Lillian's Light Horseman by Jasmine Hill

at him expectantly.
    “Before you left for England, I went to your father and asked his permission to marry you. He told me that he was resettling the family in England, where you were to marry a young man who apparently had more money and better prospects than I did.”
    He could hear the bitterness in his voice but he couldn’t help it. Even after ten years, he still felt anger and betrayal at Lillian’s decision.
    He watched her intently as a range of emotions crossed her face. Her green eyes were wide and confused and she shook her head obstinately.
    “There was no man I was to marry,” she said softly. “Why do you say that?”
    “Because that’s exactly what your father told me,” he responded coolly. “I was destroyed, Lillian. I thought you loved me.”
    “No!” she whispered brokenly. “He can’t have done that. I can’t believe he would do that to me—to us!”
    It was William’s turn to look confused. “What are you talking about?” he demanded as a sick comprehension started to take hold.
    “Father. He told me that he was moving us to England right before he told me that you were going to be married! I cried for weeks. I was devastated.”
    A cold, hard fury overtook William. He clenched his fists as a desperate need to hit something—to inflict damage—swept through him. He took deep breaths and counted to ten in an effort to regain his self-control.
    “I only met and married Ruth after you’d left—after I thought that you were promised to another.”
    He grasped Lillian’s hands in his and gazed into her eyes. The stark anguish and hurt he saw reflected in her emerald pools rocked him to his core. He wished with a desperate fervency that her bastard of a father were still alive so he could kill him all over again. How could he do that to his own daughter? The depths of the man’s depravity knew no bounds.
    “I’ve always loved you, Lillian. Words can’t describe how I felt when you left. It was as if you took a part of me with you. I was devastated and furious—furious that you’d betrayed us and betrayed our love.”
    He studied her as she came to grips with what her father had done to them all those years ago.
    “I can’t believe he did that,” she said, her gaze unfocused. “I knew that he wanted me to make what he considered a good match—he threw enough men in my path over the years—but I would never have believed he could have been so heartless.”
    William’s vision hazed in red and rage gripped him anew at the thought of the men that Henry Baxter had pushed at his daughter. He was astounded and relieved beyond measure that Lillian had been able to resist her father’s demands for as long as she had.
    “I was also to blame,” he said quietly. “I should have fought for you. I’m ashamed at how quickly I capitulated and I’ve been swamped with feelings of guilt ever since.”
    He sighed heavily, the full import of his failure hitting him hard. They’d lost ten years together and spent ten years each feeling the betrayal and heartache of a lost love. Of course he could console himself with the fact that if things hadn’t occurred the way they had, he wouldn’t have his children and he wouldn’t have had the years spent with Ruth. However, those facts didn’t ease his anger and fury at the injustice of Henry Baxter’s deceit.
    “You weren’t to know that my father was lying, William. We were adolescents and I was too young to be married without my parents’ permission. There was nothing that you could have done. My father manipulated the situation to serve him and his future plans. I knew that he was capable of deceit and immoral acts. The years before his death showed me exactly how unscrupulous he could be. But I would never have believed him capable of hurting me for monetary gain!”
    William’s heart wrenched at the tears that were flowing freely down Lillian’s cheeks. He couldn’t begin to understand how she must be feeling at the full