Free Forsters 04 - Romancing the Runaway by Wendy Soliman Page A

Let’s enjoy the outdoors for now and let our worries take care of themselves.”
    “You have a privileged man’s way of procrastinating. As though you expect your difficulties to take care of themselves because they know better than to disoblige you.”
    Gabe wondered if she realised she was being impolite, or if she was deliberately trying to provoke him. Either way, he chose not to take offence since he rather enjoyed her blunt manner. “You look on me as a procrastinator?”
    “Certainly I do.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not persuaded that you’ve taken my situation seriously. Nor do you appreciate the implications for yourself if we’re found here together. Or is it that I’m so far below you in the social order than no one will think anything of it if we’re discovered together?”
    Gabe dealt her a sharp look. “I hope you don’t actually believe what you just said.”
    She didn’t seem deterred. “What else am I to think when you refuse to take my situation seriously?”
    “Believe me, Miss Cantrell,” he said, turning Murphy in the direction of home, “I understand the matter far better than you give me credit for.”
    “Then why won’t you discuss it with me?”
    “And waste this gloriously freezing day?”
    She laughed and he sensed the tension draining out of her. “Yes, let’s not waste it.”
    Gabe pushed Murphy into a trot. “Come, let’s get back home. Your nose has turned red with cold.”
    “Thank you for pointing out my defects,” she said in a miffed tone.
    Gabe laughed. “I didn’t say it wasn’t becoming.”
    By the time they returned to the yard, they’d been out for over two hours and hadn’t covered half the estate.
    “You must be chilled to the bone,” Gabe said, taking Miss Cantrell’s arm to help her back to the house.
    “I have difficulty feeling my fingers or feet,” she admitted. “But apart from that, I’m absolutely well.”
    Gabe made sympathetic noises. “One of the perils of riding out for so long in these conditions. I should have suggested turning back before we did.”
    “And I would have been angry if you’d made allowances, or curtailed your pleasure for my sake. You wanted to check the condition of that dry stone wall on the northern perimeter.”
    “But now I suggest you have luncheon in your room and regain your strength. I have business to attend to but perhaps you’ll do me the honour of dining with me again tonight. Then,” he added, fixing her with an amused smile, “I shall be at leisure to dwell on your difficulties.”
     

Chapter Five
    Miranda ascended the stairs as fast as her ankle would permit. She was encouraged to find that she could put all her weight on it and that the resulting discomfort was bearable. That was just as well since she had a long walk ahead of her that afternoon. She had a meeting to attend, and Lord Gabriel’s suggestion that she rest, tempting though the prospect might be, wasn’t a luxury she was at liberty to indulge.
    Jessie brought her a luncheon tray and Miranda ate quickly, her head full of the morning’s outing as she did so.
    “We found this in the attics, miss.” Jessie held up a garment she was industriously stitching. “It’s an old gown of Lady Felicity’s. She’s Lord Gabriel’s sister. The family call her Flick. Her ladyship is much shorter than you but I thought, with a little ingenuity, I could refashion it to fit you.”
    Miranda was touched by Jessie’s thoughtfulness. “You don’t need to go to all that trouble.”
    “Bless you, miss, it’s no trouble. We found this lovely Flemish lace that would be wasted otherwise so I’m fashioning a flounce to go round the hem. By the time you wake up this afternoon, it will all be finished and you’ll have another gown to show Lord Gabriel this evening.”
    Miranda glanced at the lovely sapphire blue silk and felt a deep welling of affection for kind-hearted Jessie, a woman she barely knew but who appeared intent on mothering