It wasn’t a question, so Chase didn’t answer it. Clenching his teeth, he continued stacking the bales. God, but it would be hard, leaving her tomorrow. Leaving everything at Garrett Park. But what else could he do?

A moment later, he heard her give a soft sigh before moving toward the door. “Harriet—” The word was torn from him. He turned to face her.

She stood by the door, her back to him. “Yes?”

Her voice sifted gently to him, a whisper of silk on the silence of the night. Chase closed his eyes, his chest so tight that it ached. But what could he say? That he loved her?

The thought slammed into his heart and sucked all his breath from his lungs. He loved Harriet. Loved her so much that the thought of being separated from her made him ache with a physical pain. He loved her and needed her, but love wasn’t enough. What if he couldn’t get forgiveness from his family for his sins? What if he became an outcast, a pariah? He would never put that burden on another soul.

Especially not on Harriet. “Good night, Harriet. I’m not coming to dinner this evening.”

She didn’t move for so long that he wondered if she’d heard him. But then she sighed and nodded. The next instant, she was gone.

Chase stayed where he was for a long time. The night air grew damp and chill, the wind picked up and blew through the cracks in the barn walls. Chase wiped a hand across his face, surprised to find it damp. He cursed, then turned to finish stacking the bales.

Much later, he finished, his body so weary he could barely move. He took off the gloves and laid them on a bench by the door so that he would find them the next day. One more day…that’s all he had left.

Chase turned to collect the lantern. As he lifted it, the nail on which it was hung came loose from the pole and fell to the floor. Chase cursed, then bent to pick it up. As he did so, he saw something in the scattered hay on the ground.

What was that? He brushed aside some loose hay and found the St. John talisman ring. How had that gotten here? Chase picked it up and turned it over in his hand. It lay in his palm, cold and dull. It must have fallen from his pocket—

A whisper of movement stirred the air behind him. Chase whirled, but he was too late. The world exploded in a blinding flash of color and pain. And then…there was nothing.

The clock chimed midnight when Harriet finally gave up trying to pretend to sleep. She rose and lit a candle. She was tired and aching, her eyes hot and dry. Damn Chase St. John. Not only was he stealing her heart, but he’d stolen her peace of mind, as well.

She sighed. She wasn’t being fair and she knew it. He’d done far more than anyone could have asked. It was just that she wanted the impossible—she wanted him to love her, to love her and to love Garrett Park.