Chapter 3 #3
As they careened around a slight bend in the road, she pivoted and looked at him again. “Let me warn you, sir, that I am very dull company.”
“Dull?” He laughed softly.
He could not follow her line of thinking.
This walk he had happily tripped upon with this enigmatic young woman had provided him with the most excitement he had experienced in days.
The cloud of foul humor that hung about him moments ago while in the inn meeting with the tradesman dissipated and he saw nothing but her bright, pale face and heard little other than the thump of the basket and the melodic sound of her voice.
“I highly doubt that is the case,” he said. “So, let me guess. The basket you’re carrying, does it contain medicine for the vicar?”
She faltered. Perhaps he had guessed right, and she did not expect it. The woman, who was evidently a newcomer to the village, could not understand that he, as the Duke, knew all the goings-on in the area.
Carefully, she patted the sides of the basket. “My errands should not concern you, sir,” she protested before giving him a quick, sideways glance.
“Should they not? Errands make the world go round,” he replied smoothly infusing his words with a touch of amiability that was often absent from his tone. “But do they always make one so… captivating?”
“You are much too direct, sir,” she said softly. Her footsteps faltered, and as she nearly tripped her cheeks flushed a delicate pink shade that Adrian thought made her look even more becoming.
He reached out to steady her, but she jerked away hastily. As she righted herself, the young lady tried to glare at him, but failed in looking stern.
“Forgive my directness, then,” he amended. “I am only caught off guard by your beauty.”
“I appreciate your compliments, sir,” she said, as she exhaled softly. “However, it is already nighttime, and it would be best if we parted ways now.”
She was no longer attempting to hide the fact that she was a lady, or at least someone well educated from London.
“So soon?” he teased. “Without even telling me your name?”
Her mouth pursed tightly, indicating that even his gentle prompting was not enough to convince her to say more.
He laughed lightly. “You must break a great many hearts.”
The young woman rolled her eyes, but the hint of a blush and a smile drew him in further.
She looked young, perhaps nineteen or twenty. Somehow, though, he suspected that she was not quite as carefree as many young women her age.
Before he could press any further, something wet struck his cheek.
A droplet. He groaned softly.
Then, another droplet fell.
Rain fell harder, dotting the path with wet patches.
Adrian glanced at the mysterious young woman and gestured toward a nearby stone archway.
“Seems the heavens have chosen this moment to interrupt our tete-a-tete,” he murmured. “Shall we seek shelter here?”
As expected, she hesitated. Her eyes were wild, darting left and right as if looking for a means to escape.
Am I so very frightening?
“Unless,” he continued, intentionally softening his tone to drain all the coarseness from it, “you fancy running through a downpour alone?”
“I can manage, thank you very much,” she replied as she tucked the basket more firmly against her side.
“Finally, I suspect we have landed on the truth,” he murmured, with a smirk.
“Just the same, it is my duty to see that you return to your home safely.” He looked from the stone archway to the woman.
“If I cannot convince you to stay here for a spell, I’d be happy to bear the brunt of the storm and escort you home. ”
The rain poured harder. Even though Adrian had given the lady options, it was clear they were stuck there.
But she did not immediately arrive at the same conclusion.
As he lurched toward the archway, in hopes of avoiding the worst of the pelting rain droplets, she swerved around him and made for the path.
The poor thing tried to go past the archway, but as she stepped away from the trees and the shelter, the cascading rain quickly soaked her garments. She tried to cover the basket with her limbs, as if its contents were more important than her well-being.
Adrian watched as she looked down at her bundle, then up at the heavens.
He imagined her saying a silent prayer, imploring the rain to desist in its deluge, but her wishes were not granted. A look of resignation crossed her face and her shoulders sagged as she lowered her head and met his gaze. She didn’t have a choice but to retreat back to the shelter.
He held out a hand to assist her, for a small puddle of water had already accumulated near the mouth of the entryway, but she refused to accept him.
“I—I can manage,” she repeated, even as she shivered a little.
Her teeth chattered as she leaned against the archway, placing as much space between them as possible.
“Manage,” Adrian echoed as he leaned against the opposite archway. “Such a lonely word.”
“P-please keep things proper, sir,” she warned, giving him a suspicious glance.
Adrian sighed dramatically. “I do not know what you mean, miss. We are only having a conversation and sharing this shelter. I do not see how I could have possibly offended your sensibilities.”
“You have not offended me… not yet. But I trust you have the honor to behave properly,” she said more firmly, clutching her basket to her chest.
“It is odd,” Adrian mused. “Before I ran into you, I was delivering my own sort of address, lecturing others on the way to behave properly in the business arena.” He raked his hands through the wet ends of his hair, then pivoted so he could look at the woman. “To go from that to this… well…”
She eyed him shrewdly. “I do not mean to imply that your actions have been dishonorable this evening, but I should like it very much if I returned home unscathed.”
“You have my word,” Adrian swore. “While I am with you, no harm shall come your way.”
Her eyes narrowed and he could tell that she was unsure of how to react.
“But,” he continued the conversation, since she failed to interject anything, “since we are speaking of proper social expectations, I might wonder about your behavior.”
“Me?” She blinked rapidly showing her confusion. “I have done nothing wrong.”
“You ventured into the woods at night… alone.” Adrian watched her as he spoke, not wanting to miss a single expression as it crossed her face. “You are either terribly foolish or extraordinarily brave to walk all alone at night,” he observed, sounding more serious now.
“My errand was important,” she replied without hesitation.
Reflexively, she patted the top of the basket then squeezed her eyes closed.
“Brave and selfless, my lady,” he murmured, still watching her face and wondering what she was concealing from him.
Her neck turned toward him. He saw the shock there before she could protest, “I am no lady, sir.”
“You deflect too much, my lady,” he said, laughing. “Why do you attempt to hide what is so apparent?”
“Stop that,” she snapped. “I am not hiding anything, and I am certainly not here to entertain you.”
“Intentions rarely matter.” Adrian pushed away from the side of the cold stone archway.
He did not move closer to the woman, but he turned slightly so that he could look at her squarely.
“You may not wish to be entertaining, but that is precisely why you are. Can you not see how I am intrigued by you?”
She shook her head vigorously, and insisted, “I am merely trying to be proper, sir.”
“And you have succeeded, my lady,” he assured her. “Outside of traipsing about the woods in the late evening, no one has any reason to question your character, or the propriety of your actions.”
She nodded stiffly, then clutched her basket tighter to her side. This movement caused something to flicker in Adrian’s brain.
Have I been misreading her actions?
It occurred to him then that his companion might not be holding the basket close to herself because she was afraid someone might take it, but because it was heavy and she had to shift the weight from time to time.
“Allow me,” he offered gently as he tentatively reached out to take the weighty parcel from her grasp. “Let me hold it for you while the rain is still pouring. You can have it afterward. I expect nothing in return.”
She opened her mouth, as if a protest was about to bubble out of it. Then, she slowly handed the basket over to him. The shelter was narrow, though. So, even as she leaned against the wall of the archway, their shoulders nearly touched.
The proximity to this young lady sent a thrill through his body. All at once, Adrian felt like he was a young boy of sixteen again, and not a Duke of thirty-one.
Adrian shifted his body so that he could face her once more as he asked, “Tell me, why are you staying with the vicar? Where did you come from before moving here?”
“Sir, you had just promised that you expected nothing in return,” she reminded him in a tone that was reminiscent of a scolding nanny.
“Can’t I engage in pleasant conversation with you, then?” he asked. “It would be rude if I simply stood here like a statue.”
She sighed heavily, clearly exasperated. Her eyes also went to the heavens, possibly questioning why they had to weep at that given moment.
“We have already established that you are a visitor to this part of the country. All I ask now is to understand your circumstances. As a guest of the vicar’s, why do you feel the need to…”
He stopped talking immediately when she spoke loudly over top of him.
“Why must you persist? Since you have already deduced so much about my status, as well as where I am lodging, why continue with this discourse? Does this village so seldom receive visitors that you feel compelled to badger everyone you meet?”
Adrian shot a quick look at the rain that was tapering off so that now it was no more than a light drizzle.