Page 73 of No Ordinary Lady

He stared out over the garden, brooding about what to do; worried, but trying not to show it. Her uncle had been in their village, and he wondered if she’d met up with him.

Daniel was also conflicted. He’d not wanted Marian to be here in the first place, but now he’d gotten used to the idea, he didn’t want her ever to leave without him. He’d only just understood the depths of his interest in Marian, and what it might signify for his future if she stayed in his orbit.

Because it wasn’t every day a grown woman followed him home and ended up taking employment as a paid companion to his granny. He’d not voiced much opposition to her staying on in that role, either. Granny liked her, liked her stories and company. Mother hadn’t raised an objection either and she usually would. He’d thought nothing would drive her away—not even the knowledge he’d come home to marry someone else.

But she didn’t know he’d changed his mind about that.

When alone, they got along very well as friends, and still shared a passion for kissing each other. He’d grown rather fond of doing that, too. Kissing Marian. He’d expected that, having decided not to marry Amy Wilson, he would be able to devote his energies to a pursuit of Marian.

But she was no longer around to be pursued, wooed, or kissed. There would be no more conversation and no longing looks for him to enjoy.

And it was not just the kisses he missed. It was the certainty inside him that Marian would always be somewhere around when he had time for her.

The behavior of women often confused him, but with Marian, he’d always been certain that his attraction to her was fully returned. There had been the potential for romance between them all along, and a budding friendship that might have outlasted almost anything thrown their way—even his marriage.

Theirs should have been a brief acquaintance, but it had already become so important to him. Certainly, more than his unsatisfying and brief affairs with other women had ever amounted to.

Granny had cautioned patience when it came to love, but mother had constantly promoted a match with Amy Wilson instead. She believed only Amy could become the next Countess of Scarsdale. But Amy was not so perfect after all. She was not a woman he wanted to talk to at all hours of the day and night. Not the woman he wanted to share his life with.

Marian might have stayed long enough to realize what was under his nose.

He’d had Papa and Mama’s romance as an example in the back of his mind for his entire life. Granny had explained theirs had been a love match, and at first sight too, although Papa’s greater age had prevented him from declaring himself soon enough for her taste.

Daniel did not know if that ache he felt in the pit of his stomach when he thought of Marian was the same sort of thing, but it might just be close. Now they were apart, he was sure he could not live without knowing where she’d gone and why she hadn’t at least said goodbye to him.

But if she felt the same yearning for his company, she really ought to have stayed.

His heart was fully aware of Marian’s absence, and it argued he’d have to do something about finding her again. He toyed with the ring in his pocket, wishing Granny had given it back to him much sooner than she had. The trinket that had brought Marian into his life probably couldn’t accomplish that a second time. Not unless she wanted to steal the bauble.

He smiled as he thought of their first meeting, but jumped when a small hand crept into his.

Daniel turned, hoping it was Marian sneaking up on him. But it was only Granny, and he put the ring away in his pocket. “Any sign of her yet?”

“No.” He held Granny’s worried gaze and then put an arm around her frail shoulders to give her a gentle squeeze. “She’s been looked for everywhere I can think of at least twice now.”

Granny turned her face into his chest, and he heard a muffled sob of frustration. “I cannot believe she’s gone without a word of goodbye to us. Something must have happened to her. Where could she be?”

Daniel felt the same level of concern, but he didn’t want to worry Granny any more than she already was by speaking of his worst fears. She might have been taken from the estate by her uncle and forced to return to a life of petty crime.

“People disappoint us,” he said, exhaling. “Marian had no ties to us.”

“She had ties to you,” Granny complained.

Daniel sighed again. Since he’d announced he would not pursue a marriage with Amy Wilson, Granny had carried on as if he’d immediately go down on bended knee to Marian instead.

But he was a long way from deciding if he had any lasting future with a known thief and runaway paid companion. He could not join his family name to hers, either, without knowing more about what sort of people she came from.

Oh, he had experienced enough with her uncle Crossman to have concerns aplenty about that side of her family. But did she have any other relations who might prove even worse?

“I’ve never been completely certain she cared for any of us.”

“You don’t believe that for one moment,” Granny protested. “She’s a kindred spirit. She belongs here, not out there picking pockets for a living and putting herself in danger for no good reason. Why, if I saw her again, I would have you put her over your knee and give her the spanking she deserves for the worry she’s put me through!”

Daniel squeezed his granny again. It was a sign of her distress she’d threaten Marian with a spanking—and that he be the one to dole it out. He’d never harm any woman or child, and Granny knew it very well. He was not a cruel man. “I agree with your wish that she wasn’t picking pockets or spending time with her family. And I don’t want to believe she played you false either, but what am I to think? She’s disappeared, and she took money from me last night.”

That last discovery had saddened him more than he wanted to admit, and he’d been careful to let only Granny know about it. But he’d really only told her to reassure Granny that Marian had enough money to take care of herself and didn’t need to steal.

If Marian had told him she wanted money to continue her flight from her uncle and associates, he would have given her plenty, and of his own free will.