Page 56 of The Vagabond Viscount
Locking the gate behind her, Augusta made her way to the hillside path. Her destination—the nearby All Saints’ Chapel and the man she loved. Viscount Flynn Cadnam.
ChapterThirty-One
By the time she finally arrived at the bottom of the narrow set of stairs which led up to the front door of the chapel, Augusta’s hands were trembling. In her haste, she had missed the doorway in the dark and been forced to retrace her steps. Panic threatened.
With her heart pounding hard in her chest, her greatest fear was that she was going to faint once more. She dreaded suffering the indignity of being found by some stranger while lying in an unconscious state in the street. That would be the ultimate humiliation. Not to mention extremely dangerous.
She stopped and took a slow, deep breath, but it did little to calm her racing heart and mind. On the walk over from Palazzo Lazio, Augusta had considered what her first words to Flynn might be, but nothing seemed quite right.
The long descent down the hill hadn’t helped. In the dark, she’d had to go slow and make sure not to lose her footing. By the time she reached the street far below and then made her way around to the piazza, Augusta was a barely held-together bundle of rapidly fraying nerves.
What did you say to the man who you had loved, lost, and buried in your heart?
“This is Flynn. It shouldn’t matter what I say.”
But it did.
Her feet touched the edge of the first step, and she slowly made the climb. For each footfall, her heart was thumping. Flynn. Flynn. Flynn. Being this close to something she had dreamed of, had prayed for, seemed almost unbelievable.
Halfway up the stairs, Augusta stopped. Her heart was beating so fiercely in her chest she feared she might collapse before she could make it to the top.
When she finally did make it to the small landing at the head of the stairs, she found herself standing in front of a dark brown door. A notice on the nearby wall read.
All Saints’ Chapel
Daily Mattins
Sunday Holy Communion with visiting Church of England ministers
Augusta scowled. It didn’t look much like a church. Or not the kind of one she was used to visiting.
What did Gideon say? It’s a meeting hall, not a proper chapel. I don’t care, just as long as he is here.
Her hand shook as she rapped lightly on the door. From the other side came the unmistakable thud of boots on a wooden floor. Augusta was quickly losing the fight against the rising tide of tears.
When the door finally opened, a miraculous sight appeared. A tall, ruggedly handsome man with cool blue eyes. She barely managed a tiny “Flynn,” before her vision blurred, and she broke into shuddering sobs.
* * *
“Augusta,” he whispered. Her name left his lips like a prayer. Flynn swept Augusta gently up into his arms, wrapping her in his embrace. For the longest time, he simply held her. No words had ever been written which could convey what this moment meant to him. He was rendered speechless. The sheer magnitude of this impossible, wonderous reunion would have failed even the great bard himself to put to prose.
Augusta.
The long nights when he had lain close to death’s door and thought of her came flooding back in a heated rush. It robbed Flynn of everything but the deepest, most humble sense of gratitude for having been gifted this day. For having survived long enough to finally see her again. To hold the woman he loved in his arms.
Augusta.
When she finally drew back, Augusta lifted her head to meet his gaze. The hood of her cloak fell away, and as it did Flynn could have sworn that his heart stopped beating.
She reached up and pulled on the pale blue ribbon which held up her hair. Unfettered by pins or ties, her long brown locks fell in a stunning cascade over her shoulders. Flynn gasped at the sight. She’d always known how much he adored her hair.
His fingers itched to run wildly through her long tresses. There was nothing better in the world than when this woman was in his arms, and his hands were in her hair.
“You let your hair down, just how I like it,” he croaked in a tight voice.
“Flynn,” she whispered and gave him a shy smile. Tears ran down her cheeks.
His heart began to beat once more.
