Forever My Love(14)
"Where you're concerned, I suspect it will," he said softly, and touched his heels to the horse's sides. Flustered, Mira could not bring herself to say good-bye as he left.
The fourth morning Mira was exasperated with her self to find that she was unconsciously waiting for him to appear. Before going out she had spent several minutes debating with herself in front of the mirror wanting to arrange her hair in a more elaborate an becoming style than the simple braid, and then cursing herself for even daring to think of such a thing. You are learning new things about yourself, she thought wryly. I did not know that your vanity was so great that you would want to make yourself more attractive for a man you dislike! And you probably won't even see him today! Gritting her teeth, she plaited he, lustrous hair into its customary braid and tromped out. to the woods.
It was becoming cooler every day, all the more reason for Mira to enjoy her mornings out before the weather began to inhibit her walks. The forest that bordered the fine gardens and lawns of Sackville Manor was lush and mysterious, inviting her most fantastic thoughts to come to life. Lush ferns and spicy golden pine needles carpeted the ground, while trailing moss and small, bright flowers permeated the air with an earthy scent. It was dim, the air shadowed by the brawny trees, but in some places the sunlight shone through to dapple the ground. Sighing in contentment, Mira sat on a huge rock and hooked her arms around her bent knees.
As Alec approached her, he wished that he had not given in to the urge to find her again. He had to find some way of dispelling his damned fascination with her. Ever since he first met her, thoughts of her disturbed his sleep; unconsciously he compared, her with all of the women that were available for his pleasure, and he wanted only her. To his dismay, he was beginning to realize that his desire for her might not be merely a temporary thing. Dismounting from his horse, Alec wrapped the reins around a tender sapling
and approached Mira slowly. She appeared not to notice him, then spoke with her eyes fastened on some distant point in the woods.
"I heard that the fox was not taken yesterday," she said.
"We ran him to ground."
"Lord Sackville said that many of the men wanted to dig the fox out of its hole but that you convinced them otherwise."
"Yes," Alec answered, leaning one solid shoulder against a tree and looking at her with that strange rain-gray gaze, which caused a faint flush of awareness to spread across her cheeks. "It's unsporting to dig a fox once he's found a place to hide."
"Coming from you, that was an unexpected show of mercy," Mira remarked thoughtfully.
"From the way you look at me, it's obvious that your sympathies lie with the fox," he said, his mouth quirking with amusement. She nodded silently. "No books today?" he asked. .
"No."
"No strange roots or little flowers?"
Mira chuckled at his teasing. "No. I'm fully stocked with everything I might need."
"Where did you learn about such things?"
"I've always been interested in how to cure sickness," she replied, a smile tugging at her soft mouth. "When I was in France, traveling from place to place, I committed many bits of knowledge of natural medicine to memory." She paused and her eyes twinkled as she added, "I have an excellent memory. I rarely forget anything that I've seen or that's been said to me."
"Then somewhere in the realm of such a remarkable mind," Alec said, ignoring her last sentence, "is information about where you come from. Pray tell, where is home to you, aside from Sackville Manor?''
Even as he asked the question, he knew that she would not answer it.
"Home is everywhere," Mira said softly, the lost, burning expression in her eyes giving Alec an odd sensation. "I come from nowhere. I belong to no one." Her expression was sincere and mischievous all at once, as if she took a particular delight in avoiding his questions with such nonsense. He was exasperated by her vagueness; he wanted to know about her, he needed to know who she was, and he had no idea of how to force the answers out of her.
"You belong to whoever pays your price," Alec replied coldly.
"Do I?" she asked, unperturbed by his growing temper. "Do I belong to Sackville?"
"I suppose that depends on your own sense of loyalty."
"I have a very strong sense of loyalty… so I suppose I do belong to him. Ah, you are frowning… but isn't that the answer you wanted? Surely you can appreciate it, since loyalty is something you're quite familiar with. You are so loyal to the rules of hunting that you wouldn't dig up a fox, no matter how much the hounds and your companions long for blood… you are so loyal to a friend that you would not try to take his woman away from him… though I think you might want her for yourself."