Free One True Love by Lisa Follett Page A

letter, actually wasting several sheets of vellum before finding the right words to explain her decision to her parents. How could she possibly explain something she did not understand herself? She would go because Mr. Parker asked her to go, and she feared he would leave her if she did not. And then where would she be? Alone. Ashamed. Ruined.
     
    She tried to imagine being married to Mr. Parker, if only that pesky image of a taller, darker man would get out of her way. She wanted to curse Lord William for intruding on her life, but why add another sin to her list? She imagined living in Mr. Parker's London town house during the season, attending parties and routs and balls, a dream denied to her due to her inconsequential birth. As the granddaughter of an earl, she could have had a season, but her parents lacked the funds, the connections, and the interest.
     
    Each of her father's brothers were married, and perhaps one of their wives, her aunts, would sponsor her into Society, but they did not offer, and her parents did not ask. She never saw any of her father's family. She always wondered why. Her mother once told her they did not approve of his marriage. She could not imagine anyone not loving her mother, but apparently there were ghosts in her mother's closet, or her family's closet that is.
     
    Her mother's father was a baronet, a town drunk who beat his wife and children. The shadows of his abuse never quite left her mother's eyes. She often thought her mother was haunted by her past, her memories of such an awful childhood. She never met her grandfather because he died of too much drink in the gutters of London's underworld. Her mother picked up the pieces of her life and married the new, young vicar in her local parish. She thought her mother needed rescued from her life, and her father needed to be someone's knight in shining armor. Perhaps they loved each other in their own strange way, but they never showed affection, or exchanged knowing glances, or smiles.
     
    She wanted love; true, romantic, passionate love. And she believed she found it with Mr. Parker. If only Lord William did not appear in her life and shake the very foundation of belief she held so dear to her heart. She decided her feelings towards Lord William were carnal lust and sin. True love went beyond physical touches and passion. True love was like a warm cup of tea on a winter day; comforting, reliable, knowing.
     
    Her love for Mr. Parker gave her the strength to go this night. The desperate need to escape Lord William spurned her on. She would go, she would marry Mr. Parker, and she would forget the man who made her insides melt.
     

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
     
    The carriage rolled towards Scotland. The night passed into day, and the day into night. Mr. Parker told Cassie about an inn only another half hour away. Darkness descended upon them, but they continued on to their destination. They would stop to rest, then complete the trip first thing in the morning. They would be Mr. and Mrs. Parker by noon tomorrow.
     
    During the trip they played cards, read, and discussed their future life in London. Mr. Parker gave her a pillow and encouraged her to sleep during the night, but her mind buzzed and her heart pounded. She could not sleep when she just embarked on the adventure of her life. She was always a good girl, following the rules of propriety, minding her manners, respecting her elders, never causing a breath of scandal, until now, until recently. Her actions were proving more and more scandalous by the moment.
     
    She could hardly believe what she was doing, what she was going to do, but she made her decision, and she knew it was the right one. If only something would stop nagging at the back of her mind. She could not put a finger on it, but there was an itch, a bother, something pulling at her and twisting her and imploring her to turn around and go home. She decided it was bridal nerves, and the guilt she felt for sneaking off