others to make her decisions—her mother, and even her friends to some extent—that to have her future so wide and uncertain was utterly terrifying.
She set her jaw and continued along the path. Aunt Hartwell had said their trip today might be a good distraction, but so far her mind had yet to deviate from their conversation early that morning. But perhaps a climb to the beach might do the trick.
She refused to acknowledge that perhaps it might have to do more with who waited at the bottom of the trail.
The frigid water slipped over Cole’s bare feet, foamy and white as it retreated again. The sliver of beach at the bottom of the cliffs was more rock than sand, but Cole had managed to find a patch of silky sand in which to bury his toes. He’d abandoned his boots, stockings, and jacket on a rock behind him and could not dredge up any enthusiasm to reclaim them.
He gazed south along the coastline, at the breathtaking white cliffs that faded into the distance. In fact, he’d hardly been able to turn away from the sight in the last two hours. Dover was just south of St. Margaret’s and the famed sheer cliffs reached along the coast for miles. His father had taken him to Dover once as a boy, but youth rarely have the capacity to recognize and appreciate such beauty. Now he could only stare in wonder.
A rock skittered behind him and he turned. Daphne approached across the shore, stepping carefully from one rock to the next, avoiding the pools the ocean left as it withdrew with the tide. Her cheeks were flushed pink, eyes alive as they settled on him, and her skirts whipped wildly in the breeze, clinging to her slender figure.
He swallowed. Hard.
“Aunt Hartwell did not mention you planned to swim,” she called with a half smile, one eyebrow raised.
He cleared his throat. “I am still debating. Do not tempt me.”
She paused at the edge of the rocks where he’d left his boots. The step down to the sand was not easily managed, especially for someone in a dress. He splashed to the shore, extending his hand to her.
“Thank you.” Daphne took his hand and made the small jump to the sand. She did not immediately pull away as she looked around with interest, and he forced himself not to hold her small fingers tighter, to pull her warmth closer.
“I did not realize,” she said, “that the cliffs extended so far east. Mrs. Tilton has something of a spectacular view, doesn’t she?”
“I am finding it difficult to look away,” he answered honestly, though that fact was certainly less true since he’d spotted her.
She stepped forward, her hand escaping his as she moved to the edge of the water. “I went sea bathing at Brighton once. Wretchedly cold. I cannot say I enjoyed it much, though Mother insisted it was good for my health.” She was quiet a moment. “Mother tends to insist a great deal.”
“If she were here right now,” Cole asked, coming to her side, “what would she insist you do?”
Daphne scrunched her lips to one side in an expression that Cole found rather adorable. “She would insist I keep my bonnet on to shade my face. She would insist I refrain from getting wet. In fact, I daresay she would have insisted I remain atop the cliffs instead of climbing down here at all.”
“Then it is a good thing she is not here, isn’t it?”
Daphne looked up at him and then a grin flashed across her face. She tugged at the knot under her chin and pulled her bonnet off, brushing back her curls to toss riotously in the wind.
“Much better,” she said, turning her face up to the sun and closing her eyes. Cole’s lungs hitched. Had she always been beautiful? He could hardly seem to remember her as a child, freckled and skinny, not when she stood before him now, eyelashes shadowing her high cheekbones, narrow chin curving down to the alabaster skin of her neck.
He took a deep breath. He had to be careful, or he’d scare her away. “Should we see what we can do about getting you in the water next?” Blast, that was not being careful.
But she only laughed, opening her eyes again. “Aunt Hartwell is a lenient chaperone, but I think even she would frown upon swimming.”
“I doubt she would mind a bit of wading, though.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you are too frightened of your