Lady Falls by Renee Bernard

Author:Renee Bernard
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Phillip left the house, stalking out to find a path that led toward a small decorative lake on the property, created no doubt by some designer decades before to provide a great vantage point of the estate. Like every structure and area of Oakwell Manor, nothing seemed unplanned or without purpose.

The solarium had sealed his heart’s fate. What had him flummoxed was that the next natural step eluded him. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for the strange turns of the Earl of Trent waving him off with odd speeches about time to be had and the advantages of boring women. He’d been ready to ask for Raven’s hand then and there before Geoffrey had urged him to choose a better time.

He’s testing me. Instead of demanding I marry her, he’s dangling about and giving me advice on courtship. But why?

How do I not measure up?

His position was secure enough, his fortunes on the rise; certainly he had money enough to afford a wife and Raven would be Lady Warrick, her children provided an inheritance and legacy any woman would be proud to claim. So where was the hindrance?

“Slow and steady wins the race.” Phillip repeated the words and stood to look back across to the manor house. “God, why does that sound so hard?”

The answer to his question came racing up the gravel path with a smile, her gait as easy and carefree as a colt’s. “I was hoping to catch you, sir.”

“Raven.” Phillip took a deep breath to steady himself, determined to say his piece before her touch unraveled him. “We cannot keep meeting alone like this, but we must talk.”

She slowed, some of her joy muted. “Oh. As you wish.”

“Lord Trent is…” he began and then decided that this conversation required a more comfortable distance between them and any watchful eyes in the house. “Here, come.” He took her hand and spotted a makeshift haven for their retreat. He drew her toward a large log that was set into the shade of several willow trees. The ground was covered with thick moss and a canopy of hanging willow leaves punctured with sunlight that dappled the place with fleeting laces of light added to a fairy-like aura. They were completely cut off from view from the manor and the path around the lake. He sat her down and then knelt in front of her, keeping both of her hands cradled like wild birds inside the gentle cage of his fingers. “Raven, of all the ways I might have wished to approach your guardian...”

She smiled. “It was horrible, wasn’t it?”

“Then why are you grinning?”

She laughed. “Because I’m relieved that it is the means by which we were discovered that troubles you and not some fault with my kisses.”

“I have no complaints with your kisses outside of their addictive nature. They must cease and I must cease seeking them or we are both ruined.” He forced himself to release her hands and shifted to sit next to her.

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