(The last paragraph of chapter 20)

"....If you really love him, you'll leave him alone."

"Leave him alone?"  Margaret stood--mouth partly opened, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Elizabeth continued with pleading eyes.  "You've got everything: money, a royal title, a castle in England. Everything Nate has, he built from scratch. Now you want to tear it all down."

Margaret looked sternly at Koren then swept her eyes over to Elizabeth. "He loves me, and I love him; and we are  going to be together. Stay out of it, Elizabeth--I mean it."

She opened the door and walked out. Elizabeth and Dr. Koren stood in the doorway as the motor raced and Margaret's car sped off. Elizabeth sighed. What seemed like victory a few days ago, had now come back to bite her in the ass. She looked like she'd just lost a battle with the devil. "Koren, what are we going to do?"

"Pray," he said. He put his arm around her shoulder as they stood in the doorway with the cool evening air brushing against their faces.

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(Chapter 21  Part One)
Days turned into weeks; weeks turned into months, and still Grace's heart seemed cold. With the time Nathan spent working, plus trying to get new animal patients to replace the ones the Christian families had snatched away from him, the baby hardly knew him anymore.

Margaret had gone back to England to make a financial settlement with her husband. She had filed for divorce, moved out of the castle and into an elaborately furnished home in Berkshire she named Wakefield Manor.

Big Tom stayed true to his threats to cut Margaret out of his will if she ever left her husband. But it was realized that Rose Wainwright was a far wealthier heiress to her own father's fortune, and she had no intentions of cutting Margaret out of her will.

Margaret was to return to Sweet Springs in a week or so to visit her mother, and she expected Nathan to go back with her to England and start a life together.

"There's nothing keeping me here anymore," Nathan once told Elizabeth.

Grace's mother had moved in. No surprise there. Mary Nevers could always be counted on when times proved difficult for Grace. Nathan couldn't help hearing the warnings of George Nevers about hurting Grace. I had let him down, let Grace down. Even though the Korens were supportive, Nathan felt he'd let them down also.

With no way to repair his marriage, no way to rebuild his practice, there was nothing left but to return to England with Margaret. No one knew him there. In Europe, people were practically immune to scandals. They'd lived with them a lot longer than Americans. Say, about five or six centuries longer?

Merald held the coffee pot over Nathan's cup. "More coffee, dear?"

"No, thank you." Nathan pushed away from the breakfast table.

Elizabeth set her coffee cup down. She reached over and touched Nathan on the arm just before he walked off. "You're going out, Nate?"

Nathan held out a small black photo album. "Yes, I'm taking these pictures of me over to Ten Oaks. I don't want my daughter to forget what I look like." He started for the door.

"Honey." This made him stop and turn. Elizabeth frowned and shook her head. "I'm sure Grace wouldn't let her forget you."

Nathan chuckled, but the humor never reached his gorgeous blue eyes. "The last time I was there visiting my daughter,  Grace's mother made sure I saw her removing all the pictures of me from the walls and shelves."

She cocked her head to one side. "Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry."

 "Don't be, Mrs. K.  I deserve everything that's happened to me. I know the people in this town have had quite enough of me and my sordid love-life."

Elizabeth got up  from the table and walked over to him. "Don't be silly. There are people in this town who are still grateful for the work you do with their animals. Why...this town would have been ruined if it hadn't been for you during that Tick Fever scare."

"Yeah, but it didn't bring Eva back, did it? And it's not going to bring my wife and child back to me either."

The sparkle in her eyes dimmed. She drew closer and placed her hands on his broad shoulders. "I can't believe you're just giving up, Nate."

"What else can I do?" He hunched his shoulders. "Grace has made it perfectly clear she wants nothing to do with me. When I go to visit my daughter, if I'm in the garden, she's in the house. If I'm in the house, she waits in the car. She won't even look at me. No, Mrs. K, I'm...I'm done." He glanced down at the picture album. "I better get going over to Ten Oaks. I'm going to tell Pearl to hide this so Mary doesn't get her hands on it."

"Give the baby a hug for me."

"I will." Nathan closed the door behind him.

Koren stood in the doorway of his smoke room. He'd heard everything. He came into the living room and eased down in the overstuffed chair. 

Deep frowns lined Elizabeth's  face. She walked over to where he sat. His face matched hers. "Oh, Koren, it's so sad."

"Well, like you said, today's young women are not taking this kind of thing lying down." He opened a medical journal and settled on a page. Then he looked up and over his spectacles at her.  "I often wondered what would have become of us if you hadn't forgiven me. I've always been grateful, you know." He searched her face.

She smiled. "I know."

Koren's eyes darted back and forth. "Have you ever regretted it?"

"Never." She kissed him on his balding head and left him to read his journal.

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Weeks blew by like a slow wind, and Margaret had finished her business in England to return to Sweet Springs for a short visit with her mother and to bring Nathan back with her to Wakefield Manor. He was no longer welcomed at the Wainwright estate. Big Tom was adamant about that. So, Margaret made it very comfortable for their temporary stay at the little cabin in Somners Creek.

Nathan had mixed feelings about the cabin: it was the last place he'd spent with Margaret before losing her twenty-two years ago; and it was the place where he'd lost Grace after spending the night with Margaret. I'm finally with the woman I've always loved. Why do I feel numb from the neck up?

The Fall sun shone warm and bright. Netty had come earlier to the cabin with a basket of food and had given the place a good cleaning before leaving. Margaret lifted the platter of two thick juicy steaks and placed it in the middle of the little round table. Nathan forked one and placed it on his plate. She scooped string beans and mashed potatoes and filled both their plates, then forked a steak for herself. There was no ice box in the cabin, so they made do with warm sweet tea.

Margaret talked on and on about how much Nathan would love it in England. She spoke of all the friends she had there, and how eager they were to meet him. Nathan chewed his food, and he shook his head in all the right spots of her talking but heard very little of what she was saying. He couldn't help but think of the third female who was caught up in this fine mess: his daughter; she would grow up thinking he was a two-timing heel who didn't love her, and who'd left her mother for another woman. How would she ever know that none of that was true?

Back at Ten Oaks, Pearl finished packing all of Nathan's things and called for Joseph to transport them to the Korens' place where Nathan had resided since the break-up.

Mary walked out of the nursery carrying something. Grace's face froze when she recognized it. "Mother, what are you doing with that?" 

Mary, though startled, looked at Grace unconcerned. "Why, I'm going to throw it away."

Grace reached for the black photo album Nathan had brought earlier. "Hand it over." 

Mary reluctantly placed it in her hands. "You can't want them, my dear." 

She waved her away. "Mother please go and oversee the packing women."

"But the packing is all finished."

"Then, just go find something else to do. I want to be alone right now," she said, her voice cracking.

Mary frowned. "Of course, dear." She left and marched heavily down the stairs, sucking her teeth and mumbling to herself.

Alone. Grace opened the album and flipped through the pictures; the memories filled her heart as her eyes scanned each one: so many with him smiling; so tall and so handsome; a few of him holding the baby; this one of him hugging Grace; this one of him making mischief with the servants; this one with the three of them and the Korens at the church's annual picnic.

The water welling in her eyes was a stark contrast to her flashing white smile as she looked at each photo.  One reflected a beautiful recent past, while the other... "Oh Nate."  She flopped down on the edge of the bed, holding the pictures to her breasts and wept.

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Nathan rolled off of Margaret onto his back, sweating and panting hard. Margaret, smiling widely, scooted closer and rested her head on his pounding bare chest. She circled his chest with her finger as she spoke.

"Just think, soon we'll be making love like this in our own home in Wakefield Manor. Are you excited?"

"Yes, of course." Nathan, still panting, wiped the sweat off his forehead with the palm of his hand.

She pouted like a little girl. "You don't sound excited."  Nathan rolled his eyes up to the ceiling  but never answered.  "I'm going to help you start your practice there," she continued.

"I'm not so sure I want to start from scratch. Nobody knows me in England. Besides, they may not want to help a Yankee."

She lifted her head from his chest. "Now, Honey, don't be silly. I told you I have lots of friends there. I'll make sure they put in a good word for you with the right people."

He folded his hands behind his head. "Umm, I don't know."

Margaret put her head back on his chest. His heart pounded in her ear. "Just leave it to me. Everything will be fine, you'll see." She lifted herself on her elbow, leaned and kissed him on the lips. He smiled.

Around twelve noon, he and Margaret tidied up the cabin and locked it before getting into their separate cars. They were to pick up their luggage and meet at the train station that evening. Once in New York, they would board the Red Star Liner to London.

Margaret's driver seemed to hold the car door open forever while she overplayed the need to remind Nathan to be on time. "Now, Sweetheart, don't forget the train leaves at seven o'clock sharp. Please leave out around five. I want to be at the station a little early so we can relax and maybe have a cup of coffee before we board."

Nathan bowed his head and pointed to a finger when he mentioned each appointed time. "Leave home at five; be at train station by six; board train at six-forty-five." He wiggled his eye brows and smiled.

She shook her head and smiled back. "Are you sure you don't want us to go together?"

"No. All of our things won't fit into one car, I told you. Your things alone will probably need two cars," he teased.

"Oh, stop." She playfully waved her hand at him and climbed onto the back seat.

Nathan slid into the driver's seat of his car, and both cars sped off in opposite directions.


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