Page 49 of So Wild A Heart

He led them next to the vast kitchens and the warren of small larder rooms and servants’ quarters, then took them into the main ballroom, a huge expanse of marble floor that took up most of the central wing of the bottom floor. Then they climbed up the stairs and started from the top, opening the windows in the attic to look out upon the slate tiles of the roof, many of which were broken or displaced, and examining the water damage. They made their way down, walking up and down the halls, poking into all the rooms, so that by the time they reached the second floor, where the main family rooms were, it was long past time for lunch, and they were hungry and dusty, as well.

However, Joseph and Miranda wanted to finish the tour, so Devin led them down the hall, looking into what he called the morning room, which had been paneled all in dark wine-red Cordovan leather with brass studs, now faded and cracked. Next came a music room, and across the hall was what he termed the small ballroom, a chamber about half the size of the main ballroom below. Beyond it lay the library, a large, gloomy room.

Devin crossed to the windows and pulled aside the heavy draperies, revealing a set of tall windows that faced south, letting in a pleasant light that revealed a room two stories high, filled with books.

“Oh, my…” Miranda breathed. “What a wonderful room!” Two tables and a number of well-cushioned chairs sat in the middle of the room, as well as a large globe on a stand and another stand containing a large, old, leather-bound Bible. Built-in bookcases eight feet high ran all around the room. The double bank of windows took up much of one side wall, and above the bookcases on two of the other walls were more hangings and portraits. But the fourth wall held a wooden walkway about four feet wide, reached by a wooden staircase, and that wall was also filled with bookcases.

Miranda walked all around the room, admiring everything, thinking of how she would refurbish the room and make it beautiful and comfortable. This, she knew, would be a room in which she spent much of her time. “I love it here.”

She climbed the wooden staircase to the loft of the library, noting that the banister here, too, had the tiny pinholes that indicated woodworm. When she reached the upper level, she walked along, admiring the books.

“Oh, look!” she cried. “Here are books about the house. I can’t quite see all the titles. I wonder if there is a map of the gardens in any of them.” She stepped back to get a better angle of sight to the top shelves. “I’ll need a stool.”

She went up on tiptoe, straining to see better, and reached behind her to balance her hand on the rail. The balustrade gave way beneath her hand, and Miranda, off balance, felt herself falling helplessly backward into space.

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Miranda shrieked, twisting and grabbing frantically as she fell. With one hand she managed to grab one of the slender railings, and she held on for dear life. Below her she could hear her father shout her name and the sound of feet running. Her arm felt as if it were about to tear out of its socket, and her fingers were slipping from the railing. She scrabbled desperately with her other hand for some purchase, but found nothing but slick wood floor. Then the rail snapped, and she plummeted toward the floor below.

But the seconds when she had clung to the railing had given Devin enough time to reach the spot below her, and he caught her as she fell, so that instead of crashing into the hard wood, she thudded against the solid flesh of his chest. He staggered back under the force of their collision, and they fell into a heap on the floor. For a moment they lay there, stunned. Devin’s arms were clasped around Miranda so tightly she could scarcely breathe, and she realized an instant later that she was clinging to him equally hard. She closed her eyes, and a shiver ran through her. For an instant she had thought she was gone.

“Miranda! Are you all right? Jesus God, I thought you were dead!” Her father, who had run for the stairs to climb up to her, now hurried over to where they lay.

“I—I’m all right,” Miranda said, her voice muffled by Devin’s shirt.

Joseph reached down and grasped her arm, helping her up, and Devin released her. She stood up, brushing at her dress with her hands. She wanted to burst into tears, she realized, to throw herself back against Devin’s firm chest and give way to hysterical sobs. But that was not her way. Besides, she told herself, Devin had just saved her life; she shouldn’t repay him by turning into a sodden, clinging female.

She clasped her hands together to hide their trembling and turned to Devin. She tried to give him a smile, but it didn’t work. “Thank you. You saved my life.”

“You’re welcome. I—You scared the very devil out of me.”

“Me too,” Miranda confessed, and this time a smile came out. “I should have been more careful. I know the whole place is infested with woodworm.”

Devin nodded and glanced upward at the empty stretch of balcony where the railing had fallen. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

He looked at the balcony for a long moment, a frown starting on his forehead.

“I think a nice rest would be in order for you, my dear,” Joseph said, putting his arm around his daughter. “Come along, I’ll take you up to your room.”

“But I am supposed to see Mr. Strong after this,” Miranda began to protest.

“Don’t worry about Strong. He’ll probably welcome the chance to recover from the shock of meeting you,” Devin told her with a grin. “I’ll send him a note telling him you will see him later. The place has been going to the devil for years. It won’t matter if you take another day or two to whip it into shape.”

Miranda’s legs were beginning to tremble in the aftermath of her fear, and she was afraid that she would start to shake all over if she stayed there much longer, so she nodded and let her father lead her out of the room.

Devin stood where he was for a moment, looking at the open doorway. His heart was still pounding like a mad thing. He didn’t think he would ever forget the sight of her tumbling off the loft. For an instant it had been as if the world had stopped.

He turned then and went up the staircase, walking along the loft until he got to the vacant spot where Miranda had fallen. He looked down at the break in the wood, first on one side, then on the other. They were the same—neatly sawed almost all the way through, only the bottom third torn and jagged. Someone had laid a trap, and Miranda had fallen into it.

Miranda refused to move back the wedding because of her fall. That evening, after a nap had restored her nerves, she was a little embarrassed by everyone’s concern, and she assured them all that she was fine.

“My pride is bruised, mostly,” she said with a smile. “There is no reason not to continue with the wedding as we had planned. The worst thing that’s wrong with me is a slightly sprained wrist.”

So the following afternoon Devin and Miranda were wed in the village church. The ceremony was simple and brief, as Miranda had requested, but the church was filled with the scent of the masses of white roses on either side of the altar, and the old stone church was cozy and bathed in the golden light of the fading afternoon sun. It was for Miranda a beautiful moment, sweet and profound, and the words the vicar spoke resonated through her. This was what she wanted. This was what was meant to be.

Devin’s hand was warm and firm around hers. She glanced up at him. His face showed little expression, and she wondered what he was thinking, whether he was sad or happy, or scared at the prospect of losing his freedom. She wondered if he thought of Leona and wished that it was she instead of Miranda who stood beside him there. Fiercely, Miranda swore to herself that she would someday erase the thought of Leona from his mind.

They rode back to Darkwater in an open barouche, and along the way, the people of the village turned out to wave and smile and cry out good wishes and congratulations. There would be a large party for all of them in the side yard at Darkwater this evening, while the Aincourts’ friends and family gathered to celebrate in the small ballroom.