The Spanish Bride by Amanda McCabe - The Spanish Bride

Author:Amanda McCabe - The Spanish Bride [McCabe, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction; Romance
ISBN: 0451204018
Google: 8X1ZTODbjUoC
Amazon: 0451229398
Barnesnoble: 0451229398
Goodreads: 319049
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2000-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Peter saw her before she saw him, and he pulled his horse up, hidden behind a tree, to watch her.

She was perched sidesaddle on her gray mare, graceful in a deep purple velvet habit. Her face was half hidden by the small net veil of her tall-crowned hat, but she was smiling as she watched a group of children frolicking.

Peter remembered then the first time he had ever seen her. She had ridden her horse hell-for-leather through their encampment in the middle of a quiet afternoon, the plumes on her outrageous, wide-brimmed green hat flying. Never had he seen anyone more dazzlingly alive.

He had thought on the night he married her that no woman could ever be more lovely. Yet he had been wrong, because the years had only made Carmen more beautiful. More elegant, more alive.

She looked up then, and found him watching her. At first her gloved grip tightened on the reins, and he feared she would flee before he said what he had come to say. Then she raised one hand and beckoned him nearer.

“Hello, Peter,” she said quietly as he drew up beside her.

“Hello, Carmen.”

“I was rather surprised to receive your flowers and your note.”

“I wanted to apologize,” he said, watching her hands as she fidgeted with the reins.

“What? The famous Ice Earl is apologizing yet again?” She laughed. “Whatever for?”

“For my behavior at the Carstairs rout, of course. Causing such a ridiculous scene. It is not at all like me; I cannot fathom what came over me.”

“No, it is not like you. But then, we find ourselves in such a very unusual situation. I am not at all certain what the proper behavior should be.”

“Quite right. But Elizabeth has been at great pains to point out how foolish I have been. I have been rude to you, have endured sleepless nights trying to think what could have gone wrong all those years ago. Then I realized that Elizabeth’s advice that I simply ask you makes a great deal of sense.”

Carmen’s dark gaze was wide and unwavering behind the veil. “So that is why you asked me to meet you? To ask me what happened?”

“Of course. What else could it be?”

“I—well, I thought you were here to obtain an annulment.”

“An annulment?”

“Yes. In order to make a proper offer to Lady Deidra. It would be quite the scandal if the Earl of Clifton was discovered to be a bigamist, yes? And divorce is so protracted.”

To his great horror, Peter felt a flush spreading across his face. He coughed and looked away from her steady regard. “Er, well, we should take things one step at a time, don’t you think?”

“Certainly.”

“And I think the first step ought to be a clearing of the air between us. We must let the past go before we can truly look to the future.”

“Yes,” she murmured. “The future. We cannot speak properly here, though.”

He almost expected her to invite him to her town house, but she fell silent. “Would you care to

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