Page 53 of Bella Darcy is on the Run

"Put me down."

"No." His voice had dropped close to her ear, sending a delicious shiver down her neck. Bella turned her head to look at him and immediately regretted it. His face was inches from hers, blond hair falling untidily over his forehead and his eyes full of that particular wickedness which she had become very familiar with during the months of their marriage.

"George," she said again, although with less conviction.

"Yes, Princess?" he said, planting a delicate kiss behind her ear.

She loved it when he called her that now. Once it had been an accusation, a reminder that he thought her sheltered and spoiled. Somewhere along the way it had softened into an endearment that belonged only to them.

"You are behaving disgracefully."

"I am."

Before Bella could formulate a sufficiently cutting reply, George bent, caught her behind the knees and tossed her over his shoulder. Her startled scream must have carried halfway across the estate grounds.

"George Harwood!"

He started towards the door as though carrying his wife out of the estate room like a sack of flour was an everyday occurrence.

"Put me down this instant."

"No."

"I shall bite you."

"Don’t tempt me with a good time, Princess."

The door opened before them and Mina stood wide-eyed on the other side. For a moment, all three of them froze. Mina's blue eyes moved first to George, then to Bella hanging upside down over his shoulder, then back again. She was carrying a sketchbook beneath one arm and had a smear of blue paint across the cuff of her gown.

"Bella? Are you well?"

Bella closed her eyes.

George, the traitor, did not seem embarrassed in the slightest. Bella could feel his shoulders shaking beneath her as he fought laughter.

"Do not be alarmed, Miss Mina," he said solemnly. "Your sister and I need to converse quite urgently. She is also very tired from all the estate matters she has attended to since breakfast, so I thought it best to assist her upstairs."

Mina stared at them, a smirk forming across her angelic face.

"George," Bella hissed.

"I see," Mina said slowly, idly twisting a curl around her finger.

"You see nothing, Mina Darcy," Bella said, although it was hard to give the words any sort of gravitas from her present predicament.

"You do not look particularly tired, Bella."

George coughed in a manner that sounded very like a laugh.

Bella lifted her head as best she could. "Mina, I swear to you, if you tell Mama about this..."

Her sister's face brightened immediately. "I had not thought of telling Mama. She will be most amused!"

"Mina, please."

"I was looking for Papa, actually."

"He is with Samuels," George said helpfully. "Something involving a drain."