"You must have someone take you out," Honor declared. "I am sure Mr.Sedgeworthwould be delighted to do so. Where is he?"
"He went up to look in the hothouses," Jane said. "I decided to sit here to cool off."
"Would you care to come out on the river, Miss Matthews?" Fairfax asked. "It will be my turn again soon, I believe."
"Oh, do let us eat first," Honor begged. "I am starved. When do you plan to have the footmen set the baskets out, Jane?"
"I shall do so immediately if everyone's attention can be attracted," Jane said.
Honor turned to beckon to the two people sitting on the bank and to a group that had appeared up by the hothouses.
"After we have eaten, Miss Matthews," the viscount asked, his eyes steady on Jane, "would you care for that boat ride?"
"Yes, thank you," she replied. "I should enjoy it."
An hour later Fairfax handed Jane into the boat.There was already a suggestion in the air of the coolness of late afternoon.
"Do you like water?" Fairfax asked. "Do you swim?"
"I can swim," she said, "but I do not like to do so. I am afraid to put my head beneath the water, you see."
"Ah," he said, holding her hand in a Firm grip while the boat rocked beneath her, "I would guess that you did not learn as an infant. Very young children have no such fears, you know. I was taught as a young child and I have done the same for my daughters. They like nothing better than to be in water."
"Even the two-year-old?" Jane asked.
"She learned last year," he said, "when she could barely walk. I will not say that she learned quite to swim. But she learned to do a good imitation of a cork. We have a lake only a half-mile from the house and have plenty of opportunity to enjoy the water in some privacy."
The river was calm, with that glassy quality that water takes on so often in the late afternoon and evening.
"You are very relaxed," Fairfax said, "for one who is afraid to get her hair wet."
Jane laughed. "Oh," she said, "you will not find me to be a wilting creature, my lord. I trust your skills utterly. If you do pitch me into the water, then will be time enough to panic. But I shall try to keep in mind that you are a gentleman and an excellent swimmer and that you are bound to save my life even at the risk of losing your own."
He smiled at the humorous good sense that she showed. "You are a very sensible lady, are you not, Miss Matthews?" he said. "Does nothing perturb you? I wonder."
She glanced at him as if she were about to reply, but looked down at her hands instead. She looked quite pretty for the moment, her slender body bent forward slightly, the color in her cheeks somewhat heightened.
"Will you marry me?" he asked, and listened in some amazement to the echo of his own words.
Her head shot up and she gazed wide-eyed at him. She said nothing.
He had meant the words, he realized suddenly. He had decided without even quite knowing it himself. "Did you hear what I said?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "I asked if you will marry me."
Her eyes were fixed on his.Dark gray eyes."Why?" she asked. He read her lips. Very little sound escaped her.
He looked away from her eyes. They were mesmerizing him. He noticed that he had rowed a long way from the rest of the party on the bank. "I could lie," he said carefully. "I could tell you that I have fallen madly in love with you. And I think you would know that I was lying. The truth is, MissMatthews, thatI need a wife, and I believe you would suit my needs. I choose to live most of my time on my country estate, and I choose to play an active role in the upbringing of my daughters. I need a woman to share that life with me and to manage my home. My children need the security of a mother. A nurse is unable to give them that emotional satisfaction."
"But why me in particular?" she asked. "I am not… I mean…"
"I need a woman of good sense and even temper," he said, "and one who loves children. I believe you to have those qualities."
She sat quietly regarding her hands for several minutes while Fairfax turned the boat and began to row back in the direction from which they had come. The slight twisting of her hands was the only sign she showed of emotion.
"I see that I have taken you by surprise," he said at last. "Is there someone else?Faford, perhaps?He will be making you an offer soon, if he has not already done so. Are your feelings engaged?"
"No," she said quietly, her head still bent over her hands. "I have refused him."
"I see," he said. "And am I to suffer a similar fate?" He was surprised by her near-silence. He had expected instant acceptance.
