Runaway Miss by Mary Nichols

Author:Mary Nichols [Nichols, Mary]
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Romance: Historical, Historical
ISBN: 9780263862423
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon, Limited
Published: 2008-02-01T01:31:50.187000+00:00

Emma woke early the next morning to find the sun shining and the birds singing in the eaves. She rose and dressed in her old grey-striped dress, now cleaned and pressed, and went down to the kitchen where Mrs Granger was busy at the stove.

‘Good morning, miss,’ she said. ‘I didn’t expect you down yet. If you don’t mind waiting…’

‘I’m in no hurry, Mrs Granger. I thought I would go for a walk before breakfast. It is such a beautiful morning.’

‘Yes, thank the Lord. After the weather we have had, the sun is welcome. But don’t go out empty. Have a little bread and butter and a drink to tide you over.’

Emma sat at the kitchen table to have it. ‘Did you ever see the regatta on Derwentwater?’ she asked, as the cook set about her chores again.

‘Yes, everyone went to see it. It was a grand occasion. You are the second person to ask me that. Lord Malvers mentioned it when he came down. He said he was thinking of doing something similar on Windermere.’

‘We were talking about it last night. Is he up and about already?’

‘He went out about half an hour ago.’

‘Was he going riding?’ she asked, stifling her disappointment that he had gone without her, especially as he had told her she could ride the new mare. She had assumed he meant she would go with him, but perhaps he had not meant that at all.

‘He didn’t say, but I didn’t hear a horse leave the yard.’

Emma left her to her cooking and set off to walk to the lake. The road led directly to Waterhead; once there, she walked along a gently shelving shore. There were several boats on the lake: some lying at anchor by the small jetty, some out on the lake containing men with fishing rods, others taking passengers from Waterhead to Bowness. She stood and watched them for a few minutes, then decided to see if it was possible to walk around the northern edge of the lake.

At first the ground was dry, passing as it did along the edge of a park that belonged to a large mansion standing high above it, but then it became very marshy and she had to pick her way carefully. She was obliged to stop when she came to the river that fed the lake, but when she turned to retrace her steps found herself almost ankle deep in muddy water. She stood, trying to make up her mind which way to go when a voice called out, ‘Stand still, I’ll come and fetch you.’

She looked up from studying the ground to see Viscount Malvers stepping from one dry patch to another towards her, though how he could tell which was dry she did not know; she had not been able to. He reached her in no time and, in spite of her protests, scooped her up in his arms. ‘Put your arms about my neck and we shall soon be on dry land again.

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