Coming next month
A SCANDAL AT MIDNIGHT
Annie Burrows
‘Oh stop arguing Ben. I am sure you have had to do all sorts of unpleasant things when you were in the thick of a campaign. But the point is you are not on campaign now. You are staying at your friend’s house, where you ought to be able to have a bed with blankets and sheets and a hot breakfast in the morning. And no matter what you have done, I could not possibly sleep myself, knowing you were out here, shivering and naked in the rain all night.’
‘That’s very good of you my…Daisy.’ And so typical of her. Others might think she was cold, but beneath her outer reserve, beat a heart that was good, and kind, and compassionate. ‘But look, you really don’t need to row me back across the lake yourself. Couldn’t you just go across and then…send a message to my manservant to row over with some dry clothes?’
She glanced up at the sky. ‘I could, I suppose, but it would be quicker to just row you across myself. And then you could shelter in the boathouse while I go and fetch your manservant. Because it is going to rain soon. Can’t you feel it in the air?’
‘I can, yes, but a little rain won’t do me any harm. Not English rain. Summer rain.’
She stuck her fists on her hips. ‘I see. You would rather do anything than get into a boat with me, wouldn’t you? Would it damage your masculine pride so much to allow a mere female to help you out? Yes, it would. Hah! I didn’t think it of you, Ben. I thought at least you were…’ She pulled herself up to her full height. ‘But I see I was wrong. You despise me just as much as…’
‘No!’ He couldn’t let her think that of him. ‘Daisy, that isn’t true! I don’t despise you! I…’
Instinctively he darted forward.
‘You would, in fact, rather freeze out here than be forced to sit within one foot of me for the short duration of the boat ride back to the mainland.’
‘No, Daisy…’ He strode across the gravel to where she was standing. ‘You haven’t considered…if anyone were to see you, and me, like this in a boat, in the dead of night…’
‘Yes. You would risk being compromised into marrying me, wouldn’t you?’
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Annie Burrows
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