Chapter Fifty-four

 

 

…Could those eyes be for her…?

 

The sound of a crowing rooster in the distance woke Cecilia bright and early. She stretched out lazily, glancing over to the man beside her as a warm smile crossed her features. David. She reached and gently prodded him.

“David…David, we have a busy day. Aunt Ruby is fixing pancakes with wildflower honey. We need to get up.”

“Umm…what do you have planned, love?” he asked as he turned to greet her.

“Well, it’s going to be warm today, in the mid-eighties, so I thought we’d go down by the creek for a picnic. Aunt Ruby is having the kitchen staff prepare fried chicken with coleslaw and homemade biscuits, and then I have to meet with Uncle Reuben about my thoroughbred mare.”

“Mid-eighties? Love, that’s not warm—it’s hot.”

She laughed softly. “Compared to England, I guess it is, but for South Carolina, it’s warm.”

“Well, it sounds like fun. But what about your mare? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing,” Cecilia shrugged. “I’m having her bred to one of Solomon Abercrombie’s stallions. She’s a lead mare and very spirited, and I’d like to explore her potential.”

“Umm…Abercrombie, yes I remember him. His horses are among the best on the American track.”

“That’s right. Solomon owns Blue Willow Farms, and though I have no intentions of racing, I still enjoy a fast ride.”

“Well, that makes two of us, love.” He smiled and caressed her face as he reached for her.

 

~*~

 

After breakfast, they took the picnic basket and set out for the creek that ran through the heart of her property. As they walked along, David said, “You know, I think Mrs. Chaplin likes me.”

“Oh? And why do you think that?” Cecilia cut him a mischievous grin.

“Umm, I don’t know. It could be the fact that she was very attentive to me at breakfast, making sure that I had enough to eat, and that it was all to my satisfaction. She also never allowed my coffee cup to go empty until I told her I’d had enough.”

“Yes, I believe she does like you.” Cecilia sighed on a soft laugh. “She mentioned it several times as she packed the basket, telling me to be sure you got the chicken breast. It appears that you mentioned you prefer white meat to dark.”

David only smiled as they reached the slope above the creek bank.

“Here, let’s spread the blanket out on this grassy spot. When everything is set, let’s play.”

“Play?” he said with a naughty smile.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Darcy. Yes, play! I haven’t ripped and romped in years, and this was my favorite spot when I was a child, so let’s play.”

She pointed to an old gnarled willow oak, drooped in moss, bent low and hanging over the creek. “You see that tree?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“I used to climb it. Come,” she said, “I bet I can climb higher than you.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said as they both raced for the tree.

Cecilia quickly scaled it and nestled into the tallest fork, but he was fast behind her, settling into the crook of the tree, trapping her body with his. “Now what are you going to do, Lawton? I have you were I want you.”

She curled her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss, then nipped his lips. “I’m going to kiss and run,” she said as she slipped out of his embrace and scurried down the tree. He was quick to follow.

“What are you doing now?” he asked.

“It’s a warm day, and I’m going into the creek. Join me.”

David shook his head with a smile as they both took off their shoes and socks and waded into the stream where she reached down for a handful of water and splashed him before turning to run. Just as she made it to the center of the brook, she slipped on a moss-covered rock, but he was there and caught her before she could fall. They frolicked and played like a couple of children, soaking each other and laughing like two young lovers. He tickled her until she squirmed and wiggled into his arms, and soon they were kissing. She sighed gently. This was more fun than she’d had in years. Breaking the kiss, she ran from the water while he gave close chase.

“Catch me if you can,” she shouted over her shoulder as she headed out into a field of tall sage grass.

“Lawton, I’m faster than you.”

“We’ll see about that. I have the lead.”

When he caught her, she stumbled and fell, but he broke their fall. Tumbling to the ground, David supported her as she toppled on top of him, rolling and laughing, tumbling until he settled above her.

He looked deep into her eyes. Gazing back, she wondered. What did she see? Could those eyes be for her? Could he love her…did he love her? She asked herself as he bent low and tenderly kissed her. As he deepened the kiss, their passion grew. They kissed and touched, and soon they had stripped off their clothes and were making love under the midday sky of November.

Later, satisfied and contented, David rolled over and folded Cecilia into a protective embrace. “I haven’t made love under the open sky since I was fifteen.”

“Fifteen! You started young, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’d certainly been thinking about it for a lot longer. Thus, when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.”

“Well, now that you’ve begun, you may as well tell me all about it. Was she your first love?”

“No. Far from it. She was a girl I met while at Eton. She attended Windsor, a nearby girls’ school. We would sneak out whenever we could and meet up. I would borrow my father’s car.” He grinned and chuckled. “I didn’t have a driving license at that time.

“We would leave for a secluded area in the country where we’d strip naked and shag in the tall grass just like this.” David plucked a piece of grass and put it between his teeth. “She was as inexperienced as I was, so you could say we taught each other.”

He laughed. “I remember our first time. We were both so scared that I nearly lost it before I began, but that didn’t last long. Soon we were confident and bold enough to tempt the wind. That’s when I did something very unwise. I parked in a farmer’s field. We must have shagged most of the night, causing me to lose track of my surroundings. I didn’t notice it had begun to rain until it was too late. I don’t have to tell you the rest. You can imagine what happened.”

“Yep!” She grinned. “You were stuck in the mud in your daddy’s car, borrowed without permission! So what did you do, call your father?”

“Are you serious? I might have been foolish, but I wasn’t daft. My father would have killed me. No, I called my brother, who, after thrashing me soundly, demanded a full explanation as to what I thought I was doing.”

“Hmm…how did you feel about that?”

“I didn’t care. He didn’t either. Not really.” David shrugged. “He got the car out. We cleaned it up and snuck it back home, and then he told me to be sensible and to never do anything so foolish again. The next weekend he gave me a box of condoms and never mentioned it after that.”

“I assume you were sensible, then?”

“Of course. I’ve been careful ever since.” He turned and tapped her nose. “Now how about you? Have you ever made love in the outdoors?”

She tensed. “A few times. It was a long time ago, too.”

“Cameron?”

“Yes, Cameron.” She picked a seed head from the tall grass and began to shred it. “It was down by the old grist mill on his family’s plantation. There was a special place there—a smooth rock that overlooked the creek. I can’t especially recall it as a good time.”

David’s eyes were piercing and full of questions. She sighed with a soft smile. “No, David, I’ve already told you I did not love him.” She shook her head as she shredded the last of the grass stalk. David pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.

After several minutes of suspended silence, he reached over and brushed her breast with his fingers. “Lawton, I think we should eat. Mrs. Chaplin would be upset if we let her food go to waste, and besides, with all of this exercise, I’m hungry.”

“I don’t see how you could be after all you ate for breakfast.”

“Ha! That was hours ago. Besides, you’ve worked it out of me…playing, as you call it, so now it’s time to eat,” he said, helping her up as they retrieved their clothing.

After they ate, they packed everything away and headed back to the house where Cecilia’s caretaker was waiting.

“Uncle Reuben,” she said as she handed off the picnic things to a servant, “How is Lady Grey? Did the breeding go well?”

“Yes, she’s bred, and you should have a fine foal come this time next year, but it has cost you a pretty penny.”

“I don’t care about that. All I want is a foal.”

“Well, that you’ll have. Solomon wants to keep her for another week just to be sure, so I’ll pick her up next weekend. We can go down together. Now if you two will excuse me, I need to check on the rice fields. I have the men making repairs to the floodgates. We’ll talk later. Nice to see you again, Mr. Darcy,” he said with a smile as he nodded at David.

“And likewise, sir,” David acknowledged.

 

~*~

 

That night after dinner, Cecilia talked late into the evening with Reuben Chaplin, discussing last year’s rice production and her plans for the following spring. David sat and listened with keen interest. Then later, in the confines of their bedroom, he discussed it with Cecilia, offering his advice.

“Cecilia, from what Mr. Chaplin has said, I think it’s time to take the project forward and reintroduce it as a commercially grown crop. You should also expand and plant all of your available lands. That’s my opinion based on what I’ve heard tonight, but I’ll be able to give you a more informed response once I’ve had a chance to read and digest the progress reports. I also need to read all the documentation on the entire project.”

“You do that. I’ll be anxious to hear what an outsider has to say about what we are doing.”

“Give me two months to read everything over, and I’ll have an assessment then.”

“Thanks, David. That sounds great. Now let’s prepare for bed. We’ve had quite a day.”

“Indeed we have, and we’re going to have quite a night, too.”

With a wry smile, she took him by the hand and led him to the shower.