Free The Captive Bride by Gilbert Morris

decision of our lives, and you’re worried about burned potatoes!”
    â€œAnd you’ll be screaming like a madman when I put them in front of you for supper!” she laughed.
    â€œMadman I may be, but not over burned potatoes—just you,” he returned, grabbing her and whirling her around the room.
    â€œOh, Princess,” he said, holding her tightly, “I didn’t know love could be so wonderful.” He looked into her glowing face and kissed her tenderly. “My love, I—”
    â€œGood day, Brother Winslow.”
    Matthew loosed his grip on Lydia so suddenly that she almost slipped to the floor, then both of them stood there with their faces flaming, staring at John Bunyan and Elizabeth, who had come up to the front door.
    â€œOh—” Matthew stammered. “Why, Brother Bunyan, come in—we were just—just—”
    Lydia pushed at the mass of ringlets that had fallen wildly over her shoulders and moved toward Elizabeth. “Come in. Matthew and I were just discussing our future!”
    â€œIt’s a joy to see young love. I hope you’re enjoying each other like this when you’ve been married as long as some of us!” He put his arm around his wife and smiled down at her. Then he asked, “Well, Matthew, will you be going with me tomorrow to preach at Hinton?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œGood!” Bunyan gave the young man a smile. “I think you might say a few words this time, Matthew.”
    â€œYou mean—preach?”
    Bunyan smiled at his expression. “You have to begin, don’t you? We all do. Come, Elizabeth, we must go.”
    â€œHe’s a wonderful man,” Lydia murmured, watching them walk away. “So simple.”
    â€œYes, but he’s a deep one,” Matthew mused. He stared after the departing pair. “Four children! And expecting another! Elizabeth’s first—and he may be in jail or deported. How can he face up to that?”
    Lydia took his arm and said quietly, “We must pray, Matthew. And we must cling very close together. You know what I fear most?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œNot jail or persecution, but that we’ll be somehow divided.”
    â€œHow could that be, Princess?” he asked gently. “I would never leave you.”
    She stood there staring out at the disappearing forms of the Bunyans and seemed to be struck by something in their figures. “I don’t know how, but it’s what I fear. Don’t let it happen, Matthew!” she cried, throwing herself into his arms.
    â€œNever!” Matthew stated, smoothing her hair. “Let the world fall, you and I will stay together.”
    She put her head back and looked up at him with a tremulous smile. “That’s all I want, Matthew. It’s not too much to ask, is it? We may miss out on the world, but we can ask God to give us that one thing, can’t we? Is that too selfish to ask Him for—to let us stay together as long as we’re on this earth?”
    â€œNo, not too much.”
    He led her back inside the small, dark cottage and pulled the door, shutting out the outside world with all its clamor and demands. And as it closed with a firm sound, he found himself wishing that it could be as easy as this always—just leave the world, find a snug hiding place with the one you love, and shut the door.
    But as he turned to her uplifted face, he felt a wave of fatalism grip him. A cloud crossed the sun, cutting off thebright rays and leaving her a vague and indistinct shadow as she stood before him.

CHAPTER FIVE
    THE SKY IS FALLING!
    Justice Twisten lived in the largest house in Bedford, a sprawling two-story half-timbered affair, with five large chimneys rising high above the eaves. Plumes of white smoke rolled out of them, caught by the sharp September wind and twisted into a braided column against the iron-gray sky. Summer’s emerald green lay buried