“I do not know.” She glanced gingerly at the water. “I really do not think this is quite-Oh!”
He scooped her up in his arms and strode off with her. It might be unmannerly to interrupt a lady, but there were limits to a gentleman’s powers of endurance.
It was horribly shocking. Not the coldness of the water-they had not reached that yet. But the fact that she was with a man in the outdoors in broad daylight, clad only in her shift while he was clad in nothing at all.
Of course, he
This was all very shocking nevertheless.
And exciting.
And exhilarating.
And she was very warm indeed. She had not realized quite how hot the sun was.
He was wading into the water. A few drops splashed up onto her skin. They were
But he was.
And he did.
He dropped her.
She sank to the bottom like a stone and came up sputtering and fighting. She dashed the water from her eyes, gasped for air, and saw him still standing there, thigh deep in the water, his hands on his hips, laughing at her.
And looking so handsome and carefree that she could have wept.
Instead she doused him with water and, while he sputtered in his turn and shook the water out of his eyes, she dived under and swam as fast as she could out into the deeper water of the lake.
Two hands grasped her ankles and then slid up her legs until they reached her hips. They pressed her under. She performed some sort of somersault as soon as he released his hold on her, came up underneath him, and grasped one of his ankles and hung on.
It was not a good idea. The fight that ensued was an unequal one in which she spent far more time below the surface of the water than he did. She was soon gasping for breath in earnest. It did not help, of course, that she could not stop laughing whenever her head was above the water.
“You were right,” she said when the fight came to a natural end after ten minutes or so and they were both floating on their backs, side by side. “We have warmed the water.”
He turned his face and smiled at her and reached for her hand.
Just like that.
She fell in love.
Or realized that she had been falling in love with him for some time.
Or that perhaps she had always loved him, right from that evening in Vauxhall when she had thought that perhaps love was not safe, that perhaps it was the most dangerous thing in the world.
Love did not have to make sense. It did not have to be worthy. It did not have to be earned. It did not have to woo.
It just simply
She closed her eyes, held loosely to his hand, and floated beside him as the world changed its course and settled around her again.
And he was not immune. Surely he was not. He had shed a tear earlier at the thought of having children with her. And now for several minutes he had simply frolicked with her, simply enjoyed being alone with her. He had been laughing and carefree, not hidden behind his habitual mask of hooded eyes and ironical teasing.
Surely he was growing somewhat fond of her.
Surely there was hope that disaster might after all turn to glory.
He let go of her hand and turned onto his stomach and swam a lazy crawl. She swam beside him, reveling in the sights she had of well-muscled arms and shoulders and back muscles, of tight buttocks and long, strong legs.
He was an incredibly beautiful man.
And then he swam close to her again, lifted one arm across her back, and rolled her under him, his other hand sliding beneath her buttocks. She wrapped her arms about him and rolled them over, so that she was on the surface, he beneath-until he reversed their positions. And they rolled over and under until they were both breathless again and both smiling into each other’s eyes.
They swam together to shore and emerged, dripping, onto the bank. Katherine squeezed the water out of her hair while he spread his coat on the grass, and then they lay down side by side, their hands touching. She was aware again of his beautiful nakedness as the initial feeling of cold at coming out of the water gave place to the bright warmth of the sun against her flesh.
He was her
And she loved him.
And surely he loved her too. But that was foolishness. No, it was not.
She turned her head to find him smiling lazily at her.
“I have swum here a thousand times,” he said, “but always alone until today.”
“Your sisters did not swim?” she asked him.
“Goodness, no,” he said. “It was strictly forbidden.”
“Even for you?” she said.
He laughed softly. “Even for me. We will teach our children to swim here, Katherine-and then we will strictly forbid them to swim here alone.”
“They will not need to,” she said. “We will come with them whenever they wish.”
“Or if we cannot,” he said, “there will always be a brother or sister to accompany them.”
“Yes.” She smiled and draped an arm over her eyes. The sun was bright.
“Happy?” he said.
“Mmm,” she said. “Yes. And you?”
“Happy,” he said.
It seemed to Katherine that she had never been happier in her life. Just over a week ago she had walked into a marriage that she had expected to bring her nothing but misery. Yet now…
The sunshine was blocked, and she removed her arm to find him leaning over her.
“In love?” he asked. “Do you love me, Katherine?”
Not
“Have you won your wager, do you mean?” she asked him.
He smiled slowly at her, knowingly, sure of her answer. Sure of
“Have I?” he asked her, his eyes full of amusement. “I will not hold it against you. But it is confession time. Have I won?”
She closed her eyes for a few moments.
She had been duped. He had been working hard today-just as he had worked hard that evening at Vauxhall. That mention of children, those few tears, their swim, this lying side by side in the sunshine-all part of an elaborate campaign.
And she was as green now as she had been that night.
This was not about love or even about affection and spontaneity and the enjoyment of a sunny afternoon and each other’s company.
This was about a
She rolled away from him, got unhurriedly to her feet, and dressed as well as she could without
