“That you keep your mind and your heart open to the idea of finding the right woman? That you understand nobody is perfect and we all are flawed in our own way. Sometimes those flaws make us who we truly are, and the result might turn out to be better than you expected.”
He blinked as he digested that rather complicated declaration. “Er, so what you’re saying is I should find the right woman, regardless of her faults?”
“Not quite,” she said gently. “I’m saying you should find the right woman foryou.”
Chapter Six
In Which Discoveries are made in Relation to the Characters of our Confused Conspirators
Cherry arrived at the rise promptly at nine o’clock the following morning, and admitted to herself she was somewhat surprised to find Garrett already there. At least this time he wasn’t masquerading as a dead body on her grass, since he sat comfortably with a book in his hands, although his gaze was on her face, not the pages.
“Good morning.” He rose, leaving the book on the ground. “I’m happy you could be here, since I have been trying very hard to work up some sort of plan, and failing miserably.”
“Good morning to you,” she nodded back, glancing down at his feet. “What are you reading?”
“A new novel by an author I enjoy. Walter Scott. Ever hear of him?”
“Of course. Is thatGuy Mannering?”
His eyebrows rose. “Indeed it is. You’re familiar with his works then…”
Cherry smiled. “I very much likedWaverley, and wondered if his following tales would live up to the standard he set with that one.” She sat down on the grass, pleased that he joined her without comment, and the next half hour passed quickly as they found other shared literary favourites, discussing them in a lively fashion that brought an unexpected degree of pleasure to her heart.
Few people admitted they liked reading—well, few young women, anyway—and to have a conversation like this with a gentleman was a welcome surprise.
However, before long, they both knew that such matters asbooks must be set aside in favour of the most important business at hand.
“All right,” said Garrett with a sigh. “Excuses for not attending this dratted dance.”
“Illness? I could catch some kind of ague…”
“Your Mama would know that to be untrue, as would mine.” He shook his head. “I think they have some sort of sixth sense about things like that. I often wonder if giving birth to a child stimulates these uncanny inklings mothers have.”
She chuckled. “I haven’t a clue how they do it, but you’re right. So we cannot feign illness.” She stroked her hand idly over the soft grass, then raised her head. “Could you receive an urgent message from London, perhaps? Some important business matter that needs looking into?”
He was silent for a moment, considering her suggestion.
Cherry let her gaze roam over his face as he lost himself in thought. He really was rather handsome, she concluded, and possessed of a most pleasing nature. Another gentleman might have immediately taken himself off to town or just left the neighbourhood without a word.
But here he was, sitting on the grass with her, working with her to find a solution to what could prove to be a potential problem.
“Won’t fly,” he sighed. “The dance is too close. By the time I send anything to London to anyone who might be there and be willing to write back to me, it will be too late. I could use my butler at our town house, I suppose, but even so, it would be risky. And once again, the amazing powers of my mother would immediately recognise a ploy.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She’d know, no doubt about it.”
Garrett pushed himself to his feet. “Come on. Let’s walk. I find that sometimes a little exercise can stimulate my brain.”He extended a hand to her as she began to rise, and without thinking, she took it, surprised at the shiver of pleasure that slid up her arm and through the rest of her. His palm was warm, his grip firm.
And his smile as he looked down at her and linked their arms? Had she been made of ice, she’d have melted on the spot.
With his book in his pocket, and his arm warm against hers, Garrett turned them both to the path Cherry had taken earlier.
“May I have your permission to enter your woods, Miss Trease?”
She grinned. “I would be honoured to invite you to do so, Lord DeVarne. It would be my pleasure to point out the interesting features of our forest.”
“I’d love to see them,” he replied, his dark eyes meeting hers. “We might find the exercise stimulating enough to come up with a plan while we stroll.”
They walked in silence for a little way, Cherry quite content to be in the place she loved with a man she was finding to be more and more interesting. That should disturb her, but to her surprise, it didn’t. Walking with Garrett, talking with him, showing him little things he might have otherwise missed—a squirrel’s nest quite low in a tree, but cleverly hidden, and what she knew was an owl’s home higher up where the trunk had presented a convenient hole. All a delight as her enthusiasm was reciprocated.
He paused, looking closely, shaking his head as he saw the way nature’s creatures had made clever use of such tools. “Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?” he said, somewhat obscurely.
