Waltzing in the Snow
LAUREN SMITH
One
There was nothing more vexing than having a gentleman with a devilish reputation ruin a lady’s enjoyable ride in Hyde Park with an eligible bachelor in order to save her from certain doom. But that’s exactly what was in store for Arianna Asgil as she rode along the wintry, snow-covered paths of Hyde Park with said eligible bachelor, Mr. Solomon Cumberland.
Things had been going so well that Arianna’s chaperone, her married friend Daphne Grant, the Countless of Huntley, had been kind enough to give Arianna space to be properly courted by Mr. Cumberland. Ordinarily, it was nearly impossible to have a moment alone, but on this day, she had hoped to manage it.
“Miss Asgil, I’m sure you know why I asked you to ride with me today.” Solomon’s blue eyes brimmed with desire as he gazed at her.
Arianna flushed with excitement. Was it finally going to happen? Was this gentleman going to profess his love and propose? She had set her cap for him two months ago and was determined, this time, to finally marry. After two failed seasons, she was desperate for a successful match.
Living with her parents was no great tragedy, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to allow society to relegate her to a quiet life in the country, which was often the fate of unmarried ladies of highborn status. Though her mother was a society success, she wouldn’t have much of a chance to keep a spinster daughter in public without facing some ridicule.
Arianna would give anything to run about the country as wild as a hoyden, but that was not an option. It would only embarrass her parents. They would stand by her, but she didn’t want to put them through that. Better that she be married and have a bit of freedom as a married woman. Now she had pinned her hopes on Solomon Cumberland and the rumors she’d heard that he was wife hunting.
“I am ready to hear anything you wish to ask, Mr. Cumberland.” She shot a glance back at Daphne, who had paused her horse on the path so she could speak to another lady. For a moment, Arianna and Solomon were alone. He’d been quite the gentleman this last month, bringing her flowers, paying calls at her home, staying for tea—all the things a gentleman would do when wooing a lady he planned to marry.
Solomon’s eyes glowed again. “Come this way. What I wish to do requires a bit of privacy.”
This is it...Arianna guided her horse to follow his down a shady path where the wintry breeze failed to reach them. Solomon slid smoothly from his horse and helped her down from her own. They tied their horses to a low branch of a nearby tree and walked deeper into the secluded area.
“What is it you wished to ask me?” Arianna prompted once they paused. They had surely gone far enough down the lane, and this was a perfect spot for a proposal. She tried to burn the moment into her mind, the way the light glinted off the patches of snow and the way the glow of the light warmed her face. This would make for a beautiful memory.
Solomon turned to her, a new gleam in his eyes that went beyond desire. It reminded her of the look she had seen on the face of a dog that had tried to bite her when she was a child. Her heart suddenly kicked against her ribs in warning.
“Oh, I have nothing to ask you,” he said smoothly as he grasped her waist and jerked her against him.
Arianna’s gasp of surprise was silenced by his mouth coming down hard over hers. It wasn’t romantic, and it certainly wasn’t pleasant.
She shoved hard against his chest, and he stumbled back, shock registering on his features. Arianna was built like an Amazon, at least according to her mother; she was not a tiny creature who would make easy prey.
“Stop this at once, Mr. Cumberland,” she warned, breathing hard as he advanced. “I thought you planned to...”
He cocked his head to one side as though puzzled. “To what?”
“To ask me to marry you,” Arianna replied, backing up another step, though she loathed to retreat.
“I thought you and I understood each other, Arianna. This”—he waved a hand between their bodies—“was about mutual pleasure. You’re not a fair young maiden of seventeen anymore. Surely you know no man will marry you at your age, not with your height and build. The best you can hope for is this.” He lunged for her again, and she was so startled and horrified at his words that she found herself unprepared.
Pain shot up her body as Solomon tackled her to the ground. She fought and tried to scream. He slammed a hand over her mouth, and she had a mere second to land a blow, striking him squarely in the eye just as her older brother had taught her. He cursed and slapped her across the face. Ears ringing and with her vision swimming with the unexpected blow, she braced for whatever he would do next, while desperately trying to collect her thoughts into some coherent plan of escape.
A moment later, Solomon was flying off her and rolling away on the snowy grass. The noonday sun illuminated a figure towering above her, the man’s blond hair lit with an angelic glow.
A deep and familiar voice called her name. “Arianna? Are you all right?”
She nodded, dumbstruck, as she gazed up into her rescuer’s face. She’d never expected to see him again, at least not up close.
Derrick Seabright, the man she had once loved as a foolish young girl, had thrown Solomon off her, and now that she had nodded to indicate she was all right, he lunged for Solomon as the man climbed back to his feet. Without a word, Derrick delivered blow after blow upon him, until the man lay still on the ground and a groan escaped his lips.
Only then did Derrick turn back to face her. She couldn’t help what happened next as she tried to stand. Her knees buckled, and her whole body trembled like the last frail leaf clinging to a branch just before winter arrives. One light breeze and she would fall.
Derrick crouched and, with surprisingly gentle hands—hands that had beaten her attacker mercilessly just moments ago—lifted her up into his arms.
“Did he hurt you, Arianna?” he asked.
“No... no.” She touched her cheek and flinched. Derrick continued to gaze at her, worry shadowing his hazel eyes.
