Page 26 of Seven Swans a Swimming

For a moment, Arabella was not entirely sure she was going to obey the strange summons from the man who blew hot then cold with alarming regularity.

But his eyes…they were trusting. For the first time, Arabella was certain Nathaniel was not going to be sarcastic or wry, but earnest. Somehow, and she was not sure how—though the pounding in her heart suggested it was due to her scandalous honesty—she had managed to gain the trust of the future Lord Cartier.

“Arabella?” Nathaniel whispered her name, and Arabella shivered as his breath tingled on her skin.

Only then did she realize she had not actually replied. “Yes. Yes, show me.”

A slow and slightly nervous smile crept across his face, and Nathaniel reached for her hand. His fingers were warm and strong, but Arabella was almost certain there was hesitancy there, too.

What did he want to show her? A shiver crept up her spine as she tried to consider what on earth it could be that Nathaniel wanted to show her—something that he evidently had not even considered revealing until his parents had gone.

Because they had gone. Arabella was vaguely aware of the sound of a carriage pulling away from the drive. They were alone, she and Nathaniel, alone in Oxcaster Lacey.

She swallowed, her pulse flickering. What was she about to experience? Would she be pleased or repulsed?

Arabella swallowed. “Wh-Where…where are we going?”

Nathaniel smiled. “You would never be able to guess.”

He moved, pulling her to the door, into the hallway. For a moment, heat flashed through her stomach to between her legs, Arabella was convinced he was going to take her up the staircase and to his bedchamber.

What would she do if that was what he wanted? If he wanted to make love to her, to show her perhaps what she was missing—or what she could enjoy every day once they were man and wife?

Almost dizzy with excitement at the idea, Arabella was only a little disappointed when Nathaniel dropped her hand by the front door—but only, it appeared, to help her into her pelisse.

“You’ll need this,” he said quietly, shrugging on his own mud-splattered greatcoat. “It is cold out there.”

“Are we going to the lake?” Arabella asked hesitantly.

Nathaniel smiled. “You’ll see.”

His cagey remarks only increased her concerns as Arabella stepped into the cold afternoon air. Though it was only after luncheon, the sun was already dipping in the sky, heading back to the horizon. Its orangey glow reflected beautifully on the lake, flickering as the wind picked it up.

Arabella would have put money—if she had been a wagering sort of woman—on the thought that they were going toward the lake. It was, after all, the one place Nathaniel had appeared to be more comfortable. More himself. More able to be open with her and vulnerable.

Yet, although they did walk toward it at first, Nathaniel then took a turn to the left, toward some barns, which looked half abandoned. The estate could not need much additional income, Arabella could not help thinking, if they were not using the farms to their height. Why, Chalcroft was always attempting to get a little more funds from the land it owned. It had to.

But Nathaniel did not seem to notice the dilapidated state of the barns as they approached one in particular. There was a light in his eyes, a vibrant, brilliant excitement Arabella had never seen before.

No. No, that was not quite true. Arabella swallowed and felt a little glow of happiness. She had seen it once before—when he had kissed her. When he had taken her in his arms and bestowed a kiss on her lips.

Nathaniel halted when he reached the large barn door and looked at her with a strange expression on his face. “I…there are very few people who know about this.”

Arabella nodded but could think of nothing to say. What on earth could be inside there? A boudoir, perhaps? Was this where he took his lovers when he wanted to ensure his parents had no idea he was bedding them?

A little fear crept around her heart. Was she about to be scandalized? Was Nathaniel thinking that she would so easily fall into his arms after all the rudeness he had treated her with?

“I will not ask you to swear to keep it a secret,” Nathaniel said quietly. “I…I believe I can trust you, Arabella.”

“You can,” she said swiftly, squeezing his hand. She could barely feel her own, the freezing winter air taking all feeling from it, but she knew he felt the sensation.

Nathaniel nodded. “Well…here it is. This is the place that I go so often.”

With his free hand, he reached out and pulled open the door.

For a moment, as Arabella released his hand and stepped into the warm barn, she thought Nathaniel had been playing a trick on her. It was…a barn. Haybales were all over the place, a few old pens left from lambing, perhaps. A few pitchforks were gathered in one corner along with what looked like a scythe, and there was a spare greatcoat hanging on a hook at the other end of the barn.

Arabella swallowed. Why on earth had he thought to bring her here?

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