Colin watched as Arabella walked ahead of him and stifled the groan on his lips. She was keeping him at arm’s length, and he wanted nothing more than to break through her defenses; but he knew it would take time.
Arabella stopped and spun around to face him. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” he replied. “I was just admiring the lovely weather we are having today.”
A brief smile touched her lips. “Are you truly resorting to polite conversational topics to converse with me?”
“I am,” he said as he walked towards her.
She gave him a curious look. “Are you limping?”
He stiffened. “I am,” he replied curtly. “War injury.”
“I assumed as much.”
Colin came to a stop in front of her. “If you must know, I was shot in the left leg, and I find myself limping more often than not.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
His lips pressed in a tight line. “You don’t have to look at me like that.”
“How precisely am I looking at you?”
“With pity.”
She met his gaze, challenging him. “I’m afraid you are mistaken, my lord,” she said firmly. “I see no reason to pity you.”
“No?”
“You have all your limbs and your sight, do you not?”
“I do.”
“Then you are one of the lucky ones,” Arabella replied. “There are many soldiers who fared much worse than you.”
“I can agree with that.”
“Good,” she said. “Now, can we go on with finding this perfect tree of yours before I freeze to death?”
Colin shrugged out of his great coat and draped it over Arabella’s shoulders.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
They resumed walking towards the cluster of pine trees in silence. Colin tried to think of something to say to her, something that would soften her heart towards him, but he found he was at a loss for words.
Arabella finally broke the silence. “I was sorry to hear about Paul.”
“As was I.”
“He was much too young to be taken.”
“I would agree, but racing boats was his passion.”
Arabella tightened the great coat around her. “At least he died doing something he loved.”
Colin glanced over at her. “I’m embarrassed to admit that when I first learned about his death, I became angry.”
“That’s understandable,” she said. “Everyone responds to grief differently.”
