Bittersweet Endeavors (10 page)

Why
did he
anger her now when she nearly believed him
sincere
?
Oh, how she longed
to announce
her
true identity
. 
Mayhap, then,
she
c
ould
remove
th
e
arrogant smirk from his face.

“I know many things,
Mister
Preston.  Despite what you may
hap
think, I
a
m not ignora
nt.”  She pulled from his grasp.

He didn’t let her
go
.

Seth stood
quiet
for a moment and gazed into her eyes
.  A
smile
tugged
at the edges of lips. 
Myra
willed her
self n
ot to turn away
,
and
she
pierced him with
a hard
stare.  His lips curved into a full smile and it softened
Myra
’s hardened state.  Her heart thumped in wild secessions within her chest. 

“
Nay
, you're not ignorant,” he finally conceded, thoughtfully.  “I’
ll
eve
n wager you've had some teachings
.”  A light brow arched in question.  “
Perhaps
an
other employer provided such?”
The wind blew
a gust of cold wind and Seth swept
his
light
blond locks from his forehead.  A roguish grin appeared. “
Perhaps a
m
adam in your last employ?”
he asked.

Perhaps
it was from her
proper
upbringing
,
or possibly just incited by his smugness,
but
she did the unthinkable of someone in her position—she slapped him.

He registered
disbelief by the
action.  His hand brushed across his reddened cheek that the cold overemphasized
against his light skin
.  Yet his
stunned
expression didn’t match her
look
of
surprise
when the
smile
slipped
back
in
to the
curves
of his mouth.

“Well,
tis
safe to say you’ve kept your virtue intact and only remained a mere thief who—”

“
How dar
e you
!
”  She raised her hands into the air and
brought them down onto his chest
and shoved
him
away. 
Although, i
t’d
had
been easier
in moving a
mountain.
 
“Who do you think you are?  To in
sinuate that I am
…
That
I
would—
” She
snarled instead
of
following
with
words.  “You’re a farmer
!  A
plain, simple,
lowly
farmer!”
 
Her finger dug
hard
into his chest
with each word spoken
.  “You’ll one day regret the way you speak to me,
Mister Preston
.  O
ne day, it’ll be I who’ll see to it
that
you do my bidding and not the other way around!”

Seth laughed at that.  A mistake he learned too late. 
She
lifted her
leg b
ehind her and snapped it down
on the
same shin she
had
kicked
while
at auction
on that first day they
met
.

“Why do you do that?” Seth's face flushed with anger.
  “
Couldn't you
have
at least
struck
the other leg?  The
last
bruise
you inflicted
has
just recently faded!”  He loomed above her and
glared down.  “A
lesser man w
ould have you whipped for this.”

“Whipped,” she shout
ed.  “You insinuate I am a
—you question my virtue, and I am the
one to be beaten?  I think not,
”
Myra
raged.  “
The K
ing
is my cousin
and he’ll have you hanged for the offenses you’ve taken ag
ainst me.  Believe this true, I would
find great pleasure in securing the knot about your neck.”

Seth blinked and his mouth opened, but no words formed.
  His eyes narrowed and he looked over her again.  “What did you say?”

“I said I’d find pleasure in securing the knot about your neck!”

“
A
bout the king being your cousin,” he
countered crossly
.

Gad
,
did
she just admit
her cousin
was
King Charles?  For the love of all saints above, what
did she do
?  Panic sei
zed her and she closed her eyes
.  Myra
quickly measured
her prior words.
  How foolish
it was
allow
ing
her
anger
to
overrule common sense
!  When no explanation came
to mind to
withdraw
her
hasty
remarks, she whipped her skirts around and made a dash for the house.  Seth
came
too
fast
after her
and caught her arm
with his hand
.  He
whirled
her around
and forced her to face him
.

“Do you know what trouble you’
ll
cause yourself for stating such falsehoods?”
Each word passed b
etween gritted teeth
. 
Then,
his face softened
.  A
look of concern cascaded over him
after
she flinched by his tugging
at
her
arm
.  “For your own good,
Myra
,” he pleaded, “I’ll not hear such blather from your lips again.
Such claims are
an offence against the crown and the penalty
is
harsh.”

With a curt nod, she conceded, and thankfully so!
Zookes!  W
hat trouble she’d
have found
if he
believe
d
her.
 
It seemed like a lifetime
passed before he released her arm.  Once he did, she
removed and returned h
is
over
coat
and walked toward the wigwam that housed the kitchen.

“Go
find
Margaret,
Myra
.  S
he’ll find you dry clothing
. 
I don’t wish
in seeing
you
ill
due to my carelessness.
”
A
hint of concern
softened
his tone, again.

S
he turned around
and looked
at
him
and he
r
eyebrow quirked
upward
in
question.  “
Was that a
semblance of an apology?”

A mock look of surprise lit his face, and
Myra
couldn
’
t resist the smile that crept
across
her
lips
.
   Turning around, he walked
and
join
ed
the other men who worked on the house, but not before he offered her the most adoring of smiles.
 

No matter how angry she became by his presence,
she
was always left
wit
h an array of m
ixed emotions. 
Despite
her
desire
to dislike him, she
continually
found her
self
yearning for their next encounter.

*                    *                    *

Atop the hill
, Seth watched
Myra
as she sat
by the stream and thr
ew
pebbles into the water.  Even in the distance,
he
saw
the solemn look
up
on her face.  A dreamy expression
had
spread
over her a
s she
looked over the fields
,
but she aimed her stare at nothing
in particular
.  An angelic hue haloed around her from the sun's diminish
ed
gleam. 
Seth
contemplated joining her
, but when
he
spotted
Lucia
coming
down the hill to meet
Myra
, he stepped back
and
out of sight behind a tree.

Go back home, he admonished himself
.  He
leaned his back against the willow’s trunk that shielded him from he
r sight.  His feet wouldn’t budge
.  Curiosity or may
hap
adoration
of her beauty got the better of him.  He turned around
and w
atch
ed
her again, as he found
himself doing so many times
since the day that she
had
arrived
.

Lucia handed her something and Seth squinted
, curious
to know
what
manner of
token
she
brought th
at
brightened
the
smile
on
Myra
’s face.  His chest tightened.  He swallowed hard and closed his eyes
.  He
envision
ed
her in his arms
,
and th
e
smile
that
she
presently
donned being aimed at him
.  He leaned back against the tree
and
enjoyed
the pleasantness of
the daydream
.

His father approached and called out
toward Seth’s direction
.
“What ar
e you doing over there, Seth?”

Startled by his father’s commanding
voice
, Seth
abandoned
his
pleasant
musings. 
H
is fath
er catching him spy
ing
on the servant girl
, especially
Myra
, would
n’t
fare well for him.
“I’m
taking a rest from walking,” he lied. 

Seth stole a glance in
Myra
's direction and hoped
that
she and Lucia
didn’t notice he
’d
been
there all along.  With consideration of the distance, he doubted they overheard his father
when he called out
. 
When he peered around the tree, he watched their backs as
Myra
and Lucia ascended the hill
on the other side of
the lake. 

“Get that
thought out of your head, S
eth
,” his father sternly ordered.

“What thought?”  Too much in a trance from the sight he beheld, his voice sounded unemotional as
he gazed at
the movement
Myra
's hips
made while
they swayed from side to side.  A heavy lump form
ed
in his throat
.  He
swallowed hard
and
push
ed
it back
down
.