Read Online To Capture Her Heart by Ginny Hartman - Free Book Online

he never fully realized or developed it before deflecting it unknowingly to Rosalind. She had spent many hours with Rosalind figuring out the key to unlocking her gift and helping her refine her talent. Gwendolyn had made no effort to hide her envy of the gift.
    Her goal in pouring over her grandfather's journals was to find somebody, anybody in the family who may have possessed another type of gift, one that mayhap she could have inherited. So far, she had spent hours on end trying to decipher his hardly legible handwriting only to be rewarded with the most nonsensical stories of his own experiences transporting. He rarely mentioned another soul. Feeling disheartened, she slammed the most recent journal she had been scouring down and rose from her position on the floor.
    She stretched from side to side in an attempt to loosen some of the stiffness from her body before she ventured outside to find something to occupy herself. She couldn't seem to fight the loneliness she had been feeling ever since returning to Emerson Castle without Rosalind. She wondered how she ever managed the last several years with only her mother for company without going insane.
    Walking along the side of the castle, she ran her hands along the gray brick, feeling the cool roughness of the stones against her fingertips, which occasionally brushed up against bits of moss growing between the stones. Eventually, she found herself standing at the steps that led down to the moat. Placing a steadying hand on the balustrade, she lifted her dress and began descending. As soon as she reached the bottom, she crouched down and undid the rope that held a small boat in place. Centering herself in the boat, she grabbed an oar and began paddling gently through the water. After a while, she replaced the oar in the boat and stretched out on her back, gazing up at the willow tree that dripped it's branches into the space above the moat.
    Gwendolyn felt the metal heart necklace slide down the side of her neck and automatically reached for it, bringing it before her face. She looked down at the simple piece of jewelry and thought once more of Jarin. It had been nearly a week since she had ventured into the village, since the day he had gifted her with the token in an attempt to cheer her, and possibly gain her affections. She had purposely been avoiding going back to the village, worried that he might take her appearance as an eagerness to see him.
    Not for the first time, she wondered why she didn't have any sort of feelings for him. He had always been so kind, and when he had tied the necklace to her neck, the feel of his fingers brushing up against her sensitive skin had had no effect on her. None. She knew that as soon as she was granted her entrance, her family would be anxious to find her a suitable husband. It was just the way that things were done. Mayhap she hadn't been trying hard enough with Jarin.
    These unsettling thoughts swirled through her mind, gently lolling her into a deep sleep. In her dreams she was at Herfordshire Castle, anxiously trying to find Terric and Rosalind, a sense of foreboding filling her breast as she ran down every corridor in an attempt to locate them. But it was as if she was in a confusing maze, each corridor extending into a never-ending abyss leading nowhere. She ran as fast as she could, but the further she got, the further away she'd get from them. She never saw them, but she sensed it deep inside of her. Intense frustration furled within her, causing her muscles to become taut as anxiety gripped her heart. She had to get to Terric and Rosalind before it was too late.
    Rounding a bend, another long corridor stretched before her. Breathing hard, she pushed herself to run faster than she ever had before, but it was all to no avail. Suddenly she collided with a solid object. Looking up, she expected to see that she had come to a dead end, but instead, familiar brown eyes were searching her face, kindly willing her to be calm. Her