Storing Up Trouble, стр. 7
“And be bored silly as that woman would, of course, expound on the delights of Jane Austen or the like?”
“I’ll take that as a no.” She dusted off her hands again. “And with that settled, shall we get moving?” She gave him a tight smile. “I’m afraid if we spend too much time together, I may very well be tempted to drop my pistol purse to the ground again, preferably aimed in your direction.”
He was relatively certain she wasn’t jesting. “By all means, let us get on our way, although I don’t believe I’m feeling settled enough just yet, after having been shot, to climb back into that saddle.”
“You were never in the saddle, merely sprawled over it.”
“I told you, I suffered a riding accident in my youth. As I recovered from that accident, I decided that I’d never ride a horse again.”
Beatrix held out her hand to him, and even though he was surprised by the gesture, he took it, surprised again when she hauled him to his feet.
“Didn’t your parents believe that it’s always best to get right back on a horse after you’ve fallen off?” she asked, releasing his hand.
“I couldn’t very well have gotten right back on that dastardly horse because I suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, fractured ribs, and a concussed head.”
“You did take quite the spill, didn’t you?”
“Indeed. I was confined to my bed for months. Today is the first time in over two decades that I’ve been up close and personal with a horse.”
Her nose wrinkled. “But if you’d gotten back in the saddle after you’d recovered, you wouldn’t now be hampered by a fear of horses.”
“I have no issue with my fear of horses.”
“It takes a confident man to admit that.”
He shrugged. “I’ve never been overly concerned with what others think of me. I’m well aware that many people find me eccentric, a notion that doesn’t bother me in the least.”
“Why do people find you eccentric?”
“I have an unusual mind.”
“Undoubtedly.”
He tilted his head. “Aren’t you curious why I believe I have an unusual mind?”
“I don’t believe you need to give any further explanation.” She smiled. “I am curious, though, how your parents allowed you to avoid riding again, what with how horses are a necessary means of transportation.”
“Do you not have a mother?”
“Of course I have a mother.”
“Then you really shouldn’t need more of an explanation than that. My mother suffered tremendously after I was thrown from my horse, so because of that, and because she also decided I was a fragile sort, she didn’t bat an eye when I declared I was never mounting a horse again.”
“You don’t look fragile.”
“I made a concerted effort to improve my physical form after I was permitted to leave my sickbed. To this day, I maintain a strict schedule devoted to physical activity.”
Her gaze traveled over him. “That strict schedule is clearly effective. But returning to your refusal to ride horses . . . while I understand your mother’s decision, what of your father? Did he not have a say in the matter?”
“My father enjoys keeping a harmonious relationship with my mother.” Norman brushed a leaf from the sleeve of his jacket before he lifted his head and frowned. “I find myself curious, though, about your understanding of my mother’s decision. I’ve often wondered about spinsters and their outlook on life, but now feel as if my theories may be off the mark.”
Beatrix narrowed her eyes at him. “What theories?”
“Well, one of them has always been that because spinsters are not mothers, they don’t develop the expected maternal feelings their counterparts do, which would then make it more difficult for them to understand emotional reactions such as my mother had.”
A flash of temper flickered through her eyes. “While it’s bewildering to me why you would even contemplate such nonsense, what with how you claim to have a brilliant mind, I don’t believe spinsterhood is responsible for depriving a woman of maternal instincts. Frankly, I find such theories insulting and have to wonder what your wife thinks about all that.”
“I’m not married.”
“That explains much.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What theory would you come up with about me if I told you that not only am I a spinster, and one who has no interest in marrying at the moment, I’m also an avid supporter of the suffrage movement?”
“I’d say it’s fortunate you have no interest in marrying because men do not care to become involved with suffragists, whom everyone knows are simply women disgruntled with their lot in life.”
For a long moment, she stared at him, until she spun on her heel, stomped over to her pistol purse, scooped it up from the ground, then turned back to him.
“You’re not intending on shooting me with that, are you?” he finally forced himself to ask when she continued regarding him without speaking a word.
“Tempting, but no.” With that, she tucked the pistol purse away, walked over to her horse, took the reins, then sent him a nod. “This is where I bid you adieu and wish you luck in finding your way back to civilization.”
“You’re going to leave a man you only recently shot, and one whom you know is incapable of riding a horse, out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Yes.”
Before Norman could compose a suitable argument, Beatrix jumped on her horse and galloped away, leaving him behind.
Chapter 4
Knowing there was nothing to do but go after Beatrix because he couldn’t very well leave a spinster woman unaccompanied in the middle of a remote forest, Norman strode to the horse