Free Dare To Love by Trisha Fuentes

been? I would have never met Charles…never would have to
break his heart…”
     
    Phyllis grabbed Gwendolyn’s head and wrapped
her palms around her face, “Break his heart? Why my dear Gwendolyn,
why would you think you would have to break your fiancé’s heart?
Why, when you care for someone, love cannot be pushed aside and
buried away.”
     
    “But it has Phyllis; love has been pushed
aside and buried away. And seeing him again…seeing those incredible
hypnotizing green eyes of his makes me want to know the man he has
now become.”
     
    “Oh dear,” Phyllis remarked, letting go of
Gwendolyn’s face realizing what direction the conversation was
heading. “Well,” she decided instantly, “I think I know what your
Great-Aunt would say.”
     
    “What?” Gwendolyn asked, blowing her nose
into her skirts.
     
    “At least you have a choice,” Phyllis
alleged, “The documents won’t be ready for a few more days…try and
get to know the man, you may find out he has changed entirely too
much from the young fellow you used to know. Then your decision
will be less of a burden.”
     
    “And what if I discover I like how he has
improved?”
     
    Phyllis grabbed her hand and held it within
hers for a moment, “Then you must weigh your alternatives.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Because I have learned from Mrs. Hornebrook
that his wedding is less than ten days away.”
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Thomas found Katrina sulking outside by her
favorite duck pond; Amy was by her side and looked up immediately
at Thomas who stood immobile.
     
    Before approaching her, he wondered what to
say. He brought to mind all the other women in his life and how
each of them, in their own distinctive way, aided him towards
happiness and to get over the first.
     
    When he returned to Britain, solitude beset
him and he took comfort in the arms of a barmaid with russet curls.
Holding her for hours afterwards, he cried in her arms, beholden to
her compassionate character and resemblance. Many nights
henceforward he could be found crouched down to Gwendolyn’s
portrait at Gisleham. Staring at her picture for hours upon hours,
until the very sight of her gamine smile pained him to a degree
where he was unable to breath.
     
    At twenty and happening upon the season,
Thomas was then shocked to realize how many women found him
attractive. Practically overnight, he had developed from a lanky
lad to a robust, mesmeric male. Confidence then grew with every
giggling female he came across, every assessment of an interested
woman’s eyes. Women of every stature seemed to flock to him and he
could not understand why; he did not know how to deal with so much
attention and began to withdraw. While most good-looking men relish
in their female appeal, their flamboyance sampling every feminine
being in sight, Thomas did not. Waking up in the arms of a stranger
did not feel comfortable to him and he began searching for
compassion.
     
    Never intending on marrying again, he took
company of several forlorn widows’. Mrs. Putnam, a widow in her
early forties whose husband once a wealthy gent, left her with an
estate to run, too much time on her hands and oh so much money to
spend. She approached Thomas initially, and showed him how to make
love without leaving an unwanted pregnancy. She helped passed the
time and Thomas ended their affair when he stumbled upon Mrs.
Putnam and her new playmate in bed together. Thomas was saddened to
hear that the enthusiastic Mrs. Putnam perished recently in an
unfortunate collision when her carriage wheel hit another, thus
toppling over with her inside.
     
    Then there was Mrs. Carmichael, a widow in
her early thirties. She was a tigress in bed, teaching him how to
pleasure a woman at the outset so that their encounter was a more
sensual, lasting experience. He liked her very much but she quickly
grew possessive and Thomas had no other choice but to terminate
their liaison. He had continued his acquaintance