He nodded toward the package. “Open it.”
She pulled off the string and unwrapped it. “It’s…” She glanced up at him. Tears shimmered in her ice-blue eyes. “A book.”
“Not just any book,” he said, biting his bottom lip and closely watching her face for her reaction.
Her hand gently caressed the book’s cover. “It’s Pride and Prejudice, the one I said I wanted. Where did you find it?”
David tipped his head to the side. “I went to a bookstore in London just before coming here.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, hugging the book to her chest. “No one has ever given me something so thoughtful.” She tilted back her head to meet his gaze.
He hadn’t been mistaken about the tears. She was even now blinking them away.
“Better than flowers or bon bons?” he prompted.
A smile touched her lips. She nodded. “So much better.”
He reached out and tapped the top of the book. “Curious that the book you wanted is about a young lady who has no intent to marry until the right man comes along.”
Her eyes were wide, and her mouth formed an O. “You read it?”
“Indeed, I did. Quite enjoyable,” he replied. “Lizzie reminded me of you.”
“She did?” Annabelle breathed.
“Certainly. Clever, determined, refuses to be told what to do,” he replied, handing her the cigar once more. “Magnificent. Just like you,” he said, and with that, he turned on his heel and strode back through the French doors.
On the way back to the dining room, David smiled to himself. He’d surprised her with the book and the fact that he’d read it. The look on her face had been pure wonder. That had been lovely. But a frown quickly took the place of his smile, because he realized he was in a great deal of trouble. There had been a funny feeling in his middle the entire time he’d been in Annabelle’s presence. And now he missed it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next night, Annabelle stood along the sidelines of the dancing, catching her breath. She’d just finished her second dance with that ass, Lord Murdock, and was doing her best not to look around to see if David was dancing with Lady Elspeth again.
Tonight, the wedding festivities consisted of a country dance out in one of Worthington’s barns, which had been transformed into a lovely spot for a party, with flowers and candles and pastel-colored ribbons wrapped around the rough wooden posts.
Annabelle was wearing a simple white gown with scalloped sleeves that had tiny daisies embroidered around the hem, the empire waist, and the neckline. She wore soft white kid slippers and had daisies woven through her hair. She looked and felt young tonight. As if she were a first-Season debutante. The two glasses of punch that one of the bridegrooms (almost certainly not Beau) had obviously laced with alcohol had served to put a glow in her cheeks.
Her smile faded, however, as the memory of seeing David last night on the patio swept through her mind. Talking to him again had been even more excruciating than she’d expected. She still couldn’t stop replaying their kiss at the Talbots’ ball in her mind. She’d since gone to dinner parties, attended other balls, and been riding in the park with Lord Murdock, participating in each event with a smile pasted on her face. But all she could think about was David. And it made no sense. She’d only known David for a short time. He was an outsider. Nearly a stranger. How could she miss him? Why did she miss him?
But the feeling had been there, night after night, as she attended the normal events of the Season. The same events she’d attended for the last five years. What made this Season any different? She craned her neck in every crowd looking for him. She closely watched Lady Elspeth, in case David appeared at her side. Annabelle even went so far as to ask Marianne where her brother had got off to. But Marianne had offered little help in explaining David’s absence.
Annabelle had told herself again and again to stop. It didn’t matter where David was. They’d finished their lessons and he’d gone his own way. They had no ties to each other, and he certainly hadn’t promised to see her again. Why would he? Why should he? She’d made it clear time and again that she wasn’t interested in being courted. Not that David had ever indicated he wanted to court her, but something about their interaction on the patio last night had been excruciating. Did he want to court her? Was that why he asked if she was looking for a husband?
When she’d seen him leave the table last night, she’d been compelled to follow him. She had no reason for it. It was almost as if her body had moved on its own volition, without input from her mind.
The musicians in the corner of the barn struck up another song and Annabelle glanced up in time to see David pull away from the crowd and disappear down a shadowy corridor. Where was he going now? Perhaps to have another cigar? She should not follow him. She didn’t want to be courted. She didn’t want a husband. But that kiss had made her hot and cold and achy. That kiss had made her feel things she’d never felt before. It was the first time in her life she’d truly desired a man. She was attracted to David. She’d never felt that way before. It scared her senseless.
And then there was the book he’d given her. For heaven’s sake, why did the man have to be so different from all other men? Why did he listen when she spoke, and why did he care about what she said? Why did he make her feel things she didn’t want to feel, and make her want things she didn’t want to want?
She could not marry, would not marry. Marriage was a trap for a woman. She refused to belong to any man. She would not allow herself and any children to be abused. David needed a wife. He was an earl, after all, and would be expected to marry and produce an heir. He was nothing but a distraction leading her in the wrong direction from her well-ordered life. But even as she had that thought, she glanced quickly toward Lord Murdock to ensure he wasn’t watching, then slipped away to follow David into the shadowy darkness on the far end of the enormous barn…as if she had no choice.
Still mentally arguing with herself, Annabelle kicked at the bits of hay that lay strewn along the path she was following between the horse stalls. The barn was clean and smelled like fresh bales of hay. Occasionally, a horse would neigh when she passed.
She was drawn toward a flicker of candlelight glowing in the darkness. She found David sitting on a bale of hay in one of the empty stalls. In addition to the bale, hay covered the entire floor of the stall, at least three paces high. David’s knees were drawn up onto the bale and his wrists rested atop them. He was wearing buff-colored breeches, a white shirt open at the top, and black boots. His short, dark hair was mussed as if he’d been running his fingers through it. She’d already learned that he did that whenever he was frustrated.
Annabelle stepped into the round pattern of light cast from the lantern he’d lit. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She took another step closer and stood directly in front of him. “Very well. Ask me.”
He reached out and gently captured her wrist. “What if I told you I came here hoping you’d follow me?”
Heat suffused her body. “Wh…why?” she managed to ask through dry lips.