The Virtuous Ward - By Karla Darcy Page 0,59

up noticing the arrested expression on her guardian's face. "Max?" she asked in question.

Max shook his head. "It's nothing, my dear." He dropped his eyes from the wood sprite who sat opposite him. He was glad she had worn her hair down today. She had been wearing it bound up lately and he had missed the ripple of curls that cascaded down her back. He could never tell her that for a moment he had wanted to bury his hands in the fiery silk of her hair. It was less than a guardian like comment.

After lunch they put away the remains of the food and returned everything to the grinning Lewis who was tucking into a lunch basket of his own. Then with her hat in place and her parasol over her shoulder, Amity took the arm Max extended and they set off down the lane.

There was much to see along the banks of the river. Flowers abounded, growing wild for the most part but in some places tended by the women in the nearby cottages. Occasionally they passed a villager and then nothing would do but Amity enter into conversation, her face piquant as she listened to the respectful answers to her myriad questions. Eventually Max would drag her away, complaining that he was being neglected.

It was on their return that they spotted the boys. Max had been telling Amity about some of the antics of his brother just prior to his being sent down from Cambridge when he noticed that her attention was no longer on the story.

Amity's eyes narrowed as she watched a group of boys placing a squirming object in a small wooden cask. She raised her voice in a shout and the boys turned startled faces in her direction. After a whispered conference, the biggest boy raised the cask over his head and threw it into the water. Then with a shout, the boys raced away from the river, disappearing from sight.

"Hurry, Max," Amity yelled and, picking up her skirts, ran to the edge of the water.

"What is it?" Max said as he came up to her at a more leisurely pace.

"It's a cat, I think." Her eyes scanned the surface of the water and with a shout she caught hold of his arm, pointing at the wooden object bobbing a short distance away. "They put it inside the cask."

"Well, I fear, my girl, there is nothing we can do for it. If it's not drowned already, it soon will be."

Max's practical words did little to dampen her need for action. She flung an exasperated glance in his direction before dashing along the bank, following the progress of the cat-laden vessel. She closed her parasol and extended it over the water, hoping the cask would float nearer. The barrel remained tantalizingly beyond reach and her face took on an anguished expression as the wooden casket sank lower in the water. Max could not stand to see her suffer over the fate of the cat and he scanned the area ahead until he thought he had found a logical spot to execute a rescue.

"Come along, Amity," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along in his wake. "There's a place further down where the river bends. We'll try for it there."

Her face full of gratitude was reward enough for his insanity and lent wings to their feet as they raced along beside the river. Reaching the spot where the bank jutted out over the water, Max ripped off his jacket and grabbed a handful of tall bushes for purchase.

"Now open your parasol and give me your hand. No, the other one so you can see what you're doing. Brace your feet against mine and I shall lower you over the water."

Amity followed his directions, squealing as the hem of her skirts dipped close to the water. She kept her eyes fastened to the bobbing cask and was overjoyed to see that if it maintained its position she should be able to scoop it up with the parasol as it passed.

"Get ready," Max shouted in encouragement.

He extended his arm as the barrel approached and cheered as she reached out to capture the prize. Just as the cask floated into the parasol, the bank gave way underneath his feet and he lost his grip on the bushes holding him onto dry ground. Max's shout and Amity's squeal were lost in the sound of the enormous splash as both of them hit the water.

For a moment Amity was