“What would I do with a horse?”
“Feed it? Ride it? Have it pull your cart so you don’t have to walk everywhere?”
She tsked with exasperation. He was so silly, and they were so different. She wasn’t about to have him giving her gifts. “I like walking.”
“At least permit me to guide you out to the verandah.”
“There’s no need. I can find my own way.”
“Of course you can, but if I see you out, I get to spend a few minutes with you.”
It was pointless to argue, and she proceeded down the hall that led to the rear door and the verandah. He marched behind her, a towering, irksome, and fascinating presence she couldn’t ignore.
Suddenly, he grabbed her and lifted her into a deserted parlor and, with no warning, kissed her soundly. And with his fiancée and sister both in residence!
She would have scolded him, but she didn’t have the chance. He simply winked, then gestured for her to continue on. She glared ferociously, but he was a cad who couldn’t be cowed. He grinned and took her arm, and they strolled on as if nothing odd had transpired.
Once they exited the manor and were down in the grass, she said, “You have nefarious designs on me.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m very virtuous, and I was raised by my very prudish, very moral aunt who regaled me with sad tales about great lords seducing their scullery maids. If you plan a similar fiendish ploy, you should be advised that it won’t work on me.”
“I have no idea what I plan, remember?”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
Mutt bounded up—to the Captain, not to her.
“Traitor,” she muttered.
“He likes me better than you.” The Captain petted and hugged the dog, as Mutt peered up at him adoringly. “If Mutt is with you, I won’t fret so much.”
“Why would you ever fret? The path is perfectly safe, whether Mutt is with me or not.”
“You’re too trusting, and I’m too jaded. You assume you’ll be fine, but I see catastrophe around every corner. I will always worry about you.”
There was the sweetest affection in his eyes, and it rattled her. She’d never had a man gaze at her as he did, and she was beginning to think she might not be able to live without his delicious attention.
She had told Clara they might take a holiday to Bath someday, and she was wondering if it might not be time to depart for a bit. If she vanished for several weeks, she was sure his ardor would cool.
“I have a question about something I might like to do,” she said, “and I’m curious as to what your opinion would be.”
“If it means I can do it with you, then I’m all for it.”
“Your sister invited me to your party on Saturday night.”
“I’m stunned.”
“Why would you be stunned? Is it that I won’t fit in?”
“No, it’s that Margaret is a snob. In that, she’s like our mother. I can’t imagine her asking you, so she must have changed while she was away. As for me, I’m delighted she’s included you, and I would love to have you come.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Mind? Are you mad? Can you dance?”
She snorted with amusement. “I’m not completely unsocial.”
“Then if you promise to dance with me, I shall be waiting with bated breath for you to arrive. In fact, I’ll send a carriage to convey you to the manor. I can’t have you traipsing through the forest in your best gown and slippers.”
“I might accept your offer. Let me reflect on it.”
“That furnishes me with an excuse to stop by your cottage so I can learn what you’ve decided.”
“You’re starting to seem absolutely besotted.”
“I am, aren’t I? I guess I should be ashamed of myself—but I’m not.”
“I’ll see you . . . when? Tomorrow?”
“I’ll bring some ribbons for Clara to wear in her hair. I’ll bring some for you too. I’ll say they’re for her, but they’ll be for both of you.”
“You are not to give me any gifts!”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. It’s a waste of energy.”
She smiled up at him. He was handsome, dashing, and amazing, like a comet streaking across the sky. For some reason, he’d noticed her, and she was being bowled over by his obsession. She supposed this was how her mother had become embroiled with her father. He’d pushed and pushed for an affair until she’d relented and had joined in. The end result had been that she’d wound up with a babe in her belly.
It wasn’t surprising that her mother hadn’t been able to resist. Joanna had never experienced anything comparable to what Jacob Ralston was inflicting, and she was alarmed over how she might ultimately respond. Her mother’s blood sang in her veins, coaxing her to behave exactly as her mother had behaved.
He stared down at her, and for a chilling instant, she was afraid he would lean down and kiss her goodbye, but they were right out in the open, and there were servants everywhere.
She motioned to her dog. “Come, Mutt. If we’re not careful, the Captain will tempt us to linger forever.”
She hurried off, but Mutt loafed, looking as if he’d rather stay with the Captain than accompany her. He only raced to her side when the Captain ordered him to go, and she scoffed at how men wielded so much more power than women. It was exasperating.
She walked across the park, and she didn’t glance back until she reached the path into the woods. She turned, and he was still there, but he’d climbed onto the verandah so he could have a better view of her as she got farther away.
She waved, and he waved, then she continued on, feeling lighter than air.
My, oh, my, but wasn’t she in trouble?
Roxanne was having a brandy in her office, enjoying a quiet interlude before she went up to her bedchamber to dress for supper.
When Jacob’s mother, Esther, had been alive, she hadn’t
