Part 23 (1/2)
Ava heard Sally's voice in her head urging her to make light of it, to tempt his curiosity and leave him wanting more. And suddenly, perhaps for the first time, she saw the wisdom in Sally's words. The man took far too much for granted. She smiled devilishly and inclined her head demurely. ”Of course I am happy-how could I not be? Far too often, marriage seems to be the cause of much misery. But as we have come together as the result of fortune and standing, and not silly feelings of love or companions.h.i.+p, or, apparently, even felicity, there is no reason we shouldn't be happy. I daresay we shall succeed handsomely, for we've no particular attachment to one another...have we?” she asked, peering up at him.
”No,” he agreed, all too readily.
Her anger soared and her smile became brighter. ”We should be very thankful, really, that we are so agreeable in this. The common marriage is much more complicated than ours. We shall suffer none of the uneasiness when we are apart. Or dream of one another. No, my lord, we shall sleep quite soundly.”
He looked, she thought, far too agreeable.
Dear G.o.d, what had she done in marrying him? She turned away from him, sitting up, her back stiff, her body as far from him as she could possibly get on the back of that mare. ”What a lovely day! The air is cleaner here, I think. Do you?”
”Yes,” he said, but he sounded as if his thoughts were elsewhere.
Ava hardly cared-she was so fl.u.s.tered and angry she wanted to scream. It seemed almost savage that two people could come together and share such intimate and personal acts without feeling something more enduring than the need to ”repair” whatever ailed her with plaster or money.
When they reached the west field, she jumped down before Middleton could help her. But when he dismounted and stood at his horse, looking so majestic and as if he didn't quite know who she was, she couldn't resist the feeling that was growing stronger in her each day. She could not look at him and not want to be with him. She couldn't see the smile in his eyes and not yearn to win his heart and possess it. So when he asked her to get on Bilbo, she complied.
She complained that she felt she was in a precarious position, but he smiled happily at her, melting her anger away with it, and told her she was doing marvelously well as he led her around a big circle like a child on a pony.
Yet he seemed so pleased that Ava might have gone on all day for the pleasure of his smile had not Lady Kettle arrived, riding hard across the field, reining to a perfect stop before them.
”Look who's riding!” she cried happily, and allowed Middleton to help her down from her horse by putting her hands on his shoulders and laughing when he caught her at the waist and lifted her down.
He said something to her that Ava did not catch, and kissed her cheek. Lady Kettle smiled up at him so beautifully that Ava's heart clenched. She was in love with him. She could tell by the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at him, and the blush in her cheeks when she smiled at him.
When she had quite finished drooling over Ava's husband, Lady Kettle turned a bright and, all right, a beautiful smile to Ava. ”You are doing very well, Lady Middleton!” she said. ”I knew you'd find Middleton an excellent teacher!”
”Yes, he is,” Ava said, trying to seem completely unaffected.
”Do you know that he taught himself to ride?”
”That's hardly true,” Middleton said with a laugh. ”I had many instructors when I was a young boy.”
”But you did,” Lady Kettle said, playfully grabbing his arm and turning her face up to him again. ”Do you remember how we'd come up here to these very fields with that old gray, and you would ride round and round, practically falling off every time he swished his tail, until you could ride him with your eyes closed? ”
Middleton laughed. ”I suppose I do remember something like that. I am surprised you remember it as well, Veronica.”
Veronica.
Ava didn't know what made her do it-maybe it was simply the use of Lady Kettle's given name. Or the fact that her husband and Lady Kettle were laughing and reminiscing like lovers. Whatever the reason, Ava chose that moment to ruin her ruse of not knowing how to ride just so that she might spend time with her husband, and kicked Bilbo in the soft part of his belly to send him bolting.
She heard the shouting behind her, but as Bilbo ran-surprisingly fast for his age with another well-placed kick-Ava laughed like the devil. She yanked the reins right, headed him into the forest, and heard the shouting behind her again as she leaned over the old horse's neck. When they had crashed into the thicket-which she hoped she made all the more exciting by shrieking-she reined Bilbo up, jumped off, and with a slap to his rump, sent the horse running again. She instantly dropped down, landing a little hard on her bottom, and then lay down on her back and squirmed about a bit before standing up.
She wasn't satisfied that she looked properly thrown, and picked up a handful of dirt and twigs and, wincing at the unpleasant necessity, rubbed them about her gown.
By the time Middleton reached her a few moments later, she looked, she thought, rather abused. He swept off the mare before he'd even reined her to a halt and strode forward so fast and so sternly that for a moment Ava feared him and took a step backward. But he caught her up in his arms, picking her up off her feet as he grabbed her and held her tightly to him.
”Are you all right? Are you harmed?”
”No,” she said, her voice m.u.f.fled against his shoulder, he held her so tightly. ”A bit bruised, but I'm really all right.”
He released his grip of her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed her back, examining her face. ” You're certain you're all right?”
She nodded.
”You didn't harm yourself?” he asked as he put his hand to her chin and moved her head from side to side.
Ava shook her head.
He frowned slightly, put his hands on her ribs, pressed gently, then slid them down and around to her derriere as he watched her eyes. Ava blinked as he cupped her bottom, but said nothing. He moved his hands up her rib cage again to the sides of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”You seem no worse for the ride,” he remarked, pressing against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, letting his hands linger there longer than was necessary to ascertain if she'd been injured.
Ava swallowed. ”I'm really all right.”
He smiled a little crookedly and stroked her temple with the back of his hand. ”And Bilbo? You didn't harm Bilbo, did you?”
”Bilbo?” she repeated. ”No...he's...he's fine.”
His smile widened, and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. ”Come on, then, Lady Middleton. We've had enough riding for one day.”
They emerged from the forest a few moments later, Ava securely in the circle of Middleton's arms atop the mare. The stableboys had easily caught Bilbo, who hadn't run very far at all, having seen a patch of gra.s.s to his liking.
”Dear G.o.d, are you all right?” Lady Kettle asked as she pulled up next to them, looking quite concerned. ”You gave us all a fright!”
”I am. Thank you,” Ava said, and pressed her cheek against Middleton's shoulder. ”I'm just a bit tired, that's all.”
”Do rest, Lady Middleton. That must have been very frightening.”
Ava nodded that indeed it was, and smiled sweetly as Middleton bid Lady Kettle a good day and headed back to the abbey. Once, on the ride back, she thought she heard him chuckle, but when she looked at him, his face was full of concern. Twice, he put his hand to Ava's cheek and kissed her temple. At the abbey, he helped her down and pulled a twig from the shoulder of her habit. ”Not to worry, Lady Middleton. In spite of today's setback, I think you will become a fine horsewoman.”
Really?” she asked hopefully.
He laughed softly and kissed her lips. ”I am certain of it,” he said. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her up the steps to the main entrance, and Ava might as well have been walking on air. But as they walked into the main entry, Dawson met them. He took Middleton's cloak and extended a silver tray. ”The post, my lord.”
Ava saw Lady Waterstone's letter on the very top, the distinctive curve of her handwriting burned like a brand on the back of her eyes. She glanced up and saw the recognition of the handwriting pa.s.s across Middleton's features, too.