Page 16 of Rogue of the Greenwood
“Are you very certain you are not injured?” Mr. Gisborn asked for the tenth or so time.
“I’m merely shaken, that’s all,” Marianne replied sharply, for the eleventh or so time.
It was completely accurate, too. Not for the reasons Mr. Gisborn would assume, of course. The wild carriage ride had been nothing compared to the shock of finding Robert Locksley alive and well!
“The way the horses were raging, it’s a wonder they stopped for you,” Mr. Gisborn said.
Could he suspect that she’d not been alone on that road? Did he have any idea what truly occurred? Her lungs grew tight as she wrestled with what to tell him.
There seemed no reason at all why he should not learn that his employer was back from the war. Why would Robert Locksley not wish to inform him? Marianne wondered if she would be wrong to hold back such important information.
Yet the way Mr. Locksley had looked at her… the tone of his voice when he begged her please not to tell… No, she had no moral obligation to mention his presence. There was clearly more going on here than Marianne knew and for now she would keep the man’s secret.
Mr. Gisborn had joined her and taken his place as driver of the curricle again. They were traveling back over the same road she had traveled in her mad effort to escape him. It had been a senseless scheme, to be sure, but clearly it worked. Mr. Gisborn had given up any attempt at proposal and was now fully devoted to questioning her well-being. Over and over and over.
He was, though, driving her home, which was exactly where she wanted to be.
“I don’t recall considering why the horses stopped,” she said, hoping he’d drop the subject. “I was merely glad that they did.”
“But there was no obstruction in the road, no one else around…”
“No, I was quite on my own! I suppose the horses simply tired themselves out,” she offered quickly.
But Mr. Gisborn took insult at her words. “My new trotters? Certainly not! These high-steppers won’t tire after that little bit of a lark.”
“Well! I assure you it did not feel like a little bit of a lark to me, sir.”
“Forgive me, Miss Maidland. I would never mean to disregard your pain and discomfort. Whatever brought the horses to a halt, I am very grateful for it.”
“As am I,” she said, trying to make her voice sound weak and terrified as she expected most young ladies would be after surviving a runaway carriage. “Thank you for taking me home. I do hope my cousin and Mr. Reeve don’t worry when they cannot find us.”
“Oh, I’m sure they will be occupied with other things than worrying over us.”
She honestly didn’t understand what he meant. “Other things?”
“Surely you’ve noticed that Mr. Reeve is quite taken with your dear cousin.”
“Er, yes… at least, I had hoped that was the case.”
“It is, I can assure you! The man has confided in me that… oh, surely it isn’t my place to say, but perhaps I can speak of it. Mr. Reeve plans to ask Meg to marry him!”
“Good heavens! Is this true?”
“Are you very happy for her? Can I take that to mean you know of her feelings on the matter?”
“Well, I… of course Meg has mentioned Mr. Reeve, and everyone knows he is a very prominent man…”
“I see you are too good a friend to give her away.” Mr. Gisborn laughed. “Fear not, I will not press you, Miss Maidland. If your cousin has shared her sensibilities in confidence, I will not ask you to betray them. Mr. Reeve is assured of her feeling for him, though, so you are not alone in this knowledge. He has spoken to her father and everything is arranged.”
“Arranged? Already?”
“But of course. Your uncle is quite in favor of the match.”
“I see.”
So Mr. Reeve had already spoken to Uncle Prinley and things were arranged? Marianne found this more than a bit surprising. Surely Meg would have told her if she had agreed to accept Mr. Reeve. He was considered a good catch by everyone, of course, but as far as Marianne knew, Meg had still not made up her mind. As much as Marianne wanted her cousin to be happy with someone worthy of her, she had not been convinced that Meg was ready to give up her hopes forthe beau that her parents disapproved.
Well, whatever the situation, Marianne was very glad to be discussing Meg’s marital status rather than her own. Although, given the look in Mr. Gisborn’s eye and the way he suddenly reached for her hand, she worried that he was about to change the subject.
