Page 10 of The Sea Siren of Broadwater Bottom
“Now that is a bridge too far. You leave me with no choice but to retaliate with Homer. ‘First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them.’”
Elissa dropped her arm and gaped at him. “Enchant! Which did you find the more enchanting, the pondweed, or the beetle?”
They had reached her house. Edward reined in Bucephalus but made no move to dismount. He was smiling at her, and if she did not know it was all a disorder of her frozen brain, she would have said he was doing so tenderly. “Mostly the part where you made me laugh harder than I’ve laughed in a very long time. Elissa—”
Elissa?Had he just called herElissa?
There was a bang as the front door burst open. “Elissa! Oh, thank heavens!”
She turned to see her sister Cassandra running across the garden. “I’ve been worried sick,” Cassandra said in a rush. “I checked all your favorite haunts—the meadow, the willow tree, the bend in the river. I was just on my way to Broadwater Bottom.”
“That’s where I was,” Elissa said. “The boat drifted away from the dock and the rope got tangled in a tree. I was very fortunate that Lord Fauconbridge came to my rescue.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Cassandra said, pressing a hand to her heart.
Elissa made to climb down, but Edward squeezed her waist. “Let me help you,” he whispered. He lifted her just enough to slide back, setting her gently on the saddle, then he swung down. Elissa expected him to lower her to the ground, but instead he slid her straight into his arms.
Their sole groom (who also served as footman, gardener, and butler, as it were, as they only had one manservant and two maids-of-all-work) rushed over to take charge of Bucephalus. Edward began striding toward the front door with Elissa in his arms, speaking with Cassandra as she trotted alongside him. “She has taken a terrible chill. You’ll note the bluish cast of her lips, and she was unable to stand a short time ago. It is urgent that we get her warmed up.”
Cassandra nodded in agreement. “We’ll take her up to my room—it’s the smallest and easiest to heat. Amelia,” she called to one of their maids, “stoke the fire in my room, please. We’ll need hot water and—”
“There you are.” Elissa cringed into Edward’s shoulder at the sound of her mother’s voice. “How on earth did you become so bedraggled?”
Elissa swallowed. Had she thought Edward discovering her at the pond was humiliating? It appeared that the real humiliation had yet to begin.
“I had a bit of a mishap on Farmer Broadwater’s pond,” she began.
Her mother cut her off with a snort. “It’s always ‘a bit of a mishap’ with you. I see that this time you have inconvenienced Lord Fauconbridge. I cannot apologize enough for my daughter, my lord.”
“There is nothing to apologize for,” Edward said, setting Elissa gently upon a bench in the entryway.
“Oh, look at your beautiful boots!” her mother cried. “And you’re soaked to the skin.”
“I am fine—” Edward began.
“Amelia,” her mother said, stopping the maid as she came back down the stairs, “heat some water. Lord Fauconbridge will require a hot bath.”
“Thank you, but that will not be necessary. It is your daughter who—”
“Lord Fauconbridge?” Her father had wandered into the foyer to see what the fuss was about. “What brings you back here?”
“I happened upon Miss Elissa at the pond,” Edward said, gesturing to Elissa on the bench.
Her father did not seem to have noticed that both she and Edward were drenched in pond water, that her hair had tumbled from its knot, or that she was wearing Edward’s coat.
He did, however, notice the sodden volume in her lap.
“Is that my copy ofTheseus? What have you done to it?” he demanded.
“It was an accident—” she began.
“Careless girl!” he said, snatching up the book. “I don’t know why I even let you use my library.”
“I am sorry, Father. I will replace it.”
“Replace it! With what, I should like to know?”
Of course, he didn’t know that Elissa was the author of the literary world’s latest sensation, nor that just yesterday she had received another bank draft from her publisher, this one for one hundred and twenty-five pounds.
