Emily protested vehemently.
Meriden said not one word even when she began pummeling his broad back with her fists and shrilly shouting at him to put her down. He carried her down the stairs to the hall, where there seemed from her unusual vantage point to be a great many more servants than usual. Yelling louder, she tried to kick him but succeeded only in scraping her hipbone painfully against his shoulder. There would be a bruise there, she was sure.
“Put me down!” she cried, flailing at him with her fists again, this time getting in a good, solid hit on his spine that rattled her knuckles. His response was a hard smack of his free hand to that portion of her anatomy that was uppermost. “You villain,” she yelped, “put me down this instant! Oh, what are you about?”
He had carried her outside and down the broad front steps. She saw the pebbled drive beneath her, then the smooth green lawn. They were headed downhill. She caught a quick glimpse of Miss Lavinia’s knot garden and the little marble temple beyond the footbridge before she felt his muscles tense and experienced a sudden, clear knowledge of what he intended to do. He lifted her from his shoulder, and as she sailed through the air, she let out a scream of rage, only to find her open mouth filled with icy water when she splashed into the lake and sank forthwith.
She came up sputtering and spitting, gasping with the cold, her hair wrapping itself in wet ropes across her face, her silk skirts billowing around her legs one minute, then clinging heavily to them the next. Behind Meriden, hurrying down the lawn, she could see her sister and several others.
“That ought to cool you off!” the earl shouted. “Don’t you ever do such a thing to me again, my lass, or it will be much the worse for you.”
Emily opened her mouth to shout a reply in kind, but her gyrations had stirred the water and she only swallowed more of it. Her skirts were interfering with the movements of her legs now, so she ducked underwater to do what she could do to make it easier to swim, realizing as she did so that the lake was deeper than she had expected it to be, and colder. And the earl, in his fury, had hurled her a good many feet from shore.
Coming up for air, she saw that he was frowning. Indeed, he looked worried, she thought, almost as if he might think she …
She screamed, flailing her arms, letting herself sink again, then kicked wildly, surging upward, shouting as soon as she was clear of the water, “Jack, help me! I can’t touch bottom. Oh, help me! Help me!”
She let the last words end in a watery gurgle, but she needn’t have worried. Meriden didn’t so much as pause to take his boots off before plunging into the icy water after her. She soon felt his strong grip on her upper arm, and then she was raised up out of the water in much less time than she had thought it would take him. With no real effort at all, Meriden swam with her to the shore and hauled her out.
“My God, Emmy,” he said remorsefully, “I never thought.” Turning his head, he shouted, “Here, someone, run get a blanket!” and then turned back to her. “How could I have done such a thing? You act as if you can do anything at all. I never thought for a moment that you couldn’t swim.”
“But she can swim,” said Dolly clearly above her mother’s agitated reproaches. Sabrina was demanding to know at one and the same time what had possessed Jack and why Emily had dared to do such an uncivil thing as to throw her wine at him. No one heeded her, however, for Dolly, who was standing behind Jack, gazing down at Emily, went right on in that same ingenuous tone, “Don’t you remember, Aunt Emily? You told me your brothers had taught you to swim when you were a child.”
Emily had turned her face into the earl’s shoulder in order to keep from betraying her rising mirth, but any inclination she felt to laugh dissipated abruptly when she felt Meriden go still upon hearing Dolly’s
Meriden said not one word even when she began pummeling his broad back with her fists and shrilly shouting at him to put her down. He carried her down the stairs to the hall, where there seemed from her unusual vantage point to be a great many more servants than usual. Yelling louder, she tried to kick him but succeeded only in scraping her hipbone painfully against his shoulder. There would be a bruise there, she was sure.
“Put me down!” she cried, flailing at him with her fists again, this time getting in a good, solid hit on his spine that rattled her knuckles. His response was a hard smack of his free hand to that portion of her anatomy that was uppermost. “You villain,” she yelped, “put me down this instant! Oh, what are you about?”
He had carried her outside and down the broad front steps. She saw the pebbled drive beneath her, then the smooth green lawn. They were headed downhill. She caught a quick glimpse of Miss Lavinia’s knot garden and the little marble temple beyond the footbridge before she felt his muscles tense and experienced a sudden, clear knowledge of what he intended to do. He lifted her from his shoulder, and as she sailed through the air, she let out a scream of rage, only to find her open mouth filled with icy water when she splashed into the lake and sank forthwith.
She came up sputtering and spitting, gasping with the cold, her hair wrapping itself in wet ropes across her face, her silk skirts billowing around her legs one minute, then clinging heavily to them the next. Behind Meriden, hurrying down the lawn, she could see her sister and several others.
“That ought to cool you off!” the earl shouted. “Don’t you ever do such a thing to me again, my lass, or it will be much the worse for you.”
Emily opened her mouth to shout a reply in kind, but her gyrations had stirred the water and she only swallowed more of it. Her skirts were interfering with the movements of her legs now, so she ducked underwater to do what she could do to make it easier to swim, realizing as she did so that the lake was deeper than she had expected it to be, and colder. And the earl, in his fury, had hurled her a good many feet from shore.
Coming up for air, she saw that he was frowning. Indeed, he looked worried, she thought, almost as if he might think she …
She screamed, flailing her arms, letting herself sink again, then kicked wildly, surging upward, shouting as soon as she was clear of the water, “Jack, help me! I can’t touch bottom. Oh, help me! Help me!”
She let the last words end in a watery gurgle, but she needn’t have worried. Meriden didn’t so much as pause to take his boots off before plunging into the icy water after her. She soon felt his strong grip on her upper arm, and then she was raised up out of the water in much less time than she had thought it would take him. With no real effort at all, Meriden swam with her to the shore and hauled her out.
“My God, Emmy,” he said remorsefully, “I never thought.” Turning his head, he shouted, “Here, someone, run get a blanket!” and then turned back to her. “How could I have done such a thing? You act as if you can do anything at all. I never thought for a moment that you couldn’t swim.”
“But she can swim,” said Dolly clearly above her mother’s agitated reproaches. Sabrina was demanding to know at one and the same time what had possessed Jack and why Emily had dared to do such an uncivil thing as to throw her wine at him. No one heeded her, however, for Dolly, who was standing behind Jack, gazing down at Emily, went right on in that same ingenuous tone, “Don’t you remember, Aunt Emily? You told me your brothers had taught you to swim when you were a child.”
Emily had turned her face into the earl’s shoulder in order to keep from betraying her rising mirth, but any inclination she felt to laugh dissipated abruptly when she felt Meriden go still upon hearing Dolly’s
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