Free Snowbound With The Baronet by Deborah Hale Page B

why he needed to escape the confines of this house and his bedeviling proximity to the woman he’d once hoped to make his wife.

Chapter Six
    “ P LEASE RECONSIDER THIS foolhardy idea,” Cassandra implored Sir Brandon as he, his footman and the coach guard donned their greatcoats, hats and mufflers. “We can manage well enough with what we have for another day or two. Surely by then the weather will have improved.”
    How could his cousin have been so selfish as to urge him into danger for the sake of her girlish vanity?
    “I do not consider the scheme foolhardy.” He refused to meet her gaze but concentrated on fastening the buttons of his coat. “We will all be a good deal more comfortable with a change of linen. The stagecoach cannot be farther than two miles.”
    “That is near enough in ordinary weather,” she agreed. “But in such deep snow a hundred yards can be a vast distance to travel. Do not forget, you will have to go there and back, dragging heavy trunks on the return journey.”
    She studied his features with almost jealous intensity seeking any sign of second thoughts she might exploit. Instead her warning seemed to have the opposite affect, rousing Sir Brandon’s stubbornness.
    “When did you become such a worrywart?” he demanded. “The Cassandra Whitney I recall used to be quite intrepid.”
    It was clear he disapproved of the ways she had changed during the past four years. That hurt more than she cared to admit. The hurt struck against her fear for him, igniting her temper. “I grew up! I learned that my actions have consequences and that I must consider them before I jump in with both feet.”
    “Are you saying I am heedless as well as foolhardy?” His tone sharpened to match hers.
    “You are certainly not heeding me .” Her stomach churned and her eyes prickled ominously. They threatened a mortifying burst of tears if she did not soon get her emotions under control.
    Before Sir Brandon could reply, his footman interrupted their argument. “Begging your pardon, sir. The two of us can go fetch the luggage if you need to stay behind.”
    Cassandra could have kissed the young man. Then she reminded herself it was too risky an errand for anyone . She should be concerned for all of them—not only Sir Brandon.
    “Nonsense!” he snapped. “I would never order anyone to do what I would not do myself. We are going to do this, all three of us, and that is final.”
    He made a curt bow that was dismissive rather than respectful. “Pray excuse us, Lady Cassandra. The sooner we go, the sooner we shall return and the more light we will have to find our way.”
    There was no lack of light outside. Cassandra had found the glaring whiteness almost blinding when she’d waded out to the barn to collect eggs for Mrs. Martin. That would not make it easier for Brandon and the others to find their way.
    The door opened and the other two men trudged outside. Sir Brandon turned away from her to follow them.
    Cassandra lunged toward him and grasped the sleeve of his coat, tugging with all her might. “Please Bran—I cannot let you do this!”
    Had she addressed him in such a familiar way? The intensity of feeling her actions betrayed shocked Cassandra. But if it kept him from harm, surely it would be worthwhile.
    But her final desperate plea availed no more than the others. Instead of hesitating, Brandon swung his arm with fierce strength, wrenching his sleeve from her grasp. His blue eyes blazed with the frosty intensity of a blizzard that raged inside him. “Enough, Cassandra! Do not pretend you care what happens to me!”
    She staggered back as if he had driven a jagged shard of ice deep into her heart. Pretend to care? No indeed. She had spent years pretending to the world, and most of all to herself, that she did not care anything about the suitor she’d spurned. In truth she did care, far more than she could afford to, about what had happened to him in the past and what would happen in the