Page 70 of Wicked Rivals
Rosalind’s heart gave a wild thump.I should not be so excited to see him. She reminded herself that he had tricked her into that chess match. There needed to be a reckoning for that deception.
But then he’d taken her to bed and changed everything she’d understood about lovemaking. She’d never known a man and woman could come together with such passion. And she’d slept soundly afterward, feeling the safest she’d ever felt in her life.
Now for the first time, she’d gone shopping with two other ladies and enjoyed herself—even if she had tried on far too many bonnets. It had been a day of frivolous pleasantries instead of hard business and dealing with men who consistently dismissed her talents. Rosalind was afraid to trust that life would grant her such a luxury for long. But that treacherous little emotion of hope made her want that more than she should.
They climbed into the waiting coach as the footman loaded the boxes.
Regina and Joanna were smiling as they watched Rosalind remove her gloves and tuck them into her reticule.
Rosalind noticed and stared back at them in some concern. “What?” Was something on her clothing amiss? Was her hair coming undone?
“You lookhappy, my dear,” Regina noted. “For the first time since meeting you, you seem at ease.”
“Do I?” Rosalind hadn’t given much thought to the idea, but she did feel relaxed.
“I know Ashton can be positively overbearing at times,” Joanna added, “but I think he’s happy to be marrying you. He hasn’t smiled this much in years.”
That shouldn’t have mattered, but the moment Joanna said it, Rosalind couldn’t help the flutter of nerves at the thought of Ashton and his smiles. They could be so lovely, when he wasn’t acting so distant.
Rosalind glanced out the coach window as it pulled away, lost in daydreams and trying to hide the little fear inside of what would happen when her dreams were shattered. Soon they were riding past Kingsley Stream, the water high from the recent storms.
Suddenly a woman was running alongside the bank, waving at the coach. Rosalind jerked up in her seat as the coach halted. The ladies were nearly unseated by the quick stop.
“What is it?” Regina asked, her voice high.
“There’s a woman. She looks upset,” Rosalind said, opening the coach door and hopping out.
The woman’s face was strained with fear as she saw them climb out. Her clothes were wet and her white linen cap was askew.
“Your Ladyship, please forgive me.” She stopped and curtsied in front of Regina.
“Mrs. Stadley, what’s the matter?”
The woman wiped tears from her eyes. “It’s my husband. He was attempting to fix the wheel on the mill. He was holding on to a side of the wheel when it broke loose from whatever had stopped it, and I fear it’s pulled him under! I’m afraid he’s going to…” The woman was shaking hard now and didn’t say the word, but everyone knew what she was thinking.Drown.
“How long has he been under?” Regina asked.
“He fought to keep above water, but he went under just as I saw your coach coming up the road.”
The women rushed out of the coach and to the riverbank.
The giant wooden wheel was turning, water dripping from the panels.
Rosalind stepped forward. “I need someone to help me out of my dress.”
Ashton’s mother gaped at her. “You can’t go in after him. It’s too dangerous.”
“I assure you, I can swim quite well, and it seems there’s no one else around who can help the man in time. Joanna, please help me.” Rosalind turned her back as Joanna hastily undid the laces of the gown, and then Rosalind slipped off her stockings and hurried to the river.
“Please, miss, you don’t—” Mrs. Stadley began, but Rosalind dove into the water, missing whatever else she said.
The cold water swallowed her whole. Using the roots against the riverbank, she held still as she peered through the gloom of the murky depths. She could just make out the dark, looming shape of the wheel as it slowly turned, and there she saw it, a shape toward the bottom of the river. A man was struggling to get loose from an underwater branch that had caught the back of his trousers. He must have been pulled down once the blockage was freed and snagged at the bottom.
It had been years since she’d had to swim like this. Kicking her feet hard, she managed to reach him. He jerked in surprise when she gripped one of his arms. His cheeks were puffed out as though he was fighting to contain his last bit of air. Rosalind gripped the hem of his trousers near his lower back and dug her nails into the threading. The man grew still as she fought to rip the fabric away from the branch. He suddenly jerked violently and went limp, air escaping his mouth just as she got him free of the branch.
Lungs burning, Rosalind wrapped one arm around the man and clawed through the churning waters to the surface.
The light seemed so far away, and Mr. Stadley’s body was weighing her down.
