Page 145 of Pride and Prejudice Resolutions

"If you wriggle, you will fall," he advised. "And the horse will step on you. He does not look where he places his feet."

"Then get me off this beast immediately!"

"As you wish."

He swung his right leg over the saddle, dismounted in one smooth motion, and reached up to lift her down. His hands spanned her waist, strong and sure, and for a moment she was suspended mid-air, eye level with him, looking straight at the flecks of gold in his dark eyes.

Then her feet touched the ground, and he released her as if she were made of hot coals. Caroline staggered, caught herbalance, and immediately began brushing dirt from her skirt with furious, agitated swipes.

"My hat is gone. My horse is halfway to Windsor. And I am covered in—" She paused, examining a suspicious stain on her sleeve. "Is this horse saliva?"

"Possibly."

"This is a disaster."

"This is Hyde Park on a Thursday. Disasters are traditional."

From somewhere down the Row came the sound of Charles's voice, high and plaintive: "I have the dog! But it bit me! It is very small but very fierce!"

Caroline closed her eyes. "I am going to kill him."

"You will have to wait your turn. The dog has priority."

She opened her eyes and glared at him. "This is your fault."

"Mine?" Both his eyebrows rose. "I was not the one who hired a horse with the temperament of a debutante at her first ball. Nor was I the one who brought a brother who does not know how not to chase lapdogs."

"Seraphina is a prime bit of blood!"

"Seraphina is a threat to Society. She ran from a creature that weighs less than a ham."

"She was startled!"

"She was hysterical."

Caroline opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort, then stopped. Because he was looking at her, and there was no mockery in his eyes. The look was careful. Assessing. He was searching her face for injuries, checking for damage beneath the fury.

"Are you hurt?" His voice dropped to a quieter register.

"No."

"Are you certain? You were clinging to me as if I were the last solid object in England."

Heat flooded her cheeks. "I was not clinging. I was stabilising."

"You were clinging. Your grip could have cracked my ribs."

"If I cracked your ribs, Colonel, you would know. You would be on the ground, weeping."

"I doubt that. I have been shot at by the French. You are significantly less frightening."

"Give me time."

His mouth twitched. "I look forward to it."

They stood there, in the middle of Rotten Row, covered in dust and indignation, while Seraphina continued her mad dash to freedom and Charles Bingley attempted to reason with a dog that clearly had no interest in diplomacy.

"We need to retrieve Seraphina," Caroline said at last, smoothing her hair back from her face with hands that trembled slightly. She would not think about the trembling. Trembling was for weak women who swooned. She did not swoon. She strategized.