Page 107 of Never Leave Me
Her eyes reflected her joy but also a sorrow that she was trying so desperately to contain. And he loved her all the more for it.
After they completed the paperwork, Drake escorted the nurse and priest away. Once Harrison was alone with Ellen, he drew her close again. “I love you, Lady Burlington.” He kissed the top of her head.
She started to meld into him but then stiffened. Her attention riveted to a section of the tower floor awash with the last light of the setting sun. She wriggled away from him and approached the spot almost reverently.
He followed. “What is it?”
She knelt and brushed her hand across one of the stones. “Has this engraving of the tree always been in this stone?”
“I rarely come up here.” He had only been up a time or two when Drake had carried him as a young boy. “But as far as I know, it has been there.”
Ellen traced the simple outline of the tree. “The day my dad and I were here together, he said that if all else failed, he would consider hiding holy water in the tower since it’s one of the original structures of Chesterfield Park that weathered time.”
Harrison bent to take a closer look at the stone and markings.“Do you think your dad had the tree engraved to mark another hiding place?”
Ellen glanced up, her eyes alight with hope. “It’s a tree. Why else would there be an engraving of a tree?”
Wariness settled over Harrison. She was desperate enough to hope in anything. And he didn’t want her hopes to rise only to have them crash. But what else could he do except figure out a way to pry the stone loose?
He phoned Drake to bring tools. And as they waited, they dug at it with their fingers but to no avail. When Drake returned with a knife, chisel, hammer, and several other items, they began to chip away. Drake mentioned having seen another engraving like it in a hearth stone in one of the guest rooms that was seldom used.
Harrison was surprised when the stone began to loosen after just a few minutes. Ellen’s face reflected her easy optimism. But he couldn’t allow himself to anticipate anything. It would be too cruel to give way to the possibility he might get more than one night with his wife.
As the stone shifted, Ellen dug harder, until at last Drake used the chisel as a lever to lift the stone out of its place. It scraped and screeched as it came free, clearly not having been moved in hundreds of years.
Drake grunted as he hefted it aside, revealing a space underneath.
Ellen peered into the hole and then quickly covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes rounding.
Harrison’s mouth went dry, and he couldn’t bear to look. “What is it?”
She met his gaze. Tears spilled over and began to run down her cheeks. She reached inside and removed a bottle crafted out of the same green glass that she’d used for the other holy water.
“Dad did this.” She choked the words out even as she criedmore tears and laughed at the same time. “Do you know what this means?”
Harrison sat back on his heels, suddenly so overwhelmed with relief that he couldn’t speak.
“It means Dad made it out of Reider Castle back to Chesterfield Park.”
Drake gently took the bottle from Ellen and began to pry at the cork.
“The rescue worked, Harrison.” She smiled through glossy eyes. “Dad lived.”
The cork began to crumble. Drake made quick work of clearing out the pieces and then handed the bottle to Harrison, his eyes beseeching him to drink it right away. Harrison lifted a hand to take it from the faithful servant but found he was shaking too much.
Ellen intercepted the container. “I couldn’t ask for a better wedding present from my dad than this.”
Had Arthur placed the holy water here as a part of his plan to divide and disperse the water? Maybe he’d hidden bottles in many places and marked the spots with the tree engraving.
Ellen’s smile amidst her tears radiated joy. “Dad saved the life of the man I love.”
“Come on now, my lord,” Drake said more urgently. “Let’s get on with it.”
Harrison placed his hand over Ellen’s, and together they tipped the glass bottle. Harrison drank the liquid, and the warmth of the healing water spiraled through his veins and throughout his body. The journey they’d taken hadn’t been easy. But he’d learned that hardships truly were the pathway to peace. And love.
Whatever might lie ahead, they wouldn’t walk around the hardships and aim only for the wellsprings. Instead, they’d walk hand in hand through the difficulties, growing stronger together.
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