Page 5 of A Lady of Means
“Would you like some company, my lady?Perhaps Finn and I will take some of the leftover bread from our picnic to feed the ducks,” Miss Kelley called to her, her small red headed ward clutching her hand.
Moria fought the urge to blurt out,“Dear god, no!” and mustered enough restraint to simply call over her shoulder, “Enjoy the ducks without me.I’ll be inside in time to wash up for dinner, I promise!”She noted the bemused and mystified looks on the faces of all five of her siblings, one brother-in-law, and her companion.She had guarded her tongue for an entire afternoon; they could grant her a few minutes of solitude.
When she moved closer to the small pond, a large and inviting willow tree beckoned.She pulled back the long hanging limbs of the willow and the leaning emerald fronds to reveal a carved rock leaning against the tree, large enough to sit upon.It was the perfect place to sit peacefully without hope of discovery.Was it someone’s favorite spot she was stealing?
Moria smoothed her skirts as she sat atop the rock, drawing her knees up to her chest.She could sit here with only her own thoughts for company and not have to dodge her well-meaning family members and their worried glances.
The sensations around her now made her feel like a loosed coil.Her bonnet lolled back between her shoulder blades, the wind wrapped around her and blew loose tendrils of her blonde hair about her face.She leaned her head back against the willow, listening to the sounds of ducks and the mill pond, the scent of jasmine filling her every breath.
A deep voice with a Scottish burr interrupted the stillness around her like something heavy crashing through an icy lake.“That’s tha thing, I didna want to herrt her.”
“Well, you jilted her.You should have known that would cause her some distress.”The other voice seemed to be the voice of reason, but its husky timbre wrapped around her like a ribbon of smoke.
“Selah does na care for me, she cares for me Scottish burr and shiny red coat, Captain.”
The smallest hint of a laugh escaped her, and she covered her mouth belatedly.
“Who’s there?”the husky voice called again.
Moria moved closer against the tree, clapping her hand over her mouth.It didn’t take long for a large, beautifully masculine hand to pull back the willow branches and find her there atop the rock beneath.
“I’d expect a young lady to know it’s improper to eavesdrop, Miss.”
The face that accompanied the voice was carved masterfully from marble; with fringes of inky black lashes surrounding eyes the color of a deep and star-smattered sky, matching black stubble swarthing his jawline.He looked like a pirate in a red coat.A lump stuck in her throat, she should look away, but it was beyond her ability.
Moria had only ever read about such large, dangerously attractive men in novels that she chastised her sisters for reading, but then read herself when they weren’t looking.
“It’s “my lady,” and I wasn’t eavesdropping, sir.”
He let out a low chuckle, taking one tentative step toward her.
She was fearful of him; startlingly aware of his physicality.
“My apologies, then,my lady.Might I ask why you were hiding?”
Moria cleared her throat, shifting prettily on her seat atop the rock.“I wasn’t….hiding.Per se.”
The man raised his eyebrows.
“Fine, sir,yes,I might have been.But I assure you, I had a good reason.”
“And that is?”
It was Moria’s turn to laugh.“I can only see your face, and we haven’t even been
introduced.I don't go around sharing my secrets with every handsome stranger I meet under willow trees.”
The way his smile reached all the way to his eyes sparked something, it lit her from within.He motioned to the seat next to her.“May I join you, then?”
“What about your friend?”
The man looked over his shoulder.“Seems he’s deserted me.He probably thinks I’m a loon, talking to a fairy under a willow tree.”
His dark eyes teased, challenged, implored.
Moria moved a few inches to the left and looked at the space she had vacated and then to the man.When he moved beneath the branches and made to sit next to her, letting the willow fronds lapse behind him, she realized that she had underestimated him.The rock was barely large enough to accommodate them both.
The man…he was so large that in the small space underneath the willow, he crowded her.He crowded her mind, he crowded her thoughts with his body, until she felt like in all the world, it was only the two of them there, at this moment.
