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Ben carefully assisted her onto the seat and supported her injured foot with the pillows he’d brought before he stowed her crutches. He circled his phaeton and climbed in from the other side, settling next to her on the seat. Annie rushed out the door with the shawl.
“Careful, Annie,” Ben called. “We don’t want you breaking your own ankle too, now do we?”
“No, sir; here you are, miss,” Annie said. She assisted Rebecca with her shawl and bonnet and then scurried onto the small seat behind her, her own shawl wrapped around her and a small basket of mending on her lap. Apparently, they were going to have a chaperone here too. It was just as well; Ben wasn’t of a mind to find himself trapping a young lady into marriage—he’d had enough trouble with the lady who’d enthusiastically agreed to marry him.
“Well done, Annie,” he said. “Thank you.” He gave the ribbons a quick flick with his wrists.
Rebecca grabbed the side of the phaeton to steady herself as the horses stepped into action. And then she smiled just a bit.
It was a reassuring sign.
* * *
“I’m unfamiliar with this part of England,” Ben said as Rebecca shifted to get a bit more comfortable in the phaeton and Annie averted her eyes to look at the countryside. “Where do you suggest we go?”
“Just drive,” she said, breathing in the crisp, damp English air. It seemed like forever since she’d drawn fresh air deeply into her lungs like this.
“Your wish is my command,” Ben said.
They rode in silence for a while, and Rebecca concentrated as much as she could on the scenery passing by rather than her ache over not going to London for Susan’s wedding. The trees were just beginning to bud and produce leaves, giving a soft, pale-green shimmer to the dark-brown contrast of the branches; ironically, unlike the foliage, she had felt more full of life and promise a few weeks ago than she did now.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Ben said after a quick glance at Annie.
Before Rebecca could reply, the phaeton hit a rut in the road, and despite the pillows, the impact ricocheted like lightning through her foot and ankle, making her gasp with pain.
“Blast!” Ben exclaimed and quickly pulled the horses to a stop before turning fully to face her. “I didn’t see that rut. I was hoping the pillows would be enough protection from the road. My deepest apologies. We shall continue our drive for only a short while longer—I shall be much more vigilant in watching for ruts in the road—and then we shall relax amongst the trees and continue our conversation. I wish I’d thought to have a picnic lunch prepared. I daresay you haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Rebecca was still concentrating on some of his other words. “Conversation?” He’d been sparse at providing information about himself; it had taken tempting him with a music performance to get him to agree to it before.
“Yes,” he replied. “I promised you I would explain more about myself to you. It was also fairly obvious when I called upon you today that something of import is happening within your family. I wish to know what it is, if you’re willing to share. We shall talk.”
“I have pestered and bribed you for days now, and all it took to get you to tell me more about yourself was a family crisis.”
He looked at her with furrowed brows. “Surely not a crisis,” he said. “I would be exceedingly sorrowful for you all if that were the case.”
Rebecca sighed, ashamed for describing Susan’s marriage announcement as a crisis. She only wished she could meet the man who was to be Susan’s husband before he actuallywasher husband. Susan had been a contented spinster for so long, and this had all occurred so abruptly. “No, not a crisis.” She suddenly spied a lane that she knew led to a small pond and was rather picturesque. “Turn there, if you would,” she said, pointing.
He followed her directions and turned the horses down the lane. “Is there something in particular you wish to see down this lane?” he asked.
“There’s a lovely spot. I think you’ll recognize it when we arrive,” she said.
“Ah, you’re being difficult, are you?” he said in a teasing voice.
“I don’t know,” she teased back. “Am I being difficult or enigmatic?”
“Enigmatic sounds more to my liking,” Ben said. “Rather intriguing.”
If Rebecca hadn’t known that Ben’s daily calls were due to the guilt he felt over her accident, she might think he was flirting with her just the tiniest bit. But as he’d lost his wife and was still dealing with grief and bitterness about his marriage, she doubted he would be flirting with anyone at present. She expected she’d misread the tone of his teasing.
They continued down the lane, and fairly shortly, the copse of trees next to the pond appeared on the horizon. “Ah,” Ben said. “I suspect we are now approaching the spot you had in mind.”
It was as Rebecca had hoped. The trees were in enough new leaf to provide sufficient shade, and the pond just beyond them, surrounded by gangly sprouting reeds, glinted blue and bright in the early afternoon sunlight.
“All we need is a field of bluebells to come into view and this location will be beyond perfection,” Ben said. “As it is, it is near enough to that for me. Well chosen, Rebecca.”
“Thank you,” she said, flattered by his compliment.
He directed the horses to the side of the lane near the pond. “Stay here while I secure the horses. Once they are settled, I plan to be at your side until we reach the edge of the pond.” He then leapt from the phaeton and secured the horses’ ribbons to a tree branch.
