Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati

cloud before her.
    "Todd
is a smart man," Nathaniel said. "His uncle left him considerable
money, and land. I have known him to deal straight with every white man who
comes his way."  
    Startled,
Elizabeth did what she had been studiously avoiding: she looked directly into
Nathaniel's face and she saw that he was sincere. Why he should be promoting
her connection to Richard Todd was unclear to her, and it caused her
considerable distress to think she must take up this argument with him.
    "I
came to this country to live a life unavailable to me in England,"
Elizabeth said shortly. "I have no intention of marrying Richard
Todd." She lifted up her chin and laughed, a trembling laugh. "There
are many things I want to ask you, because somehow it seems to me that you are
the only one who will tell me the truth of things." Her smile faded away.
"But none of it may matter, after all."
    "Why
is that?"
    She
stood and pulled her cloak more tightly around her. "Because I think I
shall be going back to England."
    Nathaniel
looked up at her from his perch on the stump. "Why is that?" he asked
again.
    "Because,"
Elizabeth said. "Because I will not be bullied into a marriage I want no
part of. I may as well go back, at least I know what to expect there."
    "Is
it just this marriage you want no part of?" Nathaniel said, "or are
you set against marriage altogether?"
    "I
don't see what difference that makes," Elizabeth whispered. And then:
"Marriage would mean that other things—other things which are important to
me—would no longer be possible," she said. "Married women have no
control over their lives."
    Nathaniel
thought of pointing out to her that she had little control over her life,
although she was not married, in spite of her money, but he stopped himself.
Instead, he stood abruptly. "Let's go back," he said. "It's too
cold for both of us."
    He
waited until Elizabeth had started down the path and then followed her. She
walked firmly, taking quick but delicately placed steps; her back was straight.
There was more about her to admire than he dared admit to himself He wondered
where things would go from here: she might not have any interest in Richard
Todd, but her high color, her agitation, the way she spoke and looked at him,
made him think that she was not as committed to a chaste life as she thought
she was.
    At
the slope of the riverbed Nathaniel took the lead and waited on the other side.
He watched while Elizabeth stepped carefully over the slippery wooden logs
which served as a makeshift bridge. She started up the bank, holding her skirts
up high. She was almost to the path when she lost her balance and began to
slip.
    Nathaniel
leaned forward and caught her smoothly, his hands just above her elbows. He
steadied her, and then pulled her gently up the bank. When they were on even
ground, he released her, but he stayed where he was, with his head bowed over
hers. They were so close that his hair brushed against her hood.
    Elizabeth
looked down at her feet. She wondered, confused, why she should be so
disappointed that he had let her go. There was something strange happening to
her, something completely unexpected, something tremendously exciting. She had
thought herself immune to these feelings, and now she found that she was wrong.
    "I
have a question for you."
    "Yes,
Mr. Bonner?" She did not raise her head.
    "Will
you please say my name?" he said with an intensity which caused gooseflesh
to rise on her arms.
    She
hesitated. "Nathaniel."
    "Look
at me and say my name."
    Elizabeth
looked up slowly.
    Nathaniel
saw in her face an overwhelming confusion. He saw that she had never stood like
this with a man, that she had never imagined doing so, and that she was
flustered and even a bit frightened, but not unhappy to be here with him.
    "What
did you want to ask me?"
    "How
old are you?"
    Elizabeth
blinked. "Twenty—nine."
    "You've
never been kissed, have you?" The white cloud of his breath reached out to
touch her face. His hands jerked