Lady Maryann's Dilemma by Karla Hocker

Author:Karla Hocker
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626815711
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2014-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Mist hung in the air and thick black clouds kept the morning gloomy. With Robert following at a respectful distance, Maryann rode her mare Spitfire into Hyde Park. The Serpentine was still a ways off when a horse and rider detached themselves from a stand of tall beech trees and cantered toward her.

Farrell sat the powerful roan with ease and elegance. But, then, he would, she thought, conscious of a racing pulse. No one who wasn’t a bruising rider would join a hussar regiment.

He raised his crop in a brief salute.

“Let’s exercise your mare before we talk,” he said with a look at Spitfire, who sidled and pranced and did her best to justify her name in a playful manner.

Maryann consented readily. They rode for the better part of a half-hour, exchanging compliments about their mounts; comparing the countryside of Kent, where Maryann had done most of her riding, with the rugged terrain of Portugal and Spain, and that of Cornwall, where Stephen owned property near Helston; or saying nothing at all. No strain accompanied the silences, each having accepted the interlude as one of neutrality.

After a brief gallop, a forbidden and therefore double-sweet pleasure for a young lady in town, Maryann reined in.

“Thank you,” she said, pushing a stray curl off her forehead. “I enjoyed this more than I can say.”

“So did I.” His eyes laughed at her. “We did not once come to cuffs.”

“A miracle. But, then, our meeting is only just beginning.”

“Indeed.” The laughter fled. He dismounted and, handing the rein to Robert, came around to her side. “There is much I must tell you, and none of it is good, I fear. Shall we walk?”

Maryann looked at him, the powerful arms reaching for her. Slowly, she unhooked her knee from the pommel. She leaned toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders while he gripped her waist and plucked her from the saddle as though she weighed no more than a thistledown.

How easily he could crush her. The thought was but fleeting, for she knew no fear of him. She enjoyed his strength, the firmness of his clasp as he held her suspended, then lightly set her down. And, she realized with a sense of wonder, she did tingle where he had touched her. Despite gloves, despite the layers of fabric between his hands and her skin.

They left the horses in Robert’s charge and turned down one of the footpaths sheltered from curious eyes by tall hedges and budding shrubs. Farrell did not offer his arm and they walked on opposite sides of the path, with a space between them wide enough for the portly Marquess of Woverley.

“I dined with Tammadge last night,” Farrell said abruptly. “I am now his partner.”

Her eyes flew to his face. “Then you can prove that he is not merely a landlord but profits from the ‘business conducted on the premises’ as Sir Nathaniel phrased it so politely?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot. As far as Tammadge is concerned, I am ignorant of that part of his activities.

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