Bottles filled with flora specimens cluttered a table.
The older gentleman’s brows rumpled above his wary eyes. “What exactly happened to Darcy? Spare me no details.”
Ethan looked down at the puddle of water made from his boots and frowned. “She begged me not to say, sir.”
“That is just like her. She may withhold from my wife, but from me, Darcy can hide nothing.”
“I imagine, sir, she has given you reason to be concerned.”
Mr. Breese drew Ethan to the window. “She started climbing those trees at six, hiked in the forests when she was seven on to this very day. Sometimes she does not come home until after dark. She says the stars are too lovely to abandon.”
Paternal love glowed within the old man’s eyes. The way he described Darcy gave Ethan more reason to like her.
“I wonder how such an adventurous spirit was born within a girl.”
Will Breese shrugged. “I have no doubt it was passed down to her from her mother.”
Ethan fastened his eyes on the trees outside and imagined her sitting on one of the large limbs, her bare feet dangling beneath her. “So, Darcy reminds you of her?”
“Only from what I’ve been told about Eliza. I never had the chance to know her personally.”
“For a girl to be so curious holds some danger.”
Mr. Breese nodded. “Alluring, is it not, for a young man?”
Ethan, taken aback by the comment, did not reply. But he agreed. Darcy Morgan had a way of drawing him to her.
“Well, I imagine two things may have taken place this day.” Mr. Breese picked up his pipe from off his desk. “Either she lost her way and was caught in the rain, or she fell into the river. I beg the latter be not so, sir, but if it is, you have my profound thanks for rescuing her.”
“You have guessed right, sir. It was the river. Do not tell your wife. Darcy was worried she would be upset.”
“Believe me, I know how ill my wife can be over such things. Was it very bad?”
“If I had not come along when I did, I have no doubt she would have been swept away. Yet I doubt Darcy would have allowed the river to get the best of her. She is very determined.”
Letting out a long breath, Mr. Breese lowered himself into a chair. “Thank the Lord. He saved her once again. I am indebted to God more times than I can count, Mr. Brennan. Having six young ladies under my roof, with a nerve-stricken wife, is most taxing at times. I do not know what I would have done if they had all been born boys.”
Ethan shook his head. “I can only imagine yours is a lively household, sir.”
“It is that, Mr. Brennan. How to keep Darcy from the river I do not know. Marry her off I suppose, to some man that shall take her far from it.”
A strange, but vague, feeling stabbed Ethan. For Darcy to be married off to a man who would remove her from the place she loved seemed unnatural. Yet, he romanticized the idea, wondering if he could make her love him enough to leave the river and cross a vast ocean to England. But that would complicate matters.
He shifted on his feet and looked Mr. Breese in the eye. “I would imagine that would make Darcy unhappy, no matter how in love she might be with a man of your liking. The river and this valley seem to seep into every inch of her, sir.”
“You are correct to say so, Mr. Brennan. Why were you riding on this side of the river anyway, if you do not mind my asking?”
“There is a pretty stretch of land not far from here that caught my eye.”
“You are thinking of buying it?”
“I wish I could.”
Mr. Breese twisted his mouth showing his curiosity. “What would you, being an Englishman, do with such a piece of property?”
“To own even one acre of God’s green earth in America might give me incentive to settle here.”
Mr. Breese put his hand over Ethan’s shoulder. “Then you must dine with us tonight and see how the average family manages to live in this wilderness. The Rhendons, the good people they are, mirror the aristocrats. It is the least I can do to express my gratitude for your saving Darcy. She is a daughter to me.”
“You have my thanks, but I am expected back at Twin Oaks—business, you see. If I have your permission, I would like to call