Page 20 of Dare it all for Love

Ash sighed.

“Right, well, we shall ride off and take our time catching up with the others. We don’t want him to find you too quickly. You need to be a way behind us, so you get some time alone with him. Just don’t waste it. We’ll bring your horse with us and make up a story that sounds plausible.”

“And why haven’t we returned to search for our friend?” Ash asked with the quirk of a dark eyebrow. “A fine fellow he’ll think me.”

“Oh, not for long. Flo will tell him the truth before they get back, won’t you, Flo?”

Florence blanched a little at the idea of admitting what she’d done to Henry, whom she doubted would see the funny side of it, but she nodded gamely. “Of course.”

“Very well, then,” Ash said, with the fatalistic air of one who was in the grip of one of Vivien’s ideas and knew he’d be mown down if he tried to stop her. “If we must, let’s get it over with.”

Vivien gave a little squeal of excitement. “Yes! Let the drama begin. Don’t forget to play your part, Flo. If he doesn’t kiss you before you get back, I’ll be most disappointed in you.”

Florence sighed from her position in the grass and waved them off, wondering just how long she would have to wait for Henry to find her.

“Mr Stanhope!”

Henry turned at the sound of his name. Miss Anson was hailing him from some way back, her brother riding up behind her. How the devil had they got so far behind? He turned his mount, trotting back to them.

“Oh, Mr Stanhope. I just must speak to you about those corn dolls. You know, our grandmother might have something to say about them. You see—”

“Viv! Viv, where’s Florence?” called her brother as he drew up alongside them.

Miss Anson frowned at him. “Flo? Why, she was with you.”

“Well, she’s clearly not with me, Viv. What the devil have you done with her?”

“I’ve not done anything!” Miss Anson replied hotly, glaring at her brother.

“Wait!” Henry interrupted, a sick feeling stirring in his guts. “Do you mean to say Florence has disappeared?”

“Well… I… I suppose so,” Miss Anson said, her expression growing anxious. “Oh, Ash, you don’t think… could she have had a fall?”

At this moment the pretty palomino mare Florence had been riding trotted around the corner without her rider.

“Hell!” Henry said, urging his horse forward. “You, retrieve the horse. You, tell the others,” he instructed each twin in turn, before riding off.

He would not sit about listening to those two twits trying to figure out what to do next. If Florence had fallen she might be hurt or in pain. She would certainly be frightened if no one returned to help her. He glanced up to where thick, smothering clouds were rolling in at an alarming rate, turning the sky a sickly greyish yellow. The glorious day was turning into a very sombre afternoon, and Henry cursed himself for not having taken Sterling’s words more seriously. They would have a storm very soon, judging by the way the wind had picked up, and they would need to get to cover fast.

It took him the next fraught quarter of an hour to find her, the entire time spent with his heart in his throat, terrified he would find her crumpled and bleeding. Visions of her lying broken and bloody filled his suddenly overactive imagination as he rode flat out, searching the ground for any evidence of a fall. When he finally found her, he could have wept with relief, a sensation swiftly overtaken by the urge to wring her blasted neck.

“What have you been playing at, you little nitwit?” he demanded, seeing her walking through the meadow with a disconsolate air and no little difficulty, hindered by her heavy skirts. “I told you that horse was too much for you.”

A look of deep irritation crossed her lovely face, and her green eyes flashed sparks at him that could have ignited the dry grass about her. “No, you did not. You asked if she was too much for me. I said she was not. I was correct, by the way.”

“Then why did you fall off?” he demanded.

“I didn’t,” she admitted, a sudden flush of colour pinking her cheeks in a way that was quite delicious.

Stop noticing her, he warned himself crossly.

“Oh really?” he asked, not bothering to hide his contempt at her lie. “Then why are you on foot?”

“For you, you idiot man!” she exclaimed, the temper erupting in time with an ominous rumble of thunder.

“What on earth…?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” she said with a dismissive sweep of her hand. “Just go away. You clearly can’t wait to be rid of me.”