Chapter 13
“Oh, Delia, why did you not wake me earlier?” Caroline asked, hurriedly pulling her dress over her shift and corset.
“Forgive me, Your Grace, I did try,” Delia answered, hurrying into the room after Caroline rang for her. “You did not wake, so I assumed that you needed the rest.”
Caroline blushed and said no more. She had spent the better part of the night replaying her moment with Damien in her head. She had told him she did not know he could smile like that. What was that supposed to mean?
For him to make a joke, though? One that she actually laughed at?
She had never expected such a thing. Nor did she expect his response, which was an even more handsome smile accompanied by a look so warm that it made her blush and made her body stir to life—just as it had when he had kissed her in the center of the village.
He had not scolded her for laughing at him. Instead, he looked at her with such an intense look that Caroline could not even remember whatever excuse she had fumbled her way through to leave his presence; she could not now remember a single word of it.
Caroline let out a groan of embarrassment as the moment replayed in her head all over again.
“Pardon, Your Grace, did I pinch you?” Delia asked.
Realizing she had made the sound aloud, Caroline’s cheeks heated even more.
“No, it is all right. Just please hurry,” she said with haste. “I have missed breakfast with Georgie and must apologize.”
Delia finished the ties of Caroline’s muted gray dress quickly, then, with haste, worked her long, dark curls into a respectful updo.
Caroline hurried to George’s room, her lips parted and ready to offer her apology the moment she opened the door, but when she stepped inside and found it empty, her heart began to pound for an entirely different reason.
“Georgie?” she called, looking behind the door. There was no answer.
She went to his closet, wondering if he had taken to hiding, then looked under his bed when she did not find him there.
“Georgie!” she called, louder this time.
“Is all well, Your Grace?”
Caroline turned and found one of the maids standing in the open doorway.
“Georgie,” she repeated, feeling her panic rise. “Have you seen him?”
“Oh, yes, I believe I saw him going that way,” the maid replied readily, stepping to the side and pointing down the hall.
A breath of relief whooshed through Caroline’s lungs as the maid explained that Mrs. McClain advised one of the other maids, Clara, to take Georgie out to play in the gardens after his breakfast. She quickly thanked the maid for her help and hurried down the stairs, through the grand hall, to the back hallway, and finally to the back patio that overlooked the impressive stretch of gardens that lay within the high walls that lined the estate’s property.
For a man so prone to the darkness, what he had created in the light was most beautiful.
Fields of brilliant flowers of many colors lay beyond the stone steps.
To the right of it was a hedge maze she was told was speckled with statuary, and to the left, beyond the vast fields, was a large pond.
She had not been close to either yet, but Delia had told her that the pond was a most serene place to sit and think, and that the maze was fun and had some incredibly artful statues of Greek Gods and Goddesses.
Since she had recently learned that George was fond of hide-and-seek, Caroline chose to check the maze first, believing it was the perfect place to play.
“George!” she called, stepping into the cool shade of the tall evergreen hedges that made up the maze’s walls. “Georgie, where are you?”
When she got no answer, she walked deeper into a maze; a sense of dread was creeping up on her.
The high walls darkened the space and reminded her too much of the small closets Agatha once trapped her in.
She drew in a short breath, but before long, she grew dizzy.
Trembling, she dropped her hands to her knees and put her head down, willing her lungs to pull in longer, deeper breaths.
You are fine. You are fine. You are not trapped.
“Your Grace?” A feminine voice rose behind her. “Are you unwell?”
Caroline stifled a sob as she rose to her full height, relief pouring through her. She made sure to fit a smile upon her lips and hide her trembling hands in her skirts before turning around. Still, a tremor of anxiety moved through her when she saw only Clara standing there.
“I am fine,” she assured her. “But I was looking for Georgie. I was told you were playing with him?”
Clara nodded, then glanced around the maze walls with uncertainty.
“We had struck up a game of hide-and-seek,” Clara explained. “I am not used to the boy being so lighthearted, so I had not expected him to take off so. We started to play about a quarter of an hour ago, but I have not yet found him.”
“Did you give him rules?” Caroline asked, forcing her worried mind to focus. “Let him know that he could not hide beyond the maze?”
Clara blanched.
“I did not realize... I mean, I did not even think. Your Grace, I apologize for my lack of thought,” Clara stammered, now looking as worried as Caroline felt. “Do you think he went beyond the maze?”
Anger laced through Caroline’s fear, but she pushed it down, knowing it would do her no good.
“You stay here, go through the entire maze, and keep calling out to him. Tell him the game is over and it is time for his lessons,” Caroline commanded. “I will go and search the gardens and pond. If you find him, bring him to me straight away.”
Clara gave a stiff nod and turned, ready to take off at once.
“Wait!” Caroline exclaimed, feeling her fear of small spaces encroaching upon her again. Clara turned to her with an expectant look. “How do I find the quickest way out of here?”
Clara gave her a kind look and pointed to the maze wall nearest to Caroline.
“That is the outer wall, Your Grace. Put your hand on it and keep it there. There are no hidden tricks to this one, so it should lead you straight to the exit,” she answered.
“Thank you,” Caroline breathed, relieved to know it was such an easy trick.
She placed her hand against the soft bristles of the evergreen walls and began to make her way.
A short while later, she drew in a deep breath and was nearly dizzy with relief when she found the opening.
Knowing there was no time to linger, though, she began to run and went back to the patio so that she could see over the gardens again.
Upon reaching them, she scanned her dark eyes over the beautiful scenery, and her heart stuttered when she saw splashing coming from the distant pond.
Oh, no. Oh, Lord. George!
Caroline took off again, racing down the stairs and toward the pond with a quickness she never knew she was capable of. By the time she reached the bank of the pond, her muscles ached, and her lungs screamed for air, but even so, she dragged in a breath and readied herself to dive into the water.
She was about to make her final leap into the pond when suddenly the calm surface broke, and Damien’s head and naked shoulders emerged.
Gasping, Caroline willed her body to stop, but her momentum took her scrambling into the water.
Cool water engulfed her, soaking into her hair and dress as it flooded into her mouth.
However, powerful arms wrapped around her, and she felt herself being lifted to the surface before a different sort of panic could set in.
Coughing and sputtering, Caroline broke the surface just in time to hear Damien muttering curses and demanding what on earth she was thinking.
“Georgie,” she gasped, paying him no mind as she gripped his shoulders and wrenched her head left to right. “Is Georgie here with you?”
“No,” Damien’s deep voice rumbled as she coughed again. “Take a moment and breathe, Caroline,” he commanded, his arms tightening around her as he walked her to the bank. “Then tell me what has happened.”
Caroline pushed her ruined hair out of her eyes as she dragged in a deep breath, still looking for the little boy.
Then something else caught her eyes, and before she could stop herself, she raked her gaze down Damien’s back.
Water beads glistened in the sun against the powerful muscles of his back, over his hips, and down to a chiseled round of supple flesh that most certainly was his backside.
“You... you are naked!” she exclaimed. Her blood and cheeks instantly heated at the realization, and she began to push herself out of Damien’s arms.
“Your Grace, you are not supposed to touch me. And definitely not when you are naked!” she hissed.
“Careful!” Damien chastised as she left his embrace and nearly went under again.
Caroline paid him no mind, but instead kept her efforts on swimming until her feet were able to reach the bottom of the pond. It only took her a few seconds because of her dress, but her embarrassment made her feel as if it took forever to reach the bank and climb out of the pond.
“What on earth are you doing?” she yelled as she finally reached dry land.
“Swimming,” Damien answered.
He said it so casually that Caroline whirled around to glare at him.
Which, she realized only after her eyes landed on him again, was a mistake.
Damien was standing in the pond, the opaque water up to his hips.
His muscular physique looked even better dripping wet, and Caroline found herself speechless and slack-jawed as she took in every inch of his delicious form.
“Enjoy what you see, huh?”
Damien’s teasing tone snapped her out of her reverie, and as she dragged her eyes up to his face, she found him smirking in the most arrogantly handsome way. She pressed her lips shut as a combination of desire and annoyance surged through her, and she forced herself to shake her head.
“Why are you naked?” she asked, then blushed even deeper as she heard her own voice rise to a squeaking pitch.