He wanted to say something, to tell her that he was sorry and that he would rather spend the day with her than worry about his clients. But it concerned him that he was having those feelings in the first place. Work was supposed to be his priority. It always had been. How could he possibly be feeling regret that he had to work?
I’m not being careful. I’m letting my feelings for her get the better of me again.
This was so unwise, and he knew better than to let it go as far as it was going, yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
Lydia nodded. “I suppose I forgot how busy you are,” she said. “But, of course, you have to work, especially after taking so much time away today to spend with me. I completely understand.”
In a way, he almost wished shedidn’tunderstand. This would be easier if only she would be unreasonable about it. Then, he could tell himself there was no making her happy, and he would be able to excuse the choice he was making to spend the day with his business partners instead of devoting his time to his wife—his new friend.
“We can go riding again on Sunday,” he offered.
It was going to be a difficult promise to keep, for he had a meeting scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but he would work around it, or else he would clear his schedule some other way. He would find a way to make it work.
Lydia beamed at him, and the smile on her face made it all feel worthwhile. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Truly, Edward, I do understand how busy you are. If you’re not able to get away, I won’t be angry with you.”
“I know you won’t be angry,” he said. “But you’re my wife, Lydia. People will understand that I need to spend time with my new duchess. And this gentleman—Lord Cotter—is one of those who so ardently wished to see me prove myself with a marriage, so he can hardly complain when that marriage comes with some new responsibilities that I didn’t have before. If he wanted me to have limitless free time, he should not have encouraged me to take a wife in the first place!”
Lydia laughed. “I suppose you have a point there,” she said. “Still, I don’t want to become an inconvenience to you, Edward. Nothing could ruin a new friendship more quickly than that.”
“You aren’t an inconvenience,” he assured her. “I’m more than happy to give you some of my extra time. I’m more than happy tomakeextra time for you. You haven’t overstepped at all, Lydia, so please don’t fret about it. It’s my responsibility to balance these things, not yours.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she agreed. “All right, Edward. I’ll trust that you’re handling it. And I’ll look forward to riding with you again on Sunday. Perhaps we’ll take out the third horse.”
“I don’t know about that,” Edward said. “I got a look at that horse, Lydia, and he doesn’t seem to be quite as tame as these two. He might need some work before he’s ready for a peaceful ride with a lady on his back.”
“What should we do?”
“I’ll speak to our stable hands about working with him. Hopefully, they will be able to get him ready to ride soon enough.” He patted the neck of his horse he was on. “Meanwhile, these two need names.”
“This one is Star,” she said promptly.
“You’ve named him already?”
“I’ve named them all. Star is for the pattern on his nose, do you see?”
“Yes. I like it. And what about mine?”
“You’re riding Caramel.”
“That’s a pretty name. What about the one we left back at the stable?”
“His name is Dart.”
“Dart?”
“Because he looks sharp. And a bit like he’s planning to run away if he ever gets the opportunity.”
Edward laughed. “He does look like that,” he agreed. “All right. Star, Caramel, and Dart. So they shall be, and a wonderful trio they make.”
They reached the stables. Edward climbed down from his horse and went over to help Lydia down from hers. She slid gracefully down into his arms, allowing him to catch her and set her gently on her feet.
“That was fun,” she told him, smiling. “Thank you again, Edward, this was such a wonderful day.”
“I enjoyed it too,” he said, and he meant it.
It had been a very pleasant day—much more so than he had anticipated. But every moment he spent with Lydia seemed to be better than he would have expected it to be. She never failed to take him by surprise when they were together.
“Shall we go back up to the house? It must be nearly time for dinner, and I wouldn’t want to get caught in that rainstorm, either.”
