The skirts—rather, the wearer of the skirts, the very pregnant wearer of the skirts—disappeared from sight.
“What the hell?” Harlowe dropped his pallet and brush and took off after her. The stretch along the open field was uneven at best. The last thing he wanted was his wife falling and injuring herself.
In the five months since they’d arrived, Harlowe had built a low wall around the pond at Maeve’s insistence since she absolutely refused to allow him to teach the children how to swim. Her fear of deep waters was too ingrained.
Harlowe didn’t believe the children would go down to the water alone. All but one of them knew of her fear and adored her too much to disregard her wishes. Only one child would dare go against her explicit instructions.
The one opening to the pond was closed by a small gate he’d constructed and was too far away to reach in a timely manner. Harlowe jumped over and found Penny standing off some ways to one side. She held a metal pail.
Trepidation crawled over his skin like painful welts.
The pier he’d built stretched halfway out to the center of the large pond. Two small boats and a raft were tied to the moorings. They were there by design. For safety, should the need arise. And currently, were empty.
He reached the water’s edge in time to see eighteen-month-old Nathan crawling along the shore.
“You are in big trouble,” he shot to Penny. “Where’s your mother?” The question was rhetorical—he already knew the answer.
Harlowe pointed to Nathaniel and shouted in her direction. “Watch him.” He dashed out on the pier, searching the dark depths. Her blasted skirts would sink her to the bottom.There, kelp or hair? With no time to discern the difference, he jumped.
A minute later he dragged his wife to the surface and to the shore, his heart pounding furiously.
The cold seeped far beneath Maeve’s skin. It reached her bones, reminding her how much she hated ponds, lakes, oceans. They were nothing like the hot springs one could find in Bath or Bristol. Or the warm tub she could order at will, and did so on a daily basis. The May water had been freezing.
Brandon hadn’t said one word to her or Penny the whole distance back to the house. “Get a blanket,” he barked to Agnes. “And assemble the household.Everyone.Servants included.”
He carried her in through the library’s terrace doors. Her mother was sitting near the fire with a book in her hand. “What on earth is going on—Maeve, you looked like a drowned rat. What on earth possessed you to jump in the lake this time of year?” She dropped her book and came to her feet.
Maeve would have told her swimming hadn’t been in her plans for the day but her teeth were chattering too violently. It wasn’t as if she had intended to jump in. By the time she’d seen Nathan, it had been too late, being midair as it were.
“It’s much too cold. Harlowe, how dare you allow this. And in her condition.”
Her unborn child.A blanket fell around her shoulders. Her fingers were too stiff to grip it sufficiently, and tears pooled in her eyes.
“Take Nathaniel,” Brandon said to her mother. His words were as glacial as her wet, shivering skin.
He stalked over and poured out a tumbler of brandy and came over to her. “Drink this.”
“But—”
“Do it.”
She didn’t dare argue and sipped. It burned going down. She handed the still half full glass back to him. “Enough.”
Her husband set the glass on the table and secured the blanket tightly around her. “What have I told you about jumping in the water?” he railed at her.
“I thought Nathan had fallen in. I only saw him when I was in the air.”
“I cannot worry every second you are out of my sight. You little fool.” He gave her a gentle shake. “You will drive me to Bedlam.”
“Quit yelling at me. Is that any way to talk to the love of your life? Who almost drowned, incidentally?” Maeve glanced around as the servants shuffled in. McCaskle, his wife, his son, two daughters, Cook, and another young man she didn’t recognize.
Maeve pointed to him. “Who are you?”
“Davie, m’lady.”
“He’s Niall’s younger brother,” Penny informed her.
Maeve rolled her eyes to the ceiling and huddled deeper within her blanket.
