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“No, they won’t which is why you need friendship, support, and perhaps devotion.” He set them walking once more. “Don’t discount any of that in your quest to gain freedom. Wings don’t work without the air beneath them, holding them steady.”
Oh, why did he have to make so much sense while making it feel as if she were falling? Anne shoved those thoughts out of her mind and focused on him once more, because her curiosity demanded it. “Have you courted a woman? Or did one break your heart, thereby leading you to avoid romance altogether?”
“No.” He deftly maneuvered her around a large group of rowdy young men clearly in their cups. “A man like me, who wears spectacles, who reads as a hobby, who’s retiring, and certainly who has no courage isn’t exactly prime material within the ton.” The muscles of his arm beneath her fingers tensed. “To say nothing of the fear that holds me captive at any given time and has ever since I left the military.”
“Yet, from everything I’ve seen of you during the course of our partnership, that fear relinquishes its grip on you slightly with each day that goes by.” Anne glanced at him and was struck again by how handsome he was even in profile.
“Only in your company. With everyone else, I still feel ill at ease and almost terrified.” He again turned his head and met her gaze. Amusement danced in those hazel depths. “That has to mean something.” Then he trained his attention on one of the traveler’s tents. “In your presence, I don’t feel pressure to be the man society expects.” A sigh escaped and a trace of sadness etched its way across his face. “Besides, what sort of woman would want a man who can’t take even the shallowest of risks in life without constantly overthinking them?”
Her heart went out to him, for what he considered shortcomings still bothered him. She squeezed her fingers on his arm. “One who sees the potential in a man, one who recognizes said man’s beautiful soul beneath the fractured exterior and thinks him worthy anyway.
“Ah, Lady Anne, how romantic you are.” He graced her with an easy grin. “I appreciate those words.”
Confusion inundated her. Could she be a romantic but hang onto her independence at the same time? “I’m going to help you.”
“You intend to match me.” It wasn’t a question, and horror hung upon those words.
“No.” Something akin to jealousy stabbed through her chest at the possibility of potential suitors vying for his time. Stop that, Anne. Who he chooses to dally with isn’t your concern. “I’m going to help you take risks. It’ll be rather easy, for you’ve already gone up in my balloon—twice—and we’ve done… scandalous things together…” Heat infused her cheeks and he looked away.
A chuckle escaped him. His sensuous lips curved into a grin. “Perhaps I will, only if you let me treat you as the lady you are, as a daughter of the ton should be. Just for today,” he quickly added when she would have protested. “It’s not a matter of stunting your independence but a matter of respect.”
How could she deny him when his eyes had lit with anticipation? “Very well. We shall look the proper couple if only for this evening. And you can start by fetching me a cone of those roasted nuts.”
“As my lady wishes.” He executed an exaggerated half-bow from the waist that had her laughing. Seconds later, he loped off to do her bidding.
Anne stupidly stared after him with a soft smile flirting with her lips. He really was a dear man, but he most likely wasn’t the man for her. On his way back to her, various people greeted him; a few women tried blatantly to capture his attention, but though he waved and murmured words of salutation to them, he politely left them all behind until he stood before her with the requested treat. “Thank you, kind sir,” she murmured as she took the warm paper cone from his hand. “These are a favorite of mine.” So saying, she popped one of the sugared walnuts into her mouth and chewed.
“I’m glad I could give you this small happiness.”
And he was right. Receiving such a treat did lift her mood, though she feared much of that had to do with him. The thought was distracting, and slightly frightening. “Shall we begin your instruction on taking a risk?”
He tilted his head to one side. “How so?”
Anne held up one of the nuts and then dropped it on the grass. Still looking at him, she stooped and retrieved it. “I want you to eat this nut.” She held it out to him on her palm. “Is the reward greater than the risk and the fear?”
“I can’t do that. Do you know how many germs are probably on that nut now? The ground is certainly not clean.”
“Suit yourself.” She popped the nut into her mouth and chewed.
Benedict’s face blanched. “You could die, Anne.”
“Or I can remain perfectly healthy.” Again, she dropped a nut to the grass, retrieved it, and then offered it to him. “Let’s try that again. How brave are you, Worthington?”
For long seconds he bounced his gaze between her and the nut. “Fine.” He took the walnut, ate it, and visibly swallowed. For a few seconds, she feared he might cast up his accounts, but he apparently conquered the urge and gave her a wobbly smile.
“Ah, see?” Anne grinned. “You haven’t expired. Huzzah!”
He snorted and stole a nut from her cone. “Minx.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, only because you’re coming along nicely.”
As they strolled through the fair, she pointed out sights and he told her what some of his favorites were. At one tent, he paid out a few shillings for the chance to toss wooden rings at a collection of bottles. When one ring landed squarely about a bottle, he won a small stuffed horse toy with a lopsided head, which he presented to her with a flourish.
She was unaccountably pleased with the absurd little thing and put it into her reticule to bring out and admire when she was alone. Once they’d finished the nuts, he procured two glasses of lemonade, which they enjoyed near a stand of oak trees a bit away from the busy grounds of the fair itself. “Are you ready for another exercise in courage?”
“That largely depends on what you’ll make me do.” He took the glass from her, drank down the remainder of the sweet tart liquid in the container, and then set them both on the ground at his feet.
“I’d like you to climb one of these oak trees.” Anne pointed to a large, stout one that looked fairly sturdy with wide branches.
