Page 21 of My Favorite Mistake
Fanny shook her spinning head. “The cheese rolling must be about to start.”
Nick froze, his gaze taking on a faraway look. “The cheese rolling?”
“Yes, ’tis a local tradition. They send a wheel of Double Gloucester tumbling down that absurdly steep hill over there, and the local men chase after it. Whoever catches the cheese wins.”
“Thecheese rolling.” He said it with a note of wonder.
Fanny frowned. “Surely someone told you about it? It’s the reason for the festival today.”
Nick abruptly stood, brushing grass from his trousers. “No, they did.” He held out a hand, and she allowed him to help her up. “It’s only just now I realized the significance of it, though.”
“The significance of it?” Fanny peered at him, confused. “What do you mean, the significance of it?”
He grinned at her, his sudden happiness blinding on his handsome face. “I’m supposed to enter the cheese rolling. I’m sure of it.”
Fanny swept a skeptical gaze up and down his frame. “You? Enter the cheese rolling? I think it’s mostly local men who enter.”
“That’s fine.” Nick was already striding across the field.
Fanny had to jog to keep up with his long-legged pace. “Local men who know the hill. Who have some idea where there’s a rabbit hole or a great rock that’s hidden by the grass.”
Nick made a slashing motion with his hand. “That won’t matter.”
“I think it’s mostlyyoungermen,” she said, hoping to penetrate his thick skull. “Boys half your age still foolish enough that they don’t realize they won’t live forever.”
Nick snorted but continued across the field, undeterred. “I don’t doubt it.”
“Nick!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a halt. “What are you doing? This is an idiotic notion. It probably sounds like a lark, chasing a cheese down a hill. But you haven’t seen that hill! It’d be more accurate to call it a cliff. I’ve lived around these parts in years past. Every year men get injured running the cheese, and badly so. Broken arms, broken legs.Broken necks. You’re more likely to crack that thick skull of yours than to win.”
His eyes were bright, almost giddy. “Normally I would agree with you. But it’s all going to turn out all right. I’msupposedto enter the cheese rolling.”
Fanny groaned. “Let me guess. Is this another one of yourfeelings?”
“Yes!” He laughed, his delight in opposition to her sense of dread. He reached up and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “I’m going to win that race, and then you’re going to take me back.”
She batted his hand away. “That is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard!”
He shrugged, still grinning. “Be that as it may, it’s what’s going to happen. Just you watch.”
“Your whole plan rests on the notion that my head would be turned bythe winner of the cheese rolling.” She batted her eyes and clutched her hands to her heart in a pantomime of a fresh-faced young lass. “But it’s not going to work, on account of the fact that I don’t give a toss!”
He was entirely undeterred. “You say that now, but you will. You’ll see.”
“The hell I will!”
He was almost giddy in his enthusiasm. “We can do it as a wager if you like. If I win, you agree to tell your mistress you’ve changed your mind and you want me to take the job with Lord Ardingly after all. If I lose”—he chuckled, obviously not believing this would come to pass— “then I’ll resign the position myself.”
“Stop!” Fanny’s head was pounding. “I’m not going to agree to that. I’m not even sure if I want you to go away.” She steepled her hands, pressing them to her face. “This is happening too fast. All I want is a minute to think, not to stake my future on a… acheese rolling. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”
He continued as if he hadn’t even heard her. “That’s it—if I win, I’ll keep the job, and we’ll say that if I do lose, you’ll give me one last kiss goodbye. Makes it a bit more romantic.”
A desperate, crazed laugh rose to Fanny’s lips. She had to be losing her ever-loving mind. “Oh, yes. There’s nothing quite so romantic as breaking your neck chasing a roll of Double Gloucester off a cliff!”
He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I’m touched by your concern. But there’s no need. You’ll see!”
He wheeled around and headed toward Cooper’s Hill.
“I have not agreed to this!” Fanny shouted at the back of his head.
