“In my dream, you are beside me as I wake.” She stretched one leg on the footstool. “You seem, if I may be so bold, to rather fancy me.”
Alexander breathed a laugh. “Oh, indeed. This does sound like a dream.”
Isabelle closed her eyes again. “I believe I shall continue to sleep so I can hold this dream awhile longer,” she murmured.
“My dear Isabelle,” Alexander said, tracing his finger along her hairline, soft as a whisper, “if you so desire, I shall be at your side every time you wake. I shall prove to you beyond any doubt that you are more precious to me than anyone or anything. I shall strengthen my arms to hold you close. You shall never need wonder nor worry. I shall do all I can to make your every waking moment better than a dream.”
Isabelle sighed and reached for him. With bandaged arms, she pulled his hands to her heart. “Can it be true? I do so hope I am truly awake.” She sat up further and faced Alexander. “I don’t mean to doubt you, but I am afraid. It is difficult for me to believe.”
“How can I prove to you that it is all true?” he asked, his voice filled with hope and longing. “You have suffered, worked, and cared for me, and all the while I was the most difficult patient.”
She stroked the side of his face with her cloth-bound hand. “I only hoped to win your love.”
“And I hoped nothing more than that I could grow to deserve you,” he whispered.
“Just as you are,” she said, eyes shining with love and with an emerging confidence. “Just exactly as you are.”
Isabelle rose and stood in front of his chair. “May I?” she asked as she climbed into his lap.
Curled up in his arms, she felt him enfold her. “How it is possible that you fit so perfectly?” Alexander whispered into her hair.
She nuzzled her face into his neck, absorbing his increasing strength. “I believe perhaps we have always fit together so well. We simply needed some time to discover the truth,” she said.
He placed a gentle hand beneath her chin and tilted her head toward his. “Isabelle,” he breathed, “my dearest Isabelle. How can I say it? You have saved my life, my work, and my heart. I will spend every remaining day proving my love to you.”
She turned her head to meet his eye. “Mr. Osgood, did you say love?”
“Oh, Isabelle,” he said. “I love you more than I would have ever thought possible.”
“And I love you, Alec.”
Before she could finish speaking his name, his lips touched her own in a tender and tentative kiss. As she rose to meet him in response, he clasped her more closely. As the sky outside lightened and the sun rose, they took no notice at all, so absorbed were they in discovering each other.
It was high summer, and Isabelle and Alexander had only just returned from a week’s stay at Wellsgate. Upon freshening up in their bedroom, which once had been the parlor, Isabelle heard a knock at the door.
“Pardon me, ma’am, but Glory Kenworthy and her mother are here to see you both. Mr. Osgood is already sitting with them in the drawing room.”
Isabelle nodded her thanks and checked her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Over the past few months, all her injuries had healed, save one. The back of her right hand, badly burned from the mill fire, had a patch of puckered skin. Isabelle did not mind the blemish, mainly because Alexander called it her badge of honor, and he placed a tender and grateful kiss upon it each morning and night.
As she stepped across the entry hall and into the drawing room, Isabelle heard the discordant sound of several atonal musical notes being played together and Glory and Alexander laughing.
“Perhaps not yet,” Glory said, “but I believe Mrs. Osgood could teach you.”
“What could I teach you, Alec?” Isabelle asked, catching a glimpse of the relaxed and playful husband she was coming to know and adore.
“To play the pianoforte,” he said, grasping the wheels of his chair and backing away from the instrument. He moved his chair beside the one Isabelle sat in. “It will not be the most challenging thing you have attempted,” he added, giving her a wink.
She reached for his hand, always preferring to be touching him when they were in the same room. Which was, undoubtedly, most of the time.
Isabelle glanced at the small wooden box set with care and joy in the center of the drawing room’s central table—a place where she could see it every day, beside a bowl of perfectly ripe pears. Only after her recovery did she fully realize the gift Alexander had given her at Christmas. Beneath the gift of new writing paper, he had placed ever so many undelivered notes he had written to her, at first with his own hand, and then, when his hands no longer allowed, in the writing of Yeardley or Mrs. Burns. Every message, penned over months, a testament to his growing love for his wife.
Glory reached for a paper-wrapped package beside her.
“For you,” she said, obviously eager for Isabelle to open it.
Isabelle clapped her hands. “Is it our painting?” she asked, pulling the paper away.
Glory nodded. “Even if it does not look exactly as you look, it looks like you feel.”
Isabelle pulled the painting upright and held it in front of her and Alexander. It was the two of them, Isabelle smiling forward, and Alexander staring at her from the side, a look of happy surprise on his face.
Glory explained. “The last time I came to paint you, this is how he looked at you when you were singing. And now it is how he looks at you always.”
Isabelle stood and crossed the drawing room to take Glory in her arms. “Thank you. It is lovely. Almost perfect.”
Glory looked surprised. “Almost?” she asked.
Isabelle nodded. “I fear that soon I will need to trouble you to make another. Our family, you see,” she said, “is growing.”
Glory clasped her hands at her heart. “Are you finally getting a puppy?” she asked, all joy and excitement.
Isabelle’s hands went to her stomach, where a small bulge reminded her every day that there was ever something more wonderful to look forward to.
“Even better,” she said.
I offer my sincere thanks to all whose hearts hold a love for stories of the past, both real and imagined. There are endless tales to be told.
Thanks to the tireless team at Shadow Mountain, who make publishing look easy: Lisa Mangum, Heidi Taylor Gordon, and Chris Schoebinger, the editorial Dream Team; Troy Butcher and Callie Hansen in sales and marketing (that’s a whole lot like professional party planning); Richard Erickson and Heather Ward in design; and Rachael Ward for the lovely typography. And a special thanks to Carly Springer for a careful proofreading eye.
Writing can be a lonely, solitary experience, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m so grateful to be a member of several writerly communities through which I have learned to tighten my prose, balance what matters, and see new possibilities. Thanks to all the writer friends who pull together when it matters, especially my Proper Romance sisters and my Barbie girls. Special gratitude to Jenny Proctor, who promises to love almost everything I write and helps me polish up the rest of it. And Stephanie Sorensen, who took a fortunate trip to northern England and sent back photos and videos of Victorian-era mills. Next time, I’ll join you.
What a joy to be able to be a high school teacher in a community of amazing colleagues. We’re constantly surrounded by the best, brightest, and most delightful young adults in the world. Their readiness to make the world better inspires me daily.
I have an amazing family. The deep goodness of my husband and kids is a great comfort, and I am occasionally startled by new realizations of my good fortune. Thanks for being my people.
And thank you, readers, for sharing your hours. You give our characters a reason to live.
1.Isabelle and Alexander is not a typical romance. In what ways does their marriage still allow for the important question, “Will they fall in l
ove?”
2.The Victorian era was a time of great reform in society, in industry, and in interpersonal relationships. How is Isabelle helped into a sense of independence within the confines and opportunities of this changing time period?
3.Alexander’s natural reticence is compounded by a feeling of being socially “beneath” Isabelle’s family. How does a perceived difference in social stature affect a relationship?
4.Isabelle and her cousin Edwin have a close family friendship. Do you have a special friend in your family?
5.Industry in 1850 changed much of the landscape of some of England’s northern cities, Manchester in particular. Isabelle moves from the country to the city and finds herself initially repulsed by the huge buildings belching coal smoke. Would you have preferred the country to the city? What are the benefits of each?
6.Glory Kenworthy is a young woman of both talent and disability in a time in which families were generally expected to send people with physical or mental disabilities away to institutions or asylums. What kinds of contributions have you witnessed from people of differing abilities?
7.Isabelle waits (perhaps too long) to make her mark on Alexander’s home. How do you determine what makes your space your own?
8.Alexander’s injury changes everything about his life, or so he believes. How would an accident like this affect your life? The life of someone you care about?
9.Both Alexander and Isabelle depend on the well-meaning nudges of Mrs. Burns and Doctor Kelley to give them confidence to fall in love. Do you have people in your life who lend you bravery to do the things that will be best for you?
Photo by Scott Wilhite
By night, Rebecca Anderson writes historical romances. By day, she sets aside her pseudonym and resumes her life as Becca Wilhite: teacher, happy wife, and a mom to four above-average kids. She loves hiking, Broadway shows, food, books, and movies.
You can find her online at beccawilhite.com.
Fall in Love with a
Proper Romance
Nancy Campbell Allen
My Fair Gentleman
The Secret of the India Orchid
Beauty and the Clockwork Beast
Kiss of the Spindle
The Lady in the Coppergate Tower
Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts
Julianne Donaldson
Edenbrooke
Blackmoore
Sarah M. Eden
Longing for Home
Hope Springs
The Sheriffs of Savage Wells
Healing Hearts
Ashes on the Moor
The Lady and the Highwayman
The Gentleman and the Thief
Leah Garriott
Promised
Arlem Hawks
Georgana’s Secret
Krista Jensen
Miracle Creek Christmas
Josi S. Kilpack
A Heart Revealed
Lord Fenton’s Folly
Forever and Forever
A Lady’s Favor (eBook)
The Lady of the Lakes
The Vicar’s Daughter
Miss Wilton’s Waltz
All That Makes Life Bright
Mayfield Family Series
Promises and Primroses
Daisies and Devotion
Rakes and Roses
Ilima Todd
A Song for the Stars
Megan Walker
Lakeshire Park
Becca Wilhite
Check Me Out
Julie Wright
Lies Jane Austen Told Me
Lies, Love, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Glass Slippers, Ever After, and Me
A Captain for Caroline Gray
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
About the Author
Landmarks
Cover
Isabelle and Alexander Page 26
