My Once Handsome Husband

Ian followed Delaney outside to the stables. She walked quickly as if she were trying to outrun her tears. She was afraid if she stopped they might catch up with her and she would start to sob. With Vincent gone like he was she might not be able to stop the tears once they started.

She marched into the stables, still not really sure what she was planning to do or where she was planning to go. One of the men saw her and came up and asked how he could help her.

"Prepare one of the carriages for me and have Ian's horse saddled."

"Yes my Lady," the man nodded and hurried off to do as she'd ordered.

From behind Delaney came a disgusted scoff. She turned to find Ian's eyes cold and staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" she questioned.

"You said you were ready to leave and I was holding you up," he hissed.

Delaney swallowed and everything she had said to him came dropping down on her.

"I-I was getting ready to leave and I couldn't find you," she gave a weak attempt at an explanation, "You are supposed to be ready to leave when I am..."

"And I would have been," he snapped, "I am not one of your servants Delaney! My life doesn't consist of following you around just waiting for you to need something from me."

She dropped her eyes to the ground, knowing he was right. "I-I know..."

"You just cut me down and humiliated me in front of half your staff," he grew louder, and shot a finger in the direction they had come, "I am the Captain of my own ship! I don't have to be here. I could ask my father to let me come back but I don't. I stay here because I thought we were friends!"

"W-We are friends...."

"Friends don't talk to each other like that!" he nearly shouted at her now, stepping closer.

Delaney cowered back, feeling tears sting her eyes, "I'm sorry I just..."

"No," he snapped, shaking his head, "No you do not get to treat me like that and expect me to just forgive you when you're done. If you think it's alright to talk to your servants or your friends or anyone like that then that is your problem but I'm not going to allow it. I can go back to my ship any time I want and my people there will speak to me with respect."

"Then go back there!" Delaney yelled suddenly, her anger getting the best of her, "It is terrible here with me so leave! Go back to your precious pirates who want you and will treat you well! Just go!"

"Fine!" he shouted back at her.

Ian stepped quickly towards her and she flinched, causing him to pause and look at her in disbelief. He stepped right by her then and snatched the reins of his horse from the hands of a shocked young stableboy.

He swung himself up into the saddle in one fluid movement and stapped the reins. The horse shot out of the stables at full speed, sending dirt flying up on her as it went. He didn't look back.

Delaney watched him go, realizing only once he'd vanished over a hill that the pirate had really become her closest friend in the time he had been with her. Now she had treated him so badly he had left her.

Just as Vincent had left her.

"M-My Lady?" the stableboy whispered, "Your carriage is ready."

Delaney nodded and took a deep breath, fighting to keep her tears at bay despite how her heart was breaking. She just had to manage a little bit longer.

She followed the boy around to the side of the stables where one of the Adair carriages was waiting. Even though she wasn't crying she still appeared quite distressed and the men looked nervously at one another.

"Uh... Where would you like to go My Lady?" one asked hesitantly.

"I don't know," she shook her head, swallowing hard as she felt the tears burning in the back of her eyes. She wouldn't let herself cry in front of these men.

She had thought to go to the village to look for Vincent but now realized what a bad idea that was. If he was still angry with her he would be even more so upon discovering she had followed him there. It would be best for her if she made sure she was nowhere near where he was.

"Why don't we saddle some more horses and call for some other guards?" the other man suggested, "Without Ian we really should make sure you have some other..."

"No," Delaney cut him off, shaking her head, "No I don't want to wait. I want to leave right now."

"But my Lady we..."

"I want you to drive down the coast away from the village quickly until I tell you to stop or the horses can't handle more," she continued, heading for the little carriage door now.

One of the men hurried forward and opened it for her, helping her step up inside.

"Lady Adair are you sure about this?" the driver asked in concern.

"I am," she said, fighting to look serious and keep her voice from cracking as she grew closer to crying, "Tell the others not to tell anyone where we've gone. I don't want them following us. If I find out someone has told I will have them fired."

Delaney reached out and closed the carriage door in the astounded faces of her men. After a moment of delay, she felt the carriage rock as they took their places, and then it started forward. The carriage made a wide turn and headed away from the house as she had said, in the direction opposite of the fishing village where Vincent was and opposite of the way Ian had went.

She sunk back into the plush red seats of the carriage and felt herself finally give way to the tears she had been holding back all morning. It was like a dam had broken inside her and all her pain came flooding out. She had ruined everything. She had ruined everything so long ago and it had finally caught up with her.

Vincent's anger at her last night may not have been deserved at the time but it was her fault they were in the mess they were in at all. It all went back to her being afraid of him after the war and afraid he would turn out to be just like her father. She had never even given him a chance to prove he would be better.

Every time she thought she had paid for that mistake something would happen to remind her she could never take it back.

That brought them to her fighting so hard against marrying him that she had agreed to the foolish deal. Now it gave her only one year to have a baby with the man she loved or she had to lose him forever. If she had just given their marriage a chance this deal never would have existed at all.

She had made those choices and now she had to live with the consequences of her actions. As the witch had told her so long ago, her future could be good but it would depend on her choices. 

Here again, was proof that the choices she had made were causing nothing but pain in her life. Maybe she would have had a happy future with Vincent but because of those choices, it would forever be just out of reach. It was quite possible she had stolen away his happy future as well.

-

Delaney cried until she had nothing left inside her. Then she sat exhausted and sad, staring out the window of the carriage at the ocean as they went along. At some point, the horses had slowed but she didn't mind. They were well away from the ocean house now.

A bit past midday they came upon a very small village, made up of only about half a dozen buildings and a few docks where some boats were tied up. Delaney knocked on the top of the carriage and it slowly came to a stop along the road.

"My Lady we really shouldn't stop," one of the men said nervously once he'd helped her out of the carriage, "We don't have any guards."

"We don't have any food either," she countered, "That larger building is an inn. I imagine they have will cook if we pay."

"But my Lady..."

"I don't have any money," she sighed, "I will see if they will accept some of my pearl hairpins in exchange for our meals and water for the horses."

"Don't do that," said the youngest of the men, reaching out to stop her, "Lord Adair always keeps a bit of gold in the compartment under the seat in the carriage. You can use that to pay."

Delaney smiled warmly at him, "Thank you. I'll get it and then we can all go get something to eat."

She didn't wait for them to reply and headed off down the little grassy slope that led to the village below.