“I agree wholeheartedly, Snow!” Beatrix said, pretending to whisper in a conniving way to the horse. “But are we to trot happily about, or gallop off among the hills?” She turned to look at Callum and said, “I’m sorry, I had planned to have an enjoyable ride with you, but Snow has informed me that she insists upon racing like a hooligan. You’ll have to do your best to keep up!”
Callum laughed, thrilled to have met his equal in one who adored both horses and riding. “I think we shall have to see about that. I won’t have you thrown from your horse on my watch, even if it was at the animal’s insistence.”
Beatrix grinned devilishly, then pulled herself up into the saddle before Callum could even move to help her. He stepped back and looked briefly astonished, then hoisted himself up on his horse as well.
They led their horses away from the stable down a path that had been worn by many an afternoon’s ride. Beatrix glanced in every direction and took in the landscape before them.
“I can see the appeal of the property, but why do you need so much of it?” she asked before pressing a hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I don’t mean it to accuse you of greed, I meant it sincerely.”
“I took no offense,” Callum said, surprised to find that he meant it. “It’s not something I’ve thought of. It is all part of my holdings, that’s all. What would you have me do, sell it off in parcels?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, a hint of a smug tone returning to her words. “I must admit that having too much of anything—other than debt and worry—is not a dilemma I’ve ever had.”
“I must admit, it’s also a problem I’ve never thought much of, at least not until you brought it to my attention. I mean this with all sincerity when I say thank you for forcing me to see,” Callum replied.
Beatrix nodded mutely, unaccustomed to such humility from one such as this gentleman. She was suddenly very aware of how close he was, and felt a strange desire to both remain with him and also flee as quickly as she could.
No good can come of these thoughts!She chided herself angrily.You should stay far away from him!
“So I think the horses have had a sufficient walk. Where are we to ride?” she asked, reminding Lord Bellton of the purpose of their outing.
“Um, yes. I thought to show you the ruins of an abbey not far from here. It is quite a wonder, as nature herself has reclaimed it in the most spectacular way.” Callum’s suggestion hung in the air between them before he remembered to add, “Oh, but I thought we might first stop at my old governess’s home. She has a niece who lives with her to care for her in her old age, and I happen to know she is very fond of riding. She will be a suitable chaperone, if you prefer.”
“That would be wonderful, and I should love to lay eyes upon the poor creature who was tasked with teaching you your lessons!” Beatrix said with a laugh, but her expression turned serious. “But tell me, when you and I met on the road, were you not just come from your parents’ home?”
“Why, yes,” Callum answered, confused.
“If that great distance away was their home, how is your governess dwelling close by?” Beatrix cocked her head to the side, waiting for his explanation.
“Well, I didn’t live with my parents as a child,” he explained, as though it were the most normal course of action. “I grew up here, at the property that was to be my inheritance. My mother’s brother died without an heir, and it naturally came to me.”
Beatrix’s eyes pricked with the threat of tears. “How old were you when you were sent to live here?”
“Let me think, I must have been about four years old. Yes, it was the spring after my uncle’s death, and I remember I had just seen him at Christmas holiday.”
“Four years old?” Beatrix shouted. “Who sends a child of four away from his parents?”
Callum only shrugged. “It’s quite common among… among certain classes of people, especially if titles and inheritance are an issue. But I was never lonely! I had a governess, as I mentioned, and later on a series of tutors. There were also the servants to dote on me and keep me entertained. Some of the families my parents knew would send their young charges to visit me on occasion, and of course my parents came when they could.”
Beatrix was dumbstruck, trying to imagine a life such as that. It had been bad enough during the few times her father had tried to send her off to school, a task he only undertook to provide an education for her. Even then, both had been so miserable that she insisted on coming home.
“I cannot understand it,” she finally said. “A child so young, taken from his mother? Growing up with only the care of strangers?”
“You make it sound as though my parents left me in a forest to be raised by wolves!” Callum said, laughing. “I never gave it a thought, it was quite typical.”
“You’re telling me you never once cried for your mother? I refuse to believe it,” Beatrix said crossly.
“I’m sure there were times, my birthday perhaps, or when I fell and broke my arm once,” he admitted. “But that is simply the life I had to live. It was my duty and obligation to live here where I was the Marquess, no matter how old I was.”
“The more time I spend with you,” she said, “the more thankful I become that I’ve been spared the life of a noblewoman.”
“Really? I’ve had quite the opposite sentiment myself!” Callum admitted. “The more I come to understand your life, the more grateful I am that I somehow avoided the same fate.”
They rode along in silence, each pondering the other’s view. Beatrix was horrified that any parent could be rid of her child so easily, titled or no. Callum, for his part, wondered what strange life the common man might live that he would upend his entire household over a child.
After a brief reunion with his former governess, Callum and Beatrix set out once again, the woman’s niece trailing happily some distance behind them. They rode through the glens surrounding the estate, enjoying the sunshine as much as the ride itself.
The conversation soon drifted to pleasant topics, ones that veered away from talk of unhappy memories or differences between them. Before long, it was time to bid their chaperone goodbye and return to the house.
