Page 127 of Storm of Bells
That was the moment she caught sight of hercounterpart, and her mouth dropped open.
‘I beg your pardon, Miss? I didn’t doanything wrong! I—’
The young man’s voice abruptly cut off, too,and he stared at Cora the Curvaceous as if he had never seen awoman before in his life. More importantly—he stared at her face,not her other, more ample, assets.
And Cora?
Cora blushed.
Sheblushed. Blushed like a villagemaiden on her wedding night. Blinking, Amy leaned over to her andwhispered, ‘Cora? What’s da matter? He ain’t a customer, is‘e?’
Cora didn’t answer. She didn’t even blink.Her eyes were fixed on the young man in front of her with a dreamylook.
‘Cora? Cora, did ye get knocked on da‘ead?’
‘If she did,’ I commented in a whisper, ‘hedid as well. Look.’
We turned towards the young man. The dreamy,yearning expression on his face was similar to Cora’s. And what aface it was! Sky-blue eyes, long, chestnut hair flowing down allthe way to broad, masculine shoulders…you could have cut his headoff, pasted it onto Sir Lancelot, and not noticed thedifference.
‘My Lady!’ Abruptly, the young man sank intoa half-bow, half-genuflection. ‘I humbly beg your pardon for myimprudence! I should not have moved this rashly!’
‘N-no.’ Face still red as a pretty,prize-winning potato, ‘I shouldn’t ‘ave…it was totally my fault,really.’
Reaching out, Amy touched her friend’sforehead. ‘Cora? Are ye sick?’
Cora ignored her.
The young man ignored her.
‘Please forgive my forwardness, but…’ Theyoung man hesitated. ‘How come I have never had the pleasure ofseeing you before? This isn’t the first time I have visited thislovely village, but never before have I seen such a beautifulflower blooming in the fields.’
Amy mimed retching behind Jenny’s back. Therest of us stared at Cora, expecting her to take up her fan andwhack the fellow over the head.
Thwack!
The noise of the fan snapping open was suddenand loud in the silence. Cora raised it high and…used it to hidethe lower half of her increasingly flushed face.
‘I…um…I’m ‘ere for the wedding.’
‘Oh, that explains it!’ Almost withoutmeaning to, it seemed the young man took a step forward. ‘Still…howcome I haven’t seen you during the season in London?’ His gazewandered over her sumptuous, elegant dress and figure. ‘Don’t tellme you haven’t yet had your coming out? How cruel to deprive thepeople in this world of a beauty that surpasses princesses andqueens! Pray tell me, beautiful lady, what is your name?’
By now, Cora’s whole face had dived behindthe fan, like a fashion-conscious prairie dog.
‘I…I’m not a la…I’m not—’
‘She’snot used to this much attention,’ I hurriedly cut her off, jabbingmy elbow into her ribs. ‘I’m afraid she indeed hasn’t had her debutyet. Our dear Cora has led quite a sheltered life. She’s spent mostof her life living with her friend Jenny under the stern care of anabbess.[26]’
Cora’s mouth dropped open.
‘What?’ The young man exclaimed. ‘Cut offfrom the world, all those years, confined in a nunnery?’
‘A tragedy, isn’t it?’ I sighed. ‘But thenagain, it has formed her character in a way you will find in noother lady. You wouldn’t believe how pure and innocent our dearlittle Cora is.’
The young man swallowed. ‘Truly, innocencepersonified. I hardly dare to presume, but…’
‘Oh, go ahead and presume. It’s noproblem.’
The handsome young man snatched up Cora’shand and led it to his lips. ‘The purity and innocence shining fromyour beautiful eyes have captured my heart! Miss Cora…may I havethe honour of inviting you for an outing in the countryside?’
