AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then you must find a way to make the experience more appealing to you,” she said.
“Yes…I suppose you are right.” He seemed to pause and look up from his sketch, staring at her for a while. Uncertain what that look meant, she turned her attention to the fishing lines and concentrated on them. She went to pull up a line, and reel in what she thought was a fish when it got caught on something under the water.
“What the…” she muttered and tugged on it a little harder.
“Something wrong?” Lord Northrive asked.
“It’s stuck,” she said, and pulled even harder, yet still, the line refused to budge. She placed both hands on the line and tugged completely, but the effort to free it was huge and knocked her off balance. She tipped sideways and started heading straight into the water.
“Woah!” Lord Northrive shouted.
Violette did not even have the chance to brace herself for the impact when she felt a tug on the back of her waistcoat, then an arm came up around her waist, dragging her back onto firm land.
“You all right?” Lord Northrive asked in her ear.
“Y-yes,” she stammered. “Thank you.” She was breathless when she realised the position they were standing in, bodies pressed together with his arm around her waist. He had saved her from falling in the water, yet all she could think about was the way his body was on hers.
“Ah-em.” He cleared his throat and released her, stepping away. It was rather like she had been dumped in the water after all, that coldness abruptly enveloping her skin in the wake of being so close to Lord Northrive and then so far.
She turned away from him, hoping she could hide her blush as she found the fishing rod she had dropped in the kerfuffle and picked it up, resetting the fishing line.
“These damn things have a habit of getting caught.” Lord Northrive came to help her, though she clearly saw the way he kept his distance from her now, evidently being careful not to touch her.
Seeing that distance made Violette’s throat close up. It only emphasised how far apart they were about to be, when he went back to his family’s estate, and she would continue on alone in London. Being free in London no longer sounded as fun as it did before, not if he were no longer there to enjoy it with her.
“Perhaps I could come and visit you?” she said, her thoughts escaping her before she had thought too much about it. He looked to her in surprise. “Back at your estate, I mean.”
“Visit? That’s a great idea.” He paused, his body growing animated. “Better yet, come and stay.”
“What?” she said, uncertain she had heard him right.
“Yes, come back with me. Come and stay for a few weeks,” he said, his smile growing greater with each second.
“Are you certain?” she asked, shifting between her feet. Staying hidden as a man in London was all well and good, for people were so busy attending to their own business to stare long in her direction, but the countryside was different. Moreover, there would be staff there. What if they gave her another valet who wanted to help her to change? That would not do!
“I am certain,” Lord Northrive said, turning away, having lost interest in the fishing completely. “Please, Mr Blake?”
“But…I thought you had to attend to business.”
“I will do, I suppose, but it would be nice to have breaks from such things as well,” Lord Northrive said in a rush. “You have brought more laughter to my life than I have had in a long time. Please, Mr Blake? Say you will come back with me?”
The words broke Violette. How could she refuse when he asked her that?
“Of course, I will come.”
