After two weeks had passed in her new home, Abigail was sure that she had wandered around every room in the house as well as the pebbled path gardens around the estates. Her life was seeming to be very dull and was desperate for any distraction. For this reason, she started to seek her husband out.
It wasn’t an easy task at first as the estate was so vast. Finally, Abigail remembered that Colton was often in his office before and should expect to find him there again. She did so.
She looked at Colton as she quietly slipped into the room. There was no sound outside the flip of his book page and the soft swishing of her cotton morning dress.
When Abigail took a few soft steps into the room, Colton raised his head to the sound. It was easy to see that he wasn’t expecting her. Abigail came to sit on the couch across from Colton as he set his book to the side.
He watched her movements and seemed to wait for her to speak first. She didn’t really know what to say. All she was sure of was that she didn’t want to be left alone in such a big house any longer.
“I got a letter from Isabella,” Abigail finally started after a few moments of silence.
“Oh,” Colton said now seeing perhaps she was here to share the news with him. “And how is she?”
“Fine. She had her baby. It was a little girl, and both baby and mother are healthy.”
“That is a relief. I must admit I was a tad worried about her health at the end. But she has always been so strong…” he trailed off.
“Yes, I suppose that worry was my doing,” Abigail said looking at her hands with guilt.
“Completely,” Colton agreed.
Abigail’s eyes shot up from her hands to meet his cool gaze. It was not a proper sort of response. She relaxed a bit when he gave that soft teasing smile he wore from time to time.
Abigail was happy to hear him tease her again. Her relationship with Colton seemed like she was traveling over a mountain range continually going up and down. The last weeks since their marriage had been full of apprehension and unease. She hoped that perhaps now they were turning the bend for another upswing.
“How did she name the baby?” Colton asked actually enjoying keeping a conversation up for the first time in a very long time.
He couldn’t help but recognize that when he did enjoy a conversation, was in fact one he had with Abigail. Any other person, even those under his employment, he rather dreaded speaking with. With Abigail, however, it was like a ray of sunshine in what was otherwise a dreary world.
“Um,” Abigail hesitated with a rose to her pale cheeks. “They named her Abigail actually.”
“A splendid choice, if I say so myself,” Colton responded thoroughly enjoying the embarrassment Abigail was experiencing from the knowledge that her niece was named in her honor.
“Do you really think so?” Abigail asked with an upturned brow.
She seemed to show no genuine belief in his words.
“Well,” Colton responded relaxing back in his seat and rubbing his chin in thought, “I mean I can’t speak for anyone else, but in my opinions Ladies named Abigail tend to be quite unique.”
“Unique how?” Abigail encouraged his flirtation.
“Stubborn, to start.”
Abigail opened her jaw in shock. She wasn’t truly offended by his words for she was a stubborn creature.
“They also tend to have a wild spirit, an aversion to keeping their thoughts to themselves,” he narrowed his eyes at her, “even unpleasant ones that shouldn’t be spoken. More than this, I have found them to be quite enchanting and without a doubt a rare gem.”
Abigail looked away blushing at his last words. Now that they were joined together in matrimony, his teasing seemed to press heavier on her heart. Unquestionably, he didn’t mean any more of it then he did before.
“So was it the letter then that brought you to seek me out,” he asked after a few more seconds of silence.
“No,” Abigail responded. “I wanted to seek out the library for a book.”
She looked to the shelves behind him. It was partly right, but she was also looking for someone to talk to. She wasn’t used to going so long without having someone to speak with.
“I never really took you for someone who enjoyed reading extensively,” Colton retorted.
“No, I suppose not. I prefer to be outdoors. I know that won't be possible soon, however, so I guess I am looking for alternative uses of my time. I'm not used to being alone for such long periods.”
Colton felt a stab of guilt at her words. Abigail wasn't the type to be shut away in a country estate all alone. Perhaps he would suggest that she return to London and stay with his sister and mother as he thought she might have wanted to done already.
“Do you think I could join you here from time to time?” Abigail asked before he could have time to suggest another alternative to her loneliness.
“If that is what you wish,” he hesitated for a moment, “but why?”
“I can’t bear the silence any longer,” she said always full of honesty.
“I am sorry things haven’t been to your liking here,” Colton replied.
It was an intriguing thought to Colton that, where he had relished the privacy the country home had afforded him these last weeks, it was probably miserable for Abigail.
“It’s not that. The place is beautiful. I am settling in very well actually. I just…” Abigail hesitated a minute not sure how to put into words what seemed missing from her life now. “I suppose I need someone to talk to from time to time. I know you must be very busy, and shan't want to interfere with that, but perhaps if we could set aside time just to visit…”
Abigail seemed to trail off in her words. She wasn’t exactly sure how to express her feelings these days as she regularly felt a jumble of emotions as of late.
“I think that might be nice,” Colton said before she could finish her thought. “The town is also not that far away. You are welcome to go anytime you wish.”
“Would you come with me?” Abigail asked watching him hesitantly.
He opened his mouth to respond but knew it wouldn’t be the answer she was looking for. He had no desire to leave the safety of his home. He couldn’t even imagine how these country villagers would treat him. His own kind had been nothing but disappointing, how could expect any better from those here?
“I’m not sure that is a wise decision for me,” Colton said turning his scarred face away from Abigail. “But you are welcome to take Mildred and go on your own. I can assure you it is very safe here.”
“Yes of course,” Abigail said not wanting to push the subject.
Unlike Lady Louisa and the Duchess of Wintercrest, Abigail had never seen the need to push Colton out of the fortress he had built around himself. She much believed that she should let others do as they wished, within reason of course. She hoped for the same courtesy and would be hypocritical of her not to allow the same in others.
Now that she found herself completely alone and miles away from any connection or relative, she discovered her husband's protective shell very cumbersome. If they were to stay here together, he would need to open up more, at least to her.
“What are you reading there,” Abigail asked with a nod to change the subject.
“It is a narrative on an explorer’s experiences in the new America.”
“So, you are still planning on going then?” Abigail asked doing her best to hide her disappointment to the fact. She would be then left here completely and utterly alone.
“Yes,” Colton responded having no idea of her reservations.
In fact, in many ways, Colton thought he was doing his new wife a favor by removing himself. She would be free to attend society with his name as protection and without the necessity of his presence.
It would seem gossip-worthy for a new wife to attend events while her husband stayed back in his country estate. If he was, however, adventuring and seeing to property in other lands, it was entirely within reason that she would attend without his presence.
He instead thought he was allowing her the freedom and happiness she once had restored back to her. It seemed to be the only way he could provide pleasure to his bride in their new marriage.
“Would you tell me what it is about?” Abigail asked not ready to end the conversation. “I have heard only a little bit about the separation of the territory from the crown and what it is like there.”
“If you wish,” Colton hesitated for a second, “Abigail,” he finished trying her name on his lips.
He relaxed into his seat as he spent the rest of the afternoon explaining to his bride all the dangers, perils, and excitements said to be found in the new world. As he spoke of all he had thus learned, he couldn’t help but feel more excited about the prospect.
The war may have changed him vastly inwardly and outwardly, but he still had that small spark of adventure within him. He wondered how his father would feel about him taking his nature on yet another long voyage to an unforgiving front. A pang of guilt struck a chord at the thought. He would never know the answer to such question, and it was all his fault.
“But surely you will not be where the natives are or criminals you speak of?”
“Well, not entirely. The plantation is very close to Williamsburg, which was a well-established colony. Of course, many of the people on the plantation are goodly folks as they have come from here as I said earlier. But there are a great many in Virginia that were deported from the debtor's prisons.”
“I suppose it will be very exciting then,” Abigail said with a longing look in her eye.
She couldn’t help but feel that her husband was about to embark on what seemed to be a fantastic adventure while she would be left alone in this oversized empty castle.