorry," she said, realizing she was keeping the mailman waiting. "Where do I sign?"

She carried the box into the kitchen, the only room in the house—apart from h

er bedroom—that she could afford to keep cozy and warm, and that was thanks to the Aga that ate up all the scraps of wood she could find.

She peeled back the tape and opened the box, then froze when she saw the contents. She knew immediately who'd sent it. The red dress was so achingly familiar, and appeared to be an exact copy of the one she'd seen in the boutique window, but this time there were some envelopes sitting on top of it.

She read the contents of the first envelope with surprise. It was a letter to say that the bank had cleared the mortgage after the sale of the house. She sighed wistfully. The sale of the house had gone through even faster than she'd thought. No surprise really. Whoever had bought it would have picked it up for a song from the bank.

She laughed when she read the contents of the second envelope. This one contained the news that both Harold and she would receive the same miniscule amount of money from the bank after all the debts had been cleared.

But at least she was free from debt. That was a cause for rejoicing.

There was one more envelope. She studied the bold script suspiciously. It was addressed to Ms. Bella Delavinci. Hmm.

She studied the contents with a growing sense of disbelief. She was the new owner of the Old Hall! But how could that be? It appeared that she owned it outright, free and clear of debt.

She owned the Old Hall?

She had to read the papers again just to be sure, but there was no mistake.

There was no mistake. Jack Castle had bought the house from the bank and put everything in her name.

Her mind blanked for a moment. She couldn't take it in. And then she frowned as she wondered how she was going to manage the repayments to Jack alongside the general maintenance of such a large property.

"So now I'm in debt to you forever," she murmured, almost jumping out of her skin when the phone rang.