Page 74 of A Winter By the Sea
“Good idea.” He laid it over his lap, then looked at her. “You do indeed look quite snug.”
She noticed his gaze drift downward and a smile touch his lips. She followed his gaze and saw her stockinged toes propped on a footstool, peeping out from the blanket. She self-consciously drew them back under, her cheeks warming. She told herself not to be silly. If he could sit there in his shirtsleeves, then she could sit there without shoes.
“Another novel?” he asked with a nod toward the thick volume in her hands.
“No, actually. I hope you are duly impressed that I am reading a history book I selected from the circulating library. It’s about the reign of Frederic William II, King of Prussia.”
His dark brows rose. “Prussia? Iamimpressed.”
“Good. However, I’ve had it for nearly a fortnight and confess it is slow going. I have promised myself I can pick up a novel again after I finish one more chapter.”
“Like a spoonful of sugar after foul-tasting medicine?” he asked. “You don’t have to read it, you know.”
“I challenged myself to do so, so I shall.”
“What if I tell you that I am already deeply impressed with you, history or no?”
Despite her resolve, her heart fluttered. He was likely only teasing her, she decided, and she matched his light tone. “And now you shall have all the more reason.”
Emily glanced at the book in his hand. “And you? Another dry, dense history, I imagine? It is not half as thick as mine.”
“Will you think less of me if I tell you I am reading a novel?”
She chuckled. “On the contrary, you shall only rise in my estimation!”
“Then I am definitely reading a novel.”
“Which one?” she asked, all enthusiasm.
“It’s calledPersuasion. Have you heard of it?”
“Heard of it? I adored it.” She leaned closer. “How far along are you?”
“Nearing the end. I am enjoying it overall, although I admit that some parts are as slow going for me as your history is for you. Lots of description and introspection.”
“If you find that one cumbersome, then I would not recommendSense and Sensibility. I love it, of course, but evenIfind some sections difficult.”
“Duly noted,” he said. Then he went on, “I must say, I was rather confused by Captain Wentworth for a time. Him flirting with the young Miss Musgroves and blustering that he’d marry any woman who praised the navy. And meanwhile poor Anne had to suffer through it in silence. He certainly was not very gallant toward her at first.”
Emily considered. “I think he was still wary because of her rejection of him years before. Probably feared Lady Russell would once again persuade Anne that he was not good enough for her. And perhaps he was bitter initially, yet he makes it all up to her with that letter!”
Emily quoted, “‘I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant....’”
His eyes, warm and glimmering, rested on her face.
She said, “I hope I have not given away anything.”
“I had just come to that part. Quite moving. Also quite intimidating for an ordinary mortal. I don’t know that I could ever write something so affecting.”
“You should not have to, not if you were honest about your feelings all along and expressed them to the woman you admired.”
His gaze still lingering on her face, he said softly, “I shall remember that.”
With effort, Emily pulled her gaze from his and went on, “Wentworth’s mistake was in underestimating her constancy and his own worthiness.”
“That is little wonder.” A corner of his mouth tipped up. “After all, he was a younger son as well.”
She chuckled at his joke, but he soon sobered.
