“It might have been had you not caught me.”
He smiled. “No harm done, then?”
She returned his smile. “No. Just my shame at having failed to keep my seat.”
“Riding sidesaddle? They are perfect for a canter around the park, but I dislike women riding to hounds on them.”
A glimmer of humor warmed her eyes. “So, a lady should ride astride?”
Nicholas chuckled. “Why not?”
A long silence followed as they sipped their drinks, while Nicholas squashed a disgraceful image of Carrie riding astride naked with her red hair swinging down like Lady Godiva.
Carrie took a deep sip of the brandy and coughed.
“Easy,” Nicholas said. “I imagine you rarely imbibe.”
She placed a hand on her chest. “I’ve never had brandy before. It certainly warms one.”
“Indeed it does.”
“Carrie!” Bella burst into the room, followed by her brother. She flung herself onto the sofa beside her sister. “Are you hurt?”
“Not even a little, Bella,” Carrie said calmly. She stroked her sister’s head where she rested it on Carrie’s lap. “Sit down and have tea. There might be crumpets.”
Bella sat up and sniffed. “Have they remembered the honey?”
Jeremy sat down in a chair. “Women can’t ride as well as men.”
Nicholas raised his eyebrows. “That will get you into no end of trouble should you repeat it in a lady’s presence when you are older.”
Jeremy blinked. “But it is true.”
“It is not only wrong,” Nicholas said as the tea tray arrived. “It is entirely unfair. Especially when ladies ride to hounds and jump their horses while on a sidesaddle.”
“Well, yes, I suppose so,” Jeremy said grudgingly.
When Carrie’s gaze rested on his with warm approval, he felt ridiculously pleased.
After tea, Nicholas returned to his library. He sat at his desk for a moment, stoking Chester’s silky head. His elevated mood surprised him. How quickly the children became dear to him. He never would have believed it. And Carrie? Well… Nicholas straightened his shoulders. Her beauty had beguiled him. He’d enjoyed having her in his arms for even a brief moment. But he didn’t forget the fear which gripped his insides at that moment before he caught her, when she almost fell beneath the plunging hooves of the horse.
***
Carrie went to her bedchamber to change out of her habit, still shaky from the experience. But Nicholas had been there and caught her. She remembered how safe she felt. Although she considered herself a confident woman, it made her realize how alone she had been after her father died. When she’d gazed up at Nicholas’s hard jaw, she saw her accident had unnerved him. His heart thumped so hard it felt like a drum.
Her admiration for him and her pleasure to see how good he was with Bella and Jeremy grew with each day. Might he care for her? He seemed committed to his course, to take her to London.
After dinner, the family gathered in the drawing room. Bella tried to persuade poor Scotty to dance a few steps of a reel with her. The long-suffering governess complained of her knees and sank into a chair.
“Play spillikins with me, Bella,” Jeremy said. “And don’t cheat.”
Nicholas smiled at Carrie. “Chess?”
She agreed, pleased to have another chance to trounce him, but with no real confidence in doing so.
They moved to the chess table, where Nicholas set up the pieces on the board.
“You gave me white,” she said. “I should thank you, but I suspect that was because I can be easily beaten.”
Nicholas studied her pink gown. “I don’t believe I’ve seen that dress before.”
“No.”
“It’s pretty. Is it a ploy to prevent me from concentrating on the game? If so, it might work.”
Carrie was surprised. It was the first flirtatious thing he’d said to her. She had chosen this gown especially because she thought it suited her.
She moved a knight in front of her pawns and gazed up at him, very much aware of how handsome he looked tonight in a coat that turned his eyes smoky blue. He raised his eyebrows as he studied the board and ran his fingers through his thick dark hair. Really, it was she who must keep her mind on the game.
“An interesting opening move,” he said.
“I won’t be such an easy mark this time. Your move, my lord.”
He chuckled.
But as the game continued, Bella and Jeremy grew quiet. With just the crackle of a small fire, the mood became intimate, as if she and Nicholas shared something bigger, more important than just a game of chess. She was very aware of him, his broad shoulders in his dark coat, his gray eyes observing the play, his long fingers when they toyed with a pawn.
Carrie breathed deeply and lost focus, not knowing her right from her left. Their hands collided when she held on to a piece too long. A frisson of feeling rushed through her.
“Sorry.” She wetted her lips and frowned slightly. When she raised her gaze from the board, Nicholas studied her, a question in his eyes.
“I’m a little tired,” she said, although she wasn’t at all. She wanted to stay up all night and talk, really talk to him. But Nicholas would never allow her to glimpse his innermost thoughts. Or give her some glimmer of what he thought
