13. Chapter Thirteen

Gabriel stared at the woman before him. It was easy to see that she was rather put out with him. Her lips were compressed into a hard line, and her eyebrows were raised as if to encourage a prompt response by communicating her evident impatience. God, how he loved her. Looking at her, even with her angry at him, struck home how much he cared for Mary. Apparently, Gabriel had watched her anger for far too long without the inclination to respond because her eyes went from questioning to hardened.

"I have, up until this point, been operating under the idea that you had feelings for me. I had hoped that given time, our shared emotional attachment, or if I may be impertinent to say our love, would lead us to the happy state of marriage. I had assumed that was something that we were both hoping for, and yet I have waited, and nothing has proceeded according to my assumptions." Hazel eyes snapping in growing frustration, Mary forged forward. "Now I know this is probably my fault. Assuming things is never wise, I know. It is much better to have a full understanding of the matter. So, I will ask again, what are your intentions in regard to our relationship, Mr. Goulding?"

Forcing himself to respond instead of simply watching a side of Mary that he rarely got to see, Gabriel responded the only way he could. "You know I care for you."

"So you care for me?" Rearing back as if he had slapped her, Mary all but growled. "I thought as much, but that still does not leave me with the answer that I want. No, more than that, it is an answer that I need."

Despite the cool temperatures and the autumn wind, Gabriel began to sweat. Kiernan had been right; Mary was hurt by his hesitation, and this was the result.

"Is it my looks that make you hesitate, or something more material? I know that of my sisters I am the least handsome, but I long ago decided that if a man truly loved me, something as fleeting as beauty would not keep him from declaring himself." Hand clutching her throat, Mary shook her head. "I thought you were the sort of man who could love me for the person I am and not be distracted by my less than stellar attributes."

Shocked to the core by her statement, Gabriel finally found it within himself to reply in an ardent fashion. "Less than stellar attributes? What have I ever done or said to leave you to believe that I did not find you attractive? I know your sisters are spoken of for their beauty, and I suppose they are pretty enough, but different people have different tastes. My tastes lean towards a woman with ever changing hazel eyes that snap gloriously when angry. Of all your sisters, no, of all the ladies I know, you have the most fascinating hair I have ever seen. It is not blonde, but neither is it simply brown. It is something in between and everything at once. Gold and bronze and glorious." Reaching out, he caught one of the strands of hair that had come loose and was flying about her face in the most distracting fashion. Then, taking care, he tucked it behind her ear, letting his thumb brush lingeringly over the crest of her cheek before he brought his hand back into his own space.

Mary's eyes widened into something akin to surprise. Then, swallowing, she gave a wobbly smile. It was not exactly confident, but it was an improvement on her earlier scowl. "That is not something you had ever told me before."

"It is not something, strictly speaking, I should tell you. Society demands that two single people have very little contact and time to actually speak with one another. Comments like that are meant for once people were engaged at the very least." Sighing, Gabriel took a moment to look around the abandoned yard. "Strictly speaking, we should not be here alone and speaking as we are."

"But I thought surely there would be workers here." Looking around, Mary saw that indeed they were alone. Narrowing her eyes, she looked back at Gabriel, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Well, at least your sister is here to chaperone."

Grinning at Mary's growing embarrassment, Gabriel said, "Well, the workers had to go into Meryton to gather more supplies this morning. As for my sister acting as chaperone, do you mean my sister that ran off and left us alone?"

Seeing the grin, Mary tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "No matter how we found ourselves in this situation, I will not lose the opportunity to speak with you as I must." Taking a breath to begin another argument, Mary became distracted when something cold struck her face. Absentmindedly touching her cheek, she looked at the sky, her eyes widening in dismay.

The wind had been picking up steadily for some time, but their argument had distracted them both from the implication of such an action. Now looking up, they both took in the churning sky and the foreboding feel in the air. Between one breath and the next, the wind brought with it sleet, pelting them both with hard pellets of ice and a biting cold.

"We have to get to shelter." Reaching out, Gabriel grabbed his horse's bridle and moved towards his sister's placid mount, who had been munching on random plants in the yard. Rushing to the stable, he called to Mary, his voice wiped around in the ever-increasing wind. "Get in the house. I will get your horse next."

Mary, who had already been leading her horse to the stable, rolled her eyes and shouted back at him, "I am perfectly capable of leading my horse to the stable."

Gabriel rushed the horses to the stalls and was glad to see that the area was well stocked, and there would be enough room for the three horses. The mare saw the hay and instantly began placidly munching again. Fox, his gelding, seemed to sense the change in the air and threw his head unhappily stomping in the stall where he had been placed. Gabriel cursed his inattention. He could sense the drop in temperature, a sure sign that snow was lurking within the dark clouds.

Mary came in to the stable and escorted her mare into the last stall, but then instead of moving into the house like Gabriel expected, she ran off. Boggled at her sudden action, he left the horses and ran after her. "What are you doing? Get in the house!"

Not even bothering to turn and speak to him, she shouted over the howling wind. "Have you forgotten your sister is out in this? She is most likely upset and scared. We must find her before it becomes too difficult to see."

Grabbing her by the shoulders, Gabriel forced Mary to face him. "I will find her. Go back to the house!"

"No!" If she had the time, Gabriel knew the mutiny on her face would have shown itself in a stomp of her foot, but Mary wrenched herself free and forged on. "I know Longbourn land better than you do. Even overgrown and in a snowstorm, I have a better chance of finding her and making it back to the house safely."

Snow was blowing around them, quickly coating the landscape in white. Gabriel could see Mary shiver. None of them were in winter clothes and the dramatic drop in temperature was quickly becoming a problem. Realizing that it would not do to fight the issue, Gabriel merely nodded his head and gestured her forward. "Fine, lead the way."

Rushing on, Mary called back to him, "She went into the little wilderness."

"This looks like more than a little wilderness. This is a wilderness, wilderness." They were having to shout now in order to be heard over the storm.

He could imagine her huff of frustration by the movement of her shoulders, but he could certainly not hear it. Mary took the time to look at him for a brief moment before saying, "It was less of a wilderness before it was left on its own for a couple of years."

Were they really have one of their first real arguments in the midst of a snowstorm while searching for his missing little sister? "Do you know where Evaline might have gone to take cover?" Mary had been right. Though it was not impossible to see, it was quickly getting to the point to where he was having difficulty recognizing their surroundings. Of course, he had never visited Mary at Longbourn. He had been to Darcy House in London and to Pemberley as well as the Bingley estate, but never Longbourn.

Arms wrapped around herself and her shawl up around her head, Mary called back over her shoulder. "There is a bench up ahead under what was an arbor, but after that, the path veers off with little shelter before the great oak at the extremity of what we called our little wilderness. The closest buildings to Longbourn are part of the old Anderson farm, and that is over a mile away. She won't have made it that far in such a short period of time."

Casting his gaze around despite the swirling snow, Gabriel searched for his sister"s form with ever-increasing anxiety. It did not help that she had been wearing a pale cream dress with blue ribbons. She would blend in with the weather. Once they reached the bench, he paused and, taking a great breath, shouted for his sister. His only answer was the howl of the wind.

Evaline could not understand what had happened. The weather and been breezy but that had swiftly changed. A breeze had grown into wind and then sleet and snow. Now she was huddled at the base of a tree, wondering how long it would take her to freeze to death. Sneezing uncontrollably, she franticly rummaged through her pockets with numb fingers. She celebrated the minor victory of finding her handkerchief. With her luck in this weather, her snot was going to freeze running down her face.

She had ducked down by the tree, hoping to get out of the wind, but she was finding it ineffective. Evaline knew she had to make her way back, but she did not know which way to go. With everything covered in a layer of snow, things were beginning to look the same wherever she looked. She had considered forging ahead despite that, but what if she ended up going farther away from the house?

No, she would stay where she was and then maybe someone could find her. The question was, however, did anyone want to find her? Was her brother looking? It would, of course, make sense that she froze to death on the worst day of her life. It was only fitting. Curling into as small of a ball as she could muster, Evaline tried not to cry. The freezing temperature made tears on her face only slightly more bearable than the idea of frozen snot.

It was getting harder to trudge along as the feeling in his feet was slowly fading. Gabriel knew that could not be good. He had to find his sister and get her and Mary back to Longbourn. While he was wearing fairly sturdy work boots, he did not know what either of the girls were wearing. He only knew that whatever it was had not seemed sturdy at all.

Suddenly, Mary tripped and started to fall. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her into his side, intending to share his warmth and keep her steady. He hoped that by working together, they would be less likely to succumb to the environment. They had ceased arguing and instead were saving their breath to scream for Evaline.

"Evaline!" Once again Mary shouted, then shaking her head. He felt her shudder and cry, "I am afraid she will fall asleep in the cold and not hear us. We have to find her, Gabriel. We must!"

It was the first time his name had crossed her lips in his hearing, and despite the biting cold, he felt a flash of joy. It meant a lot to him that, despite everything, she wanted to help him find his sister. She always cared for people and helped however she could. She was the best person he knew and here she was risking everything to help him for no other reason than it needed to be done and she could do it. He would find a way to explain it to her, to make everything up to her, but first he had to find his sister and get them both back to the safety of Longbourn.

"Are we close to the oak tree you spoke of?" Nearly frantic, Gabriel looked in all directions but saw nothing that could have told him where his sister went.

"Yes, we are not far. There is a fence just past it. I do not think she would have gone past the fence. If we hit the fence, we must have passed her up in the snow." Mary spoke into his shoulder as Gabriel tried to protect her from the wind and snow as much as he could.

Gabriel once again called out, afraid that his voice would soon grow hoarse. "Evaline! We are coming! Evaline!"

He continued to march on with Mary at his side. He could see the shadow of the oak through the snow now, and he worried they had passed his sister somehow. Suddenly, Mary halted and grabbed at his sleeve. Worried, he looked at her.

"I think I heard something," Stepping away from him Mary screamed once more, "Evaline! Let us know where you are!"

"Here," a small voice called out above the storm, "I am here!"

Gabriel searched franticly in the ever-growing wall of white but could not see her. Her voice had been so buffeted by the snow that he could not tell exactly where it had come from. When Mary began moving at a hurried pace, he followed her, hoping desperately that she knew where she was going and that his sister would be at the end of their rush into the wall of white.

Soon enough, he saw movement in front of him and he knew it was his sister. "Evaline!" Gabriel did not know what else to say to his little sister. It was clear that he had come or was coming close to losing her. They still had to make their way back to the manor.

It seemed like forever before her weight was ramming into him. As he wrapped his arms around her, he felt a sense of relief wash over him, as if he could finally exhale after holding his breath for ages. Looking down, all he saw was her snow-covered hair, but he could feel her trembling.

Taking off her shawl, Mary wrapped it around Evaline's slight form. "Oh, you poor dear, we must get you inside and dry."

Pulling her head back, Evaline's tear-stained face looked at Mary in desperation. "I couldn't tell which way to go."

"And that is why I came to find you. I know the way." Looking up at Gabriel, her eyes filled with worry, Mary said, "We must hurry. Can you carry her?"

Scooping up his sister, he pressed her against his chest, feeling a sense of discomfort as he noticed the sound of her teeth chattering while she nuzzled her face into the curve of his neck. "Yes, but like Evaline, I am lost. You were right to say you needed to help. Will you lead the way?"

Sparing a moment to grin at him despite the urgent conditions, Mary nodded. "I will not give in to saying I told you so."

The storm's fury continued to amplify as they made their way, both stumbling on unseen obstacles. Though it was the same path that they had traversed on the way out to find Evaline, it became more arduous with every step. Gabriel watched Mary forge ahead of him. Only she seemed to know the way while he was lost in a white-coated wilderness.