The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (26 page)

Mindful that she could, quite unwittingly, bump i
nto Felicity Carmichael or the v
iscount during her stroll,
Eleanor
swiped up
her parasol. 
Normally having no time for such frilly feminine articles,
it did have one advantage in that it formed an effective shield from those one had no desire to see
.  Only Madeleine looked up briefly as
Eleanor
took her leave and, as usual, was so disinterested, that she did not
bother to
enquire as to where she was going
.

Eleanor wa
ndered along the
river bank
which was crammed with guests
.  She recogni
z
ed many of the faces now - amongst them the Duke and Duchess of Swinton.  Sneaking a
look
at the pair
, she
noticed
that the d
uchess, although still magnificent in a gown of deli
cate cream,
looked
wan
and, like James,
had
dark shadows under
her
eyes.
  Her husband, conversely
, appeared in fine spirits - laughing and joking while his wife sat glumly by his side.  Although she knew little of such matters, it
seemed
to Eleanor that the b
reak-up of James and the d
uchess’s relationship had affected
both parties deeply
– a fact that left her feeling decidedly odd.

As Eleanor continued her stroll,
a high-pitched
whiny titter reached her ears:  t
he unmi
stakable girlish giggle of
Cynthia Carmichael.
Eleanor immediately tilted her parasol
to obscure
her face
but, a
s she drew level with the group, her curiosity got the
better of her and she dared to peep out from behind it
.  What she witnessed made her immediately regret her action
s
.
  Lady Carmichael and her daughte
r were part of a
large
group
who had spread themselves out on several blankets.  Felicity was sitting
with
her back to the rest of the group
, her lilac dress making her
pallor
appear
even greyer than usual.
She
was
engross
ed, much to Eleanor’s
revulsion, in dissecting a live red and black butterfly
with
her podgy fingers.  Eleanor recoiled in horror and
retreated
back
behind her parasol. 
There was no doubt in her mind that Felicity Carmichael was the most evil, hateful girl she had ever had the misfortune to meet.

A fence
mark
ed the end of the
house’s
immacul
ate gardens
. 
Eleanor crossed the stile
there
and
continued following the river
along
a narrow bri
dle path
.
 
As the
party’s
chatter faded, she
heard
shouts and
laughter of a different nature
.  Rounding a corner,
she came upon
four boys
ranging in age from around eight to fifteen years.  They
all
had mops of thick fair hair, faces crammed with golden freckles and, having stripped off their shirts, were bare to the waist, displaying lean, brown torsos.  
They were each
holding a twig
on the
end of which
wriggled an indignant
worm.  Eleanor
experienced a pang of envy as she watched them
.  Suddenly, as they became aware of her
presence
, a murmur of fear rippled through the boys.  They stood
stock-still in the water, anxiety etched on
their young, freckled faces. 

‘
We ain’t doing nothing wrong, miss,
’
piped up the
talle
st
. 
‘
We’re just
larking about
.
’

‘
Are you now
?
’
aske
d Eleanor, walking towards them.
‘
Then I was wrong in assum
ing you were fishing.
’

The bo
ys stood in silence for a moment
.

‘
Well, we were, miss,
but we ain’t caught nothing yet and when we did, we were going to put it straight back.  Honest.
’

‘
Hmm,
’
mused Eleanor
, stroking her chin with her free hand
.
 
‘
You haven’t caught anything yet, you say.  Then perhaps you had better show me what you were doing.
’

H
orror spread over the boys’ dumbstruck faces.

‘
Or perhaps,
’
she added
, closing her parasol. 
‘
You would like me to show you how it’s done.
’

Staring, open-mouthed, th
e boys watched in
amazement as Eleanor put down h
er parasol, kicked off her
slippers and tucked her skirts up into her undergarments.  She then pick
ed
her way
down the craggy
riverbank and waded into the water.  

Confident
that she intended them no harm,
the
boys
quickly
relax
ed in Eleanor’s presence.  Soon all
five of them were larking and splashing about.  It was the most fun Eleanor had had since she had been despatched from Nottingham.
Ed, the oldest
boy
,
who had nominated himself as spokesman, suddenly spotted a large trout.  All five stood
stock
still, hardly daring
to breathe as they watch
ed the fish.  It approac
hed Eleanor.  She held her rod
still
just above the water,
watching the worm as it wriggled an
d writhed.  The fish
swam nearer.   

All at once
, a
booming masculine voice broke the silence.

‘
Lady Eleanor, what on
earth
do you think you are doing?
’
 

Eleanor jerked
up
her head
to find
James
Prestonville
standing on the river
-
bank directly above her
. 
He was wearing the same unfathomable expression she had witnes
sed several times before
.
Madeleine, as usual, was hanging from his arm. 

‘
I’m
…
er
…’
 

Madeleine
, evidently in
no mood to hear Eleanor’s excuses
, regarded
her as though she were not worthy of a minute of their attention. 

‘
Why, is it not obvious, James?
 
The girl is engaging in yet more tomboyish behaviour.
She is quite simply out of control.  How on earth your
a
unt imagines she can find someone to take her, is beyond me.
Come
,
let us walk a little
furthe
r, my sweet,
’
she urged, tugging on James’
s elbow.

James s
hrugged her off
. 
‘
You go on walking if you wish, Madeleine.  I have a duty to re
turn Lady Eleanor safely to my a
unt.
’

‘V
ery well, then,
’
she sniped, affecting a hurt expression. 
‘
I
shall
go on alone.
But if anythin
g untoward happens to me, it wi
ll be
your
fault,
’
she said, glaring
accusingly
at Eleanor. 

   As Madeleine flounced off, James
crossed
his
arms over his
broad chest
,
his
features set in a grim
expression.

  
‘
I think it is time, Lady Eleanor
,
you put an end to your fishing expedition and return to dry land.
’
 

   At h
is severe tone, Eleanor cringed.
  She
pulled
a rueful face at the boys. 
‘
Sorry
.  It looks like
I
have to go now.
’

   Disappointment washed over their
young faces before Ed piped up,
‘
That’s a real shame, miss. 
You’re the best fisher, I’ve ever known - even if you are a girl.
’
 

T
he others nodded their
agreement.

Eleanor
winked to
convey her gratitude at the compliment before
wa
ding carefully through the water towards James
, who
bent down and extended his arm towards her. 
As she
grasped it
, a
pulse of heat surged
through her
. 
With
his shirtsleeves
still
rolled up, she noticed the fine dark hair
covering
his arms
, and
felt something stir in her stomach
as she observed his rippling
muscles
.
With
very little effort,
he hauled her
up
on
to the bank. 
There
they released their hold of
one an
other
. 
Eleanor
stood
before him, u
nable to speak.  For a moment, James
,
too
,
seemed devoid of speech and simply stared at her.  A splash from the water below broke the moment as they became aware of their young audience. 

James was the first to regain his voice
.
‘
I can imagine what my a
unt will say to your appearance, Lady Eleanor,
’
he
said, removing a
twig from her hair. 
‘
Although …
’
he continued, in a tone so intimate that it cause
d her stomach to flip over
,
‘
…
I
have
my own
opinion
.
’
 

Mortificati
on flooded Eleanor as she realiz
ed he was
staring at her bare legs.   Good God, what on earth must he think of her gawping at him so with her gown tucked up in her undergarments
?
  She f
lushed
crimson and began
hastily
rearranging her skirts into some semblance of dec
ency.  As she bent down
to squeeze the water from the hem of her frock, something bright caught
her eye. 
Something that was glinting ominously in the sunlight as it made its way quickly and silently through the still, war
m air.  In the split second
it took for her to reali
z
e what it
was, her instincts kicked in and she
launched the full weight of her body against
James.  Catching him
off-guard, he tumbled backwards into a
group
of ferns.  Eleanor
landed
on top of him.  Their heads turned in unison as the arrow w
histled
past them
, landing
with a thud in the trunk of a nearby tree.