Page 147 of Pride and Prejudice Resolutions

The moment she spotted Caroline, bedraggled, hatless, and mounted on a horse capable of crushing buildings, the maid let out a strangled gasp and rushed forward.

"Miss! Oh, Miss! What has happened? Are you injured? Is that blood? No, it is mud. Thank the Lord! Though mud is still quite serious. Your habit is ruined! Completely ruined!"

The Colonel brought Black Thunder to a halt and reached up to help Caroline dismount. His hands settled at her waist, steadying her as she swung her leg over the saddle. For a moment, she was suspended again, his arms the only tether to earth.

Then her feet touched solid ground.

"I am all right, Schmidt." Caroline brushed dust from her sleeves. "Do not fret."

Schmidt blinked. "But Miss—"

"Truly. I am unharmed. The Colonel was kind enough to prevent me from becoming intimately acquainted with a tree."

The maid's mouth opened and closed, a fish attempting to understand philosophy. Then she reached out and gripped Caroline's hands, squeezing them tightly.

"Thank Heaven," Schmidt breathed. "I was so worried. When Mr Bingley came back without you, ranting about a dog and a catastrophe, I thought—" Her voice cracked.

Caroline squeezed back. "I am here. Whole and unbroken. Go fetch my cloak from the carriage. I look like a vagrant."

Schmidt nodded, scrubbing at her eyes with her sleeve, and hurried away.

The Colonel stood very still, watching the exchange. His face had shifted into territory Caroline could not quite decipher. It was not mockery. It was not amusement. It was... confusion. As if he had witnessed a rare bird doing arithmetic.

She turned to face him, tilting her chin up.Ha!she thought with vindictive satisfaction.I have made your brain turn to mush! What do you think now, Colonel, to see that my maid loves me genuinely? That I am not simply a harridan in expensive velvet?

"Thank you." Her voice came out clipped and crisp. "For the rescue. Though I maintain I would have managed perfectly well on my own."

"You would have collided with the tree, fallen off, and been trampled by the horse on her victory lap. But certainly, you would have managed."

"Your faith in my abilities is overwhelming."

"My faith in natural science is sound. You were going to lose that fight, Miss Bingley."

She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. Because he was still looking at her in that strange, assessing way. And because Schmidt was returning with the cloak.

"Same time next week?" he asked, his mouth curving.

"Absolutely not."

"I shall take that as a yes."

"You are insufferable."

"You are bedraggled."

He bowed, collected Black Thunder's reins, and swung into the saddle in one solid movement. The horse snorted, clearly relieved to be carrying his preferred rider again.

"Until next time," he said, touching the brim of his hat.

And he rode away, leaving Caroline standing in the lane, covered in dirt, hatless, and utterly incapable of deciding whether she wanted to swat him with a bat or demand an immediate rematch.

Schmidt draped the cloak around her shoulders.

"Shall we go home, Miss?"

Caroline watched the Colonel's retreating form until he disappeared around the bend.

"Yes," she said finally. "Home. And Schmidt?"