Page 34 of A Raven Reformed

Her thoughts had been so caught up in Isaac, she’d forgotten Rosie was even there. “I thought I saw a snake, but it was just a stick,” she said quickly.

Rosie giggled. “We don’t have very many snakes here. Especially this time of year.”

Belle shrugged. “Another thing that’s different from Virginia, I guess.”

“I think perhaps we should head back inside. I’d hate to still be out here when the men come home.”

Before Rosie was close enough to see, Belle pulled her gloves off and dropped one on the ground, stuffing the other one half in her pocket.

“You’re right. We should go inside.”

When nearly back to the house, she pulled her one glove from her pocket and made a show of not being able to find the other one.

“Oh drat, I must have dropped one. Go on in. I’ll be right behind you.” Without giving Rosie a chance to argue, she turned and ran back to the trees. When it was clear Rosie wasn’t following, she hurried to the tree where she’d seen Isaac. She grabbed what turned out to be a folded piece of paper from a crack in the tree bark and quickly stuffed it into her pocket. Then she turned back to the house and picked up her glove on the way.

She held it up as she approached the house where Rosie was still waiting. “I guess I got so carried away looking for leaves, I didn’t even notice when it fell.”

“I’m glad you were able to find it.” But then Rosie gestured with her chin toward the edge of the trees in the other direction. Belle turned to look, afraid it might be Isaac, but it was one of the giants who had come to help with the search.

“I think we may have just been caught by the burlies.”

Belle laughed. “The burlies?”

“That’s what I call them. All the giant men they have working for them. It seems like every week there’s a new one I don’t recognize.”

Belle laughed even harder. “I will always think of them as the burlies from now on.”

Rosie laughed with her, but then she sighed. “We’re going to be in trouble, you know.”

“Do you think they’ll tell our husbands?”

Rosie nodded. “Undoubtedly. The men who work for our husbands are exceedingly loyal to them.”

“Well, hopefully they didn’t see us out there in the trees, and we can just say we stepped out the door for a few minutes for fresh air. No harm done if we were together and just beside the house, right?”

“We can try, but I expect I’ll be getting a lecture, anyway.” Rosie giggled and pulled the door open.

Rosie may be getting a lecture, but Belle would undoubtedly be getting a spanking if Michael knew she’d been out in the trees while he was away.

When she was finally alone in her room, she pulled out the paper from Isaac and unfolded it. There was just one line scrawled across it.

Meet me at the cottage across the bridge.

What bridge? She hadn’t spent much time out on the property, but it must not be too far if he expected her to know where to go. And presumably it was in the direction he’d run. She folded the paper back up. Tomorrow, she’d find a way to sneak out and go looking for this cottage and bridge. She didn’t understand what Isaac was doing here and needed answers.

The door to her room opened and she hastily stuffed the folded paper into her waistband to hide it.

Belle returned Lizzie’s smile as she came into the room.

“It’s nice to see you smiling again,” she said. “I hope it means this marriage is turning out to be less terrible than you had imagined it would be.”

Belle raised her brow. “Are you trying to say I told you so, Lizzie?”

She laughed softly. “Perhaps.”

ChapterTen

Michael wished he could have just stayed home enjoying giving Belle a good spanking, among other things. Instead, he’d spent the entire day searching for a man who didn’t seem to exist. McKinnon and O’Connell had searched the land around the estate, Michael and Patrick talked to all of the tenants, and Ash and Giles interviewed half of the village. No one had seen a tall, thin, dark-haired stranger. There had been signs of his presence, however. Missing food and supplies had been noticed by more than one tenant, and there had also been evidence of mischief, like the broken gate he’d helped to repair.

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