Chapter Seven
Burkhart had been admiring of Miss Pansy’s spirit in wishing to brave the cold and snow rather than put aside their plan to visit Pendleton Park. He remained exceedingly admiring of the lady, though he was beginning to be less admiring of the lady’s plan.
Mr. Weston had been correct in his prediction that the snow drifts would pile up.
With the help of the wind, they were beginning to deepen alarmingly fast. Nevertheless, they had not much choice but to soldier on.
Miss Pansy had rightly pointed out that if they stayed the night, it would have likely led to a search party being sent out from Chemsworth.
That would come with its own dangers by way of drifts that had deepened even more than they were now.
They reached the small wood and blessedly, there was far less snow on the ground and no drifts. They all took a collective breath.
“We are not so very far from Chemsworth,” Miss Pansy said.
Burkhart was not familiar with the area, but he did remember coming this way just an hour ago. It seemed to him that they were only about a third of the way there.
“We come out of the wood, head across the field, cross the stream, and ride west. We will be home before you know it,” she said cheerily.
Burkhart imagined she relayed these happy ideas to prop up Lord Smythesdon, as he was looking a bit limp.
“I’m going to be blamed for this,” Lord Smythesdon said.
“Nonsense,” Miss Pansy said. “There is nothing to take blame for.”
They reached the edge of the wood and Burkhart took a look at the field. He could see the mounds of drifts looking very like swells in the sea. The horses noted it too and he did not think they were enthusiastic about what they were viewing.
As they spurred their horses on, the animals took tentative steps. At this rate, it would take them an hour to reach the stream they needed to cross. He glanced at Miss Pansy and could see the worry crossing her features. He also saw her shiver.
“Right,” he said, dismounting. “Here is what we will do. Miss Pansy, stay where you are. Smythesdon, dismount. We will lead the horses through this.” He got the buttons undone on his coat, struggled out of it, and handed it up to the lady. “Wear this.”
He could see that there was a moment when she hesitated, as if she would demure and claim she was not cold. Her teeth took that moment to chatter. She thought better of refusing it and put it on.
If they were not in such a dire situation, he would have stopped to admire how charming she looked in his coat. She was positively swimming in it and the sleeves covered her delicate gloved hands.
Smythesdon had dismounted and began to lead his horse.
Burkhart took Olympus and Zephyr. In places, the snow reached up to his knees.
He was cold, wet, and they still had a good distance to go.
He pressed himself to look on the brighter side.
They had probably left Pendleton Park just in time.
Had they delayed an hour or two, it would have been hopeless to attempt it.
Regardless of how uncomfortable he felt, he must put a good face on it. He did not wish Miss Pansy to become frightened. Though, realistically, this was turning into a serious situation.
Step by step, as the snow whipped their faces, they made progress forward across the field. The stream was just ahead and he was about to be even wetter than he already was.
There was some resistance from the horses, as they clearly did not approve of crossing a stream in this weather. He pulled them forward.
He was careful with his footing. The stream was running faster, thanks to snow melting in it for the past hours. He could not see where there might be stones to trip over.
He got the horses to the other side, with much cursing from Smythesdon coming from behind him. Then they turned west.
The next hour was a step, next step, take another step. He tried not to estimate the distance they must travel or how long it would take. Just step and step and step. He had found, in situations like this, that it was not helpful to allow any imaginings to enter his thoughts.
He’d learned that lesson one day when he was twelve and became lost on the moors.
He could not even say how it had happened.
He’d been out looking for bilberries and suddenly did not recognize the landscape.
The sky was overcast and there was no sun to guide him.
He’d tried to get home but discovered later that he’d been walking further and further away and into the desolate moors.
He’d used an outcropping of rock to shield him from the wind overnight.
That’s when all the dark thoughts began to slip in.
What if nobody came looking for him? What if they looked in the wrong place?
What if he did not find water soon? What if there were still wolves in England, and they were living somewhere here, out of sight?
What if he wandered into a bog and became trapped?
His thoughts had gone darker and darker until he realized he must just think of nothing at all. Just watch the stars and allow the hours to pass until sunrise.
He’d been found the next mid-morning and he never forgot the lesson.
That’s what he did now. Keep his mind empty, don’t speculate on anything. Not how far. Not how long. Not what would happen if he could go no further.
Finally, Chemsworth came into view. As it sat on a hill, the wind had whipped the snow downhill and the drifts were not so deep. He handed Miss Pansy back her reins and used the last of his strength to mount his own horse.
“I do not know how you have just done what you did, Lord Burkhart,” Miss Pansy said.
His legs were in such a frozen state that he’d barely got himself into the saddle. He said, “It was nothing at all.”
“I will not accept that. It was positively courageous to singlehandedly rescue us.”
“Hello? Have I become invisible?” Lord Smythesdon asked. “I also walked all that way.”
“It was very well done, brother-in-law,” Miss Pansy said with a smile.
Burkhart saw grooms running out to meet them before they got to the top of the drive. The front doors were flung open too. He presumed everyone had become concerned over the advancing snow and had begun to watch for them.
Miss Poppy ran out into the snow. “Pans! We really were beginning to be frightened for you. Gracious, you look very charming in Lord Burkhart’s coat.”
“He was exceedingly chivalrous, Pops,” Miss Pansy said. “He gave me his coat and he led the horses on foot nearly the whole way from Pendleton Park. From the wood on, until we got close to the house. The drifts were rather terrible; he was so brave.”
“Again, am I invisible?” Lord Smythesdon said. “I also have suffered.”
“Our brother-in-law was very brave too,” Miss Pansy added.
“Really, it was nothing at all,” Burkhart said.
“Don’t believe him,” Miss Pansy said. “It was positively heroic.”
Burkhart found he was entirely satisfied to be disbelieved when he said it was nothing at all. It had been grueling. However, Miss Pansy was impressed so it was entirely worth the trouble.
They dismounted and he nearly fell to the ground. He really was going to have to warm up his feet.
Mr. Smuckers came out to the drive, looking very askance at them and swatting at snowflakes as if they were annoying flies.
“The fires are being built up in your rooms so that you may change clothes and warm yourselves. I will send up sherry for Miss Pansy and brandy for the gentlemen. That should put you to rights.”
“What an adventure we have had, Smuckers,” Miss Pansy said.
He stared at the gentleman’s riding coat she just now wore and then stared at Burkhart’s shirt sleeves. “Yes, I see,” he said drily.
“Oh goodness,” Miss Pansy said, slipping out of his coat. She handed it back to him. “I cannot express my gratitude for your coat,” she said.
“It was nothing at all,” he said. That was the story he was telling and he would stick to it. As Miss Pansy did not believe a word of it, he was happy to do it.
He was also happy that they’d somehow made it back and that he would shortly be in front of a warm fire, in dry clothes, with a brandy in hand.
Bertie and Teddy ran out onto the drive as they were coming in.
“Papa, Aunt Pans, you’ve been in a storm!” Bertie said.
“Did you almost die?” Teddy said. “Or think you would die? Or wonder if you might freeze to death and we wouldn’t find your dead bodies until morning?”
“You are very ghoulish, Teddy,” Miss Pansy said. “I did not think I would die because Lord Burkhart very heroically led my horse through the snow.”
“Papa, what were you doing?” Bertie asked.
“I also was heroically leading my horse and you can tell your mother that. Very heroically.”
“We want to hear every terrible detail,” Teddy said.
“You will,” Lord Smythesdon said, “and I can assure you it was very terrible.”
Burkhart was rather looking forward to Lelander hearing the whole harrowing tale.
Burkhart would wave it off as nothing, but Lelander would know it had been something.
That fellow would have nothing to say for himself.
Nothing harrowing could occur when one was just wandering round a library.
Lelander did not save Miss Poppy from anything at all this day.
He, on the other hand, had certainly saved Miss Pansy. A very satisfactory state of affairs.
Poppy heard all about Lord Burkhart’s heroic actions of the day, and then she was able to relay how Mr. Lelander had caught her when she slipped on the ice in the garden. They both agreed that these two gentlemen had the hearts of lions.
Pansy had been most surprised to hear that Mrs. Dallway had turned up while she was out. The lady had blown in like a gale, as she always had the habit of doing. She’d thought to stay the night, but considering the weather she was likely to be here for several days.
Now that her sister was home safe, Poppy rather relished the idea that they were all to be snowed in together. The snow had continued to come down heavily, whipped by an icy wind.