AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She watched as he spread a blanket out next to the water and carefully folded a second blanket in half lengthwise. He laid it out on one side of the first blanket, creating a three-layer thickness on which she presumed she would be sitting. He then returned to remove one of the pillows on the phaeton’s floorboard and set it at the end of the three layers so her ankle would have protection.
Rebecca’s heart began fluttering. He would undoubtedly rest his arm around her shoulders as he helped her to the blankets, and she was finding the idea rather . . . rather, oh, what was the word?Tantalizing, that was it.
She broke out in gooseflesh, and it wasn’t because of the chill in the air.
She had enjoyed Ben’s company this past while, but this afternoon, she was seeing him in a different light. Why was she suddenly reacting to his physical presence so intensely when she hadn’t before? Good heavens, what a mess she was in, to find she was developing feelings for a widower who was glad his wife had died, who had told her so little of himself, and who had hidden the fact that he was an earl from everybody in Lower Alderwood.
“Are you ready for me to assist you to our spot by the pond now?” he asked, resting his arm on the side of the phaeton and breathing slightly harder than usual after his trips to and from the blankets.
Rebecca glanced around. Annie had taken a blanket for herself and arranged it under a lone tree several yards away, close enough to maintain propriety and far enough away for Ben and Rebecca to have a private conversation. Her breathing quickened.Was she ready?he had asked her. Rebecca highly doubted she was. “I suppose so,” she said as lightly as she could. “As long as you promise not to toss me into the pond.”
“We’ll wait for your ankle to be entirely healed before we attempt something like that,” he replied.
And then he took one of her crutches in his hand and offered his arm to her.
* * *
Ben tried to concentrate on the task at hand: getting Rebecca safely to the blanket he’d laid out without tripping over roots or stones. He hadn’t had any difficulty thus far traipsing back and forth with the blankets, which was positive, but making sure Rebecca remained safe was an entirely different kettle of fish.
It was as if he were awakening from a deep slumber, a gradual awareness of sensations he hadn’t felt in ages, an urgent beating of his heart as though he were once again coming alive.
He didn’t want to feel this way. He didn’t want to respond to whatever it was about her that had stirred these feelings within him. There were still unresolved aspects of his life. Anger that hadn’t been entirely put to rest. Beyond that, there was also the fact that he’d robbed her of her dearest dream—enjoying her first Season and flirting with all the eligible gentlemen who would certainly wish to flirt with her too. Court her. Make her feel special.
“Are you jealous? Even the tiniest bit?” Gemma said, fluttering her fan in front of her face to cool herself after dancing—once again—with one of her many gentleman admirers. “You needn’t be, you know.”
She was the darling of the Season, a diamond of the first water in beauty and taste, and had a sparkling, exuberant personality. Why her attentions had focused on Ben had been baffling to him, and undoubtedly to others too. True, he was an earl, and he had plenty of money, which, he supposed, made him something of a catch, but the fact that he preferred to spend his time with only a few close friends or on his estate or discussing Parliamentary matters made him come across as curmudgeonly, surely.
“I’m afraid I admire your vivacity, Miss Crawford, far too much to require you spend your entire evening at my beck and call.”
Her face darkened briefly before brightening again. “I’m sure Mr. Mandeville won’t mind dancing the next reel with me, if you’re indisposed. He is a particularfriend, you know—although I have told him repeatedly this evening that myattention will be focused on you.”
Ben’s heart beat swiftly within him. He couldn’t imagine what Gemma Crawford,spirited young lady that she was, saw in him, despite the advantages he brought to the Marriage Mart. But she was beautiful, he was intrigued by her . . . and so he bowed to her, trying to keep his heart in check as he did so. “I should enjoy dancing the next reel with you, then, Miss Crawford.”
She looked at him in the most delicious manner . . .
He clenched his jaw.
“Am I such a burden,” Rebecca asked, “that you must grimace from the effort you are making to assist me?”
“You are not a burden at all,” he replied, ashamed at where his thoughts had taken him. Far from being a burden, she felt rather too perfect.
“Ha. You’re not a very good liar, you know,” she said. “I myself have tired of hauling myself around with these crutches. I know just what a burden I must be.” She shot him a cheeky grin.
He couldn’t help but smile back.
“Here we are. Careful, now,” he said when they reached the tree. He crouched and set her on the folded blankets, taking care that her injured ankle was securely on the pillow. Once he’d accomplished that, he sat next to her, his arms resting on his bent knees. “Now,” he said, “what had your family’s household in such an uproar this afternoon?”
She heaved a sigh. “You will scarce believe it when I tell you. I can scarce believe it myself, and yet, it must be true. My sister Susan, who left for London just over a week ago, as you well know, is betrothed.Betrothed. And to aduke, no less. I can see by your face that you don’t believe it. I told you so.”
The Susan Jennings that Ben had met before her departure hadn’t seemed the impulsive type, so this news came as something of a surprise. He wasn’t sure what his expression was telling Rebecca, certainly not disbelief, but he had no idea what to say in reply, so, as he’d learned to do over the course of his life, he said nothing. He waited for her to continue.
“He is the Duke of Aylesham,” Rebecca continued. “Do you know of him?”
The Duke of Aylesham? Now,thatwas indeed a surprise. Aylesham was known for his scrupulous taste and had remained a bachelor rather than settle. “I am acquainted with the duke, yes. Mostly by reputation, although I have met him a time or two.” The Duke of Aylesham took his responsibilities in the House of Lords seriously, as had Ben when he’d inherited his own title. Because of this, a mutual regard had been fostered between them, if not an actual friendship.
“We have no idea how Susan met the duke. The only gentleman she mentioned in her earlier letter was—how did she word it?—‘a loathsome man.’ Mama and Papa are leaving for London first thing tomorrow so they may learn what they can before the wedding takes place. Oh, I forgot to mention, they are to be married on this very Monday!”
Ben truly didn’t know what to say. He had a difficult time believing the Duke of Aylesham would leap headfirst into a marriage after being acquainted with a young lady for but a week’s time. “This is truly extraordinary news,” he said at length, needing to say something.
