“Then you will see the lake today,” he said. “It was always our favorite playground when we were children. It was the scene of many a picnic, sometimes with just our mother, often with relatives and friends from the village and the surrounding countryside. Once a year, sometimes twice, our mother would organize a grand evening picnic there, with the glory of a sunset to watch, and hundreds of candles to be lit about the base of the trees and hung in colored lanterns from their branches to turn the darkness to magic when it descended, and an orchestra playing from the pavilion out on the island. And a special dispensation for the children to stay up late. That was always our favorite part. No, that is not strictly true. Every part was our favorite. Some of the adults would even dance on the grass.”
“How could you bear to go away?” she asked him.
“I was the second son,” he said. “It would be Devlin’s home after our father’s time. He would never have turned any of us out, of course. But it would not have felt like a permanent home any longer. I took the path that had been allotted me since my birth.”
“And has it made you happy?” she asked.
“It made a killer out of me, Miss Cunningham,” he said crisply.
She winced. “I amnota fanatical peace lover, Colonel Ware,” she said. “Not entirely, anyway. I recognize the necessity of fightingthe wars against Napoleon Bonaparte. Unfortunately, doing so involved the slaughter of thousands of men, most of them conscripted against their will. I beg your pardon for what I said at Aunt Anna’s ball.”
He smiled at her. “It has been the right career for me,” he said. “I have felt—and feel—useful.”
“Did you acquire your limp on the battlefield?” she said, and then wished she had not asked something so personal. Her wretched tongue.
“I did,” he said. “And I have Ben—my oldest brother—to thank for the fact that I still have a leg at all. He threatened to bang a few heads together if any physician tried to take it off. Out in the Peninsula, physicians were regularly known as sawbones, a name they came by honestly. And I beg your pardon for adding that unnecessary detail. I sometimes forget you are a lady.” He grimaced. “I didnotmean that the way it probably sounded. I meant that I tend to think of you as a regular person.”
“And ladies are not regular people?” she asked.
“I think I had better change the subject,” he said, “before I dig this hole even deeper. Have you realized we are almost at the lake? Well done.”
She had realized it, and the knowledge thrilled her.
“I am marvelously clever,” she said, and laughed.
“Marvelously courageous,” he said. “I am proud of you.”
“Did we beat the tortoise?” she asked.
“By a head,” he said.
Her right leg was beginning to ache from its unaccustomed positioning. The stirrup was digging into her left foot, and she understood why riders normally wore heavy boots. She was going to be stiff all over by the time they got back to the stables.
“You were right,” she said, gazing at the sunlight sparkling on the waters of the lake. “This has been so muchfun. Thank you for your patience.”
“It has been fun for me too,” he said, and there was something in his voice that made her turn her head to look at him. “You are good company. Would you like to get down and rest awhile before we return? Perhaps allow me to row you across to the island?”
It was very close. It looked picturesque and inviting with its small pavilion designed to look like a miniature replica of the temple perched on top of the hill close to the house. There were numerous trees to offer shade and mystery.
“I may never get back up on the horse,” she said.
“You will,” he said. “Trust me.”
“Very well, then,” she said, and he dismounted and came to lift her down after she had unhooked her right leg.
This had perhaps been a mistake, she thought with a shudder of awareness a moment later as her hands, which were braced on his shoulders, failed to keep her clear of the rest of him. She slid down his hard man’s body all the way to the ground, and his hands remained on either side of her waist longer than was strictly necessary and even tightened a little as he looked down into her upturned face.
Oh dear.
She had been about to make an utter idiot of herself.
“Will you tether the horses?” she asked.
“It is not necessary,” he said, releasing her and stepping back. “Not if I tell them to stay.” He murmured something to Soldier and patted Flora on the rump.
Looking up, Winifred was inordinately proud of herself. She had ridden up there all the way from the house. She flexed her right leg a few times to loosen the muscles while his face was turned away.
Shehadenjoyed herself enormously. Even so, she ought not to have come. She was finding it harder and harder to ignore the foolish attraction she felt for Colonel Ware. She had masked it as discomfort and dislike for too long to keep convincing herself.
