Page 5

Uncle Charles was always pleased with the world. Kate did not think she had ever seen him more than slightly perturbed. He was pleasantly surprised with everyone he met and nearly everything that happened to him, and lived in such a state of happy expectation that it could occasionally be quite exhausting. Nothing seemed to worry him for long. Any problem, in Uncle Charles's opinion, could be set right with a positive attitude and something good to eat.

"And where are my delightful cousins this morning, Uncle?"

"Still abed, the lazy creatures," he said cheerfully as he added bacon to her plate. "Henry was up half the night reading that blasted adventure novel Colonel Fitzwilliam gave him. He had apparently smuggled a candle beneath the bedclothes, and we should never have known if he had not developed a burning desire to act out one particularly grisly scene at around two o'clock in the morning."

Kate smiled. Henry was the youngest of Aunt Jane and Uncle Charles's boys, a wonderful, or perhaps occasionally trying, surprise who had arrived some years after his brothers. At nine, he possessed the energy and mischief of at least ten boys his age.

"I wondered why it was so quiet."

"Exactly so. Make the most of it."

Her uncle returned carrying a plate with her roll and bacon, along with a generous spoonful of eggs which she had not requested but accepted without complaint. Kate had just settled down to her food with a cup of chocolate when she felt something soft brush against her ankle.

She knew who and what it was before she even looked beneath the table. "Pegasus," she murmured.

The spaniel settled his head across her slipper. Kate did not mind. Not really. Having an animal close always made her feel more settled. There was something comforting about the warmth and weight of a furry body, the gentle rise and fall of their breathing. When the noise and general messiness of life around her became too much, animals seemed to quiet something inside her.

Pegasus bumped his chin twice against her foot. Kate rolled her eyes, broke a small piece of bacon from her plate and slipped it beneath the table. Pegasus was extremely accomplished at acquiring food during mealtimes and had the round little stomach to demonstrate the fruits of his labour.

She had just broken off another piece when a voice came from close behind her left ear.

"Miss Darcy."

The voice was low and deep and seemed to ripple through the entire length of her body. Kate jerked without quite knowing why, causing poor Pegasus to squeal unhappily at her feet. She bent down at once to soothe the dog as the speaker stepped around to her left. Of course, it was Nathaniel Briar. This morning he wore a dark blue coat over a blue waistcoat embroidered with tiny silver leaves, the collar high and the cut close through the waist. His cravat was folded into an elaborate arrangement beneath his chin, and his chestnut hair had, once more, been curled carefully over his forehead. He looked as if he were about to parade down Rotten Row.

"Miss Darcy. Miss Mina, Mr and Mrs Harwood, Mr and Mrs Bingley. Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning, Briar," said her uncle Charles warmly. "Sleep well? Pemberley must be more comfortable than pitching a tent in the desert, I should imagine."

"Very much so," said Mr Briar. "Although I once had the best night's sleep of my life on a camp bed outside Pompeii after spending the entire day digging volcanic ash out of a buried Roman house, so I may not be the best judge of comfort."

Her skin prickled uncomfortably. She could have sworn he had bent down and spoken his first greeting directly into her ear, but surely not. Someone would have noticed, and it would have been completely improper. He did not even look at her now, carrying on a conversation with her aunt and uncle with perfect ease. What was it about this man, and why did he affect her so?

She returned to her food, wondering how quickly she might politely excuse herself from the room.

"You have not brought Mr Lyell to breakfast, then?"

Kate turned towards Mr Briar. His voice was pitched low now and it rumbled across her skin. Her body gave another involuntary small shudder and she straightened her spine and reached her hand down to stroke Pegasus' silky ears, only to find the furry traitor had abandoned her.

She did not look at him as she replied. "I finished the volume you came upon me reading in the library yesterday, sir, if that is what you mean."

"It is. And what is your verdict? Does he adequately explain the wonders of our natural world? Is it a rip-roaring read, or does he offer something more subtle in his prose?"

Kate turned her head towards him. His eyes were brown, although this close she could see little flecks of amber within them, and they were twinkling with merriment. Why did he tease her so? She could not understand it. She had made it quite clear the day before that she had no wish for his company, and there were any number of empty seats around the enormous table he might have chosen. Why was he sitting beside her and making fun of her? It was uncalled for and most ungentlemanly.

"I assure you, sir, Mr Lyell is very knowledgeable on his subject, and that is all one can reasonably ask of him."

"What, no romance? No adventure? Not even a swashbuckling pirate and a fair maiden swooning into his arms?"

"Very few people swoon in real life," Kate said, attacking her eggs with more violence than they warranted. "It is a most unproductive use of one's energy in any case, and why is it always women? Do men never become ill or faint dramatically at someone's feet?"

"Hear, hear!" called George from across the table.

"Quite right," added Bella. "I swear my darling husband nearly swooned when I told him we were to expect an addition to our family. I was quite ready to administer the smelling salts. And he is a lauded naval captain, as he so enjoys telling people."

George beamed at Bella, and they did that thing they often did, becoming so lost in one another that they seemed to forget the rest of the world existed.

Mr Briar shook his head and looked down at Kate. He had very white, very straight teeth. It was most annoying.