“And here I was quite certain it was the other way around.”If only he could swallow!None but Elizabeth could challenge him so provocatively, conjuring images both of a spirited chess match and a duel of quite another kind in the very same moment.
She eyed him appraisingly, alerted to the deeper timbre in his voice and aware that they must not tempt one another too far. “Entirely possible,” she decided, her manner lightening. “I say, have you seen that gentleman of late? Tall, silent, rather disapproving? Goes about avoiding people? I cannot imagine where I might have mislaid him!”
“Gone forever,” he asserted. “I gave him the shove-off myself.”
“Ah, that is well. I should hate for him to be jealous if he were to catch me doing this.” She stood on her tiptoes again and waited with closed eyes. Caution was overrated, after all.
Darcy, grinning despite himself, tipped his head low to oblige her. She was so soft and welcoming! He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her for the first time and revelling in her tender ministrations. How he cherished the reassuring comfort she offered! She slid her arms up around his neck and allowed him to hold her long, sharing the warmth of her heavy cloak against the cold morning. He kissed her as fervently as he dared—thrilling in the rapturous intimacy but knowing clearly that he must at length pull back.
“Thank you,” he whispered at last, pressing one more kiss near her ear. “You cannot know how badly I needed a little reassurance today.”
The playful light in her eyes vanished, replaced by sincere feeling. “What are you going to do?”
He shook his head doubtfully and began to elaborate his immediate plans to her. Elizabeth listened thoughtfully, her brow furrowed. “I was hoping,” he finished, “to enlist your family’s assistance in some part. Do you think your uncle would agree?”
“He will,” she declared stoutly. “It is high time Lydia was made to feel the import of her words. She ought to face the consequences for once, rather than having them foisted upon others! I will make Uncle listen to you. He has already made it plain that Lydia and Kitty shall not be allowed further opportunities for gossip.”
“Actually, it is your sisters’ proclivity toward idle talk that I am hoping to exploit. I… I beg you would forgive me for such a nefarious undertaking….” He looked at her questioningly.
A spark of mischief again came to her face. Those intelligent eyes twinkled back at him, and she cocked him a calculating grin. “Are you certain it is your cousin who is the military strategist?”
“Quite! Richard is the master; I am merely the student.” He glanced at the skyline. Somewhere during those glorious moments in Elizabeth’s arms, the sun had crested the horizon and the new day was underway.
She caught the direction of his gaze. “I should be getting back,” she thought aloud. “Uncle has forbidden trips to Meryton, but he did not expressly prohibit any early morning walks. I suspect that was merely an omission, and he shall repent of it once he learns where I have been.”
“Yet another insight into your character, Miss Bennet,” his mouth twitched. She arched a brow at his return to the more formal address. “I shall have to take care to express my wishes specifically and clearly in the future. You have a very devious turn of mind!”
“You have no idea,” she agreed. Her eyes shifted to the stallion just behind him as the horse gave a sudden tug on the rein. The great steed was in determined search of a mouthful of grass, yanking Darcy’s arm away from her.
Darcy turned. He had nearly forgotten about the hulking giant at his side. He stepped aside a little. “This is Pluto,” he introduced.
Elizabeth’s eyes returned hesitantly to his face. She put out a cautious hand to the horse’s nose.
“Not there,” Darcy took her hand in his own and placed it on his horse’s neck. She left it there, stroking the thick hair gently.
“How is it you have not much experience with horses?” he wondered. “I should have thought you, of all ladies, would enjoy riding.”
“Riding takes practice,” she answered pragmatically. “I do not dislike horses, but I am afraid you will find that once I gain a modest competence at something, I often do not return to improve myself. It is a terrible habit to have got into.” She arched a mock-serious gaze at him. “Perhaps I was never required to tender any great effort toward such enterprises. I expect,” she looked back at the horse, “you will tell me I should give myself the trouble to improve my skills.”
“The Mistress of Pemberley ought to be an accomplished horsewoman,” he grinned in agreement. “What would the neighbours say if they saw my wife attempting to scale the rocky cliffs in a phaeton?”
“I can walk very well, sir!”
“Not even you can walk that much. Come, let me sit you on Pluto.”
“Oh, no, indeed! I shall require a much shorter mount, thank you very much! A lady’s saddle would not be amiss either—or is that a part of your wicked scheme, Mr Darcy? You would place me on a monstrous beast where I must sit indecently if I am to be at all secure, not to mention utterly dependent upon your help to both mount and dismount?”
“My dearest Elizabeth, you do me so little credit! I had also thought to swing up behind you and take you for a truly terrifying ride over the fields, where you would be compelled to allow my arms snugly round your waist to keep you aboard.”
“And to think I had considered you steady and trustworthy!”
“Not a bit of it. Did you hear that, Pluto? She thinks I am a sedate gentleman. You know better the wild, reckless rides we take, do you not?” The horse blew a gentle sneeze, and Darcy rubbed his shoulder affectionately.
Elizabeth laughed heartily. That insufferably taciturn and prideful man she had known last week was standing before her in barely civilized attire, jesting lightly with his horse! “Do you have a Persephone at home?” she chuckled. “Pluto is a curious name.”
“My father always named his stallions after the Greek heroes. I suppose I have continued the tradition, but with the Roman names. I have a grey most fittingly named Neptune at home, and of course, Pluto earned his name by his colour as well.”
She crossed her arms, a sly smile cracking. “And how convenient for you that we already have a pomegranate tree.”
