The American Bride - By Karla Darcy Page 0,31

wisely.

For Cara the remainder of the day dragged along while she waited for the expected summons from Lord Wilton. She tried to enter into Belin's jubilant mood as the child paraded her carefully groomed dolls for Cara's appraisal. She must have managed well enough for the little girl spent the remainder of the day close to her, delighting in every chore that Cara set her. After lessons and dinner and another story time in the schoolroom it was a relief to send the children off to their beds. Then feeling as though she could no longer breathe in the close air of her room, she threw on her cloak and ran down the stairs to the garden.

After the heat of the day, the cool evening air caressed Cara's face and soothed away the headache that furrowed her brow. She pressed her fingers along the edges of her headdress wishing that she might free her hair to blow in the soft breeze. She reveled in the moist perfumed air as she walked along the dark paths in the garden. The flowered borders were shadowed clumps with an occasional spot of brilliant color caught in a wandering moonbeam. There was enough light for her to walk the graveled paths without worrying about stumbling.

Why had Julian not dismissed her? Cara wondered in puzzlement.

By all rights he should have, she admitted. She was angry with herself for having lost her temper. However she had been furious when he had spoken so insensitively to Richard and no power on earth could have stilled her tongue. She knew her grandmother would be shocked at her behavior. Cara was so deep in thought that she failed to hear the light step behind her until a hand fell on her shoulder and she gasped in terror.

"Your pardon, Miss Farraday, I did not mean to startle you."

In the moonlight Cara recognized Edward Tallworth's slender figure. She crossed her arms over her breast trying to calm her rapid breathing and laughed to dispel her uneasiness at the man's sudden appearance.

"It's just that I thought I was alone in the garden, Sir Edward."

Cara felt nervous in Tallworth's presence. There was a certain lazy immorality to the manner in which his eyes roamed over her body that she found disturbing. Cara pulled away from his hand and gathered her cloak more securely around herself.

"Such a lovely night for a walk outdoors," Tallworth announced.

"Yes. I have found the evening very refreshing."

"Perhaps you wouldn't mind if I walked with you for a while?" Tallworth questioned.

"I-I was just on my way back to the Hall," Cara blurted in a rush of words.

For some reason she did not trust Tallworth's company, unchaperoned in a dark garden. Perhaps it was the vague whispers she had heard about the fate of the last governess but for whatever the reasons, Cara had no intentions of putting herself into another compromising position.

"A short walk would be quite pleasant," Tallworth continued as though he had not heard her reply. Taking her arm he turned her in the direction away from the Hall.

Cara stiffened in the man's grasp. She was unwilling to create a scene by struggling with her companion and so let him hold her elbow. Tallworth's rapier thin body moved easily, displaying an athlete's agility and wiriness. Despite her uneasiness Cara assumed he was a gentleman and that she could count on his behaving as such. Mentally shrugging away her apprehension, she followed his lead.

"Are you enjoying your lessons with the children?" he questioned.

Although Cara sensed that Sir Edward was less than interested in her schoolroom activities she chattered brightly about the children. She knew that she was babbling but felt compelled to keep up a light social conversation. A feeling of dread washed over Cara's body as she felt Tallworth's steps leading toward the maze in the center of the garden. She berated herself for permitting the situation to get away from her control. She should have followed her first instincts and broken away from the man at their first encounter. Her heart beat raggedly as she determined to sever the contact before she found herself in worse difficulties.

"I'm sorry, Sir Edward, but I should like to return to the Hall." Cara attempted to keep her voice cool and impersonal.

"Really, Miss Farraday, you needn't come on the coy miss with me." Tallworth's voice was hoarse in the quiet garden. "You have yet to see the maze by moonlight."

"I have no intention of going to the maze with you."

"Then perhaps