Who Needs Mr Willoughby? Read Online Free PDF

a flock of panicked birds in her head.
    Mrs Fenwick thinks I’ve gone shopping after my visit to the house. She won’t worry or wonder where I am until the sun goes down.
    I could lie here for hours – days! –before anyone finds me
.
    There are creatures in those woods and fields. Crows…and deer ticks…and adders.
    She knew this, because Elinor had read up on Northumberland wildlife once they learned they’d be staying at Barton Park.
    Marianne let out a piercing scream as another bolt of lightning seared the sky. She had to get up off of the ground and out of here – she
had
to.
    Over the sound of the wind and the growling of thunder, she felt the ground beneath her begin to vibrate, and fresh fear gripped her.
    Oh, arsing hell
, she thought wildly,
what is it now, a bloody earthquake
?
    But she soon realised that the steady, rhythmic sound she heard drawing ever closer was a horse’s hooves.
    Marianne lifted her head just in time to see a horse and rider silhouetted against the sky, and relief swept through her. A man sat astride the horse.
    He saw her then, and cried out hoarsely, “Are you all right? What’s happened?”
    Without expecting or waiting for an answer, he leapt down from the saddle and ran towards her. Dark hair was plastered to his head and rain dampened the hard line of his jaw. His riding boots were soon muddied as he pelted across the field and knelt on one knee beside her.
    “Are you hurt? Can you move?”
    She nodded slowly. “I – I think so. I couldn’t for a moment.”
    “You’ve had the wind knocked out of you.” He glanced up at the frayed rope ladder and turned back to her in disbelief. “Good God – you didn’t try and climb that old rope, did you? It’s hung from that tree above twenty years.”
    “I confess I did. It was stupid of me.”
    “Never mind that. Good thing you landed in the grass.” He reached out, and gently touched her leg, her ankle. “Can you feel that?”
    “Y-yes.”
    “What about your foot? Can you move it?”
    Again she nodded, and – feeling a bit silly – complied.
    “Good.” He eased off her shoe and took her foot in his hand, rotating it gently. “Any pain?”
    She winced. “It hurts a bit, but it’s probably just a sprain.”
    “I’m no doctor, but I’d say you’re right. Nothing seems to be broken. Here, let me help you sit up. Slowly, now.”
    Gently, with the utmost care and concern, he slipped his arm round her shoulders and helped her to sit up.
    “Thank you,” she managed to say, and shivered as the rain chilled her skin. “I-I think I’m all right.”
    “I’m taking no chances,” he said, his words decided. He eyed his horse. “There’s a stable nearby; I need to secure Jasper. Will you be all right here until I return? I shouldn’t be gone above a few minutes.”
    She stared at him, oblivious of the rain running down her face. He was quite the most handsome man she’d ever had the good fortune to meet, with a sweep of thick dark hair and firm, kissable lips –
    “Miss –?”
    Marianne blinked. “Holland. Marianne Holland,” she said, embarrassed. “Sorry, I don’t seem to be myself at the moment. And yes, to answer your question, I’ll be fine.”
    “Don’t move,” he instructed. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
    She nodded and watched as he rose and ran back up the hill to the horse and swung himself up. With an urgent command, her rescuer dug in his heels and pulled at the reins, and the horse galloped off into the rainy darkness.
    Marianne shivered and wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to panic. What if he didn’t come back? she wondered. What if he changed his mind? What if she had a concussion and was having one of those hallucinations? It didn’t bear thinking about.
    But she’d barely processed the thought when, true to his word, he returned barely five minutes later, breathless and soaked through.
    “Now, let’s get you home,” he said, and glanced behind them. “Is