“If I may say so, you have been different these last couple of days, compared to when first we met. For when first we met, you were so horrified by me you attempted to hide.”
“It was not my proudest moment and I aspire to be better. As for my change, it is down to my friend, Lord Bronwyn. He is a very insightful man. He has made me remember that what is within a person’s heart is what matters.”
“He is an interesting character. I should like to introduce him to my sister. I think they would have a grand old time.”
He chuckled. “Yes, indeed they might. Unlike myself, Lord Bronwyn is an admirer of art. And he loves a good game of shuttlecock, which your sister informed me she likes. We might end up matchmakers.”
He chuckled at his own joke but saw that she was not laughing along with him.
Of course not, because it was not his friend who was meant to court Lady Sophia. He was. It was not Jack who was supposed to entertain Lady Sophia – he was. And the woman he was meant to sit side by side with, talk with and confide in was Lady Sophia. Not her sister.
And yet as he was seated here on the bench, and the storm passed them outside, he could not help but feel that it was all wrong.
Everything he was meant to find with Lady Sophia, he had found with her sister. He was meant to converse with Lady Sophia but found not the words, while with Lady Ruth, he could not stop talking. When the time he spent with Lady Sophia seemed to crawl by tediously, it flew when he was near Lady Ruth. And even now, when she’d shared with him her darkest thoughts and feelings, he couldn’t help but secretly wish that the storm would trap them in the chapel for a while longer.
For he did not want to part ways with her. No, this woman, despite her scar, and despite her tragedy, had captivated him the way he’d never expected anyone could. She was so genuine, so unaffected, and of such a kind disposition, that he could not help but feel this way.
And that, he had to admit, scared him. He knew she was not the one he was supposed to be with. Not at all.
Chapter 17
Ruth sat on the large brown horse while Lord Rotham walked beside her, leading the horse through the mud. Ruth shifted. Being seated on a man’s saddle was unfamiliar and she had struggled to remain seated for much of the ride. In addition, her skirt, not made for riding, continued to ride up, exposing her leg. To his credit, Lord Rotham was sure to walk on the other side of the horse, providing her with some ability to maintain decorum.
The rain finally stopped and the last of the thunderclaps faded into the distance.
“What a beautiful horse,” she said as she leaned forward and patted its neck. When she was upright again, she twisted herself in such a way to be able to converse with him without being too uncomfortable.
He looked up at her, and his light-blue eyes reminded her at once of a winter’s sky. When he smiled at her, she noticed the faint lines next to his eyes on either side of his temples. They spoke of a man who smiled often and broadly. It was strange, but she noticed these small things about people. It helped her determine their nature and character.
The Duchess, for example, had no lines around her eyes. However, there were many fine lines around her upper lip, a sign that she was prone to pursing her lips and the deep line on her forehead spoke of frowning.
All in all, Lord Rotham appeared to be very unlike his mother and much more like his father who was an endearing man all around.
“Artemis thanks you,” he said. “He is my favored horse. I was there when he was born. Quite an adventure it was, his birth.”
“Was it?” She asked with genuine interest.
“Indeed. He did not wish to be born at all and we thought we might lose him. We’d already lost two foals due to dystocia that week and I could not face losing another. I fetched Lord Bronwyn and his father in the middle of the night to assist. Lord Caster is rather skilled with horses, it comes naturally to him. We were able to save both Artemis and the mare.”
“In another life, you might have been a veterinarian.”
He laughed out loud at this. “I ought to announce my intentions to join the Royal Veterinarian Academy to my mother, if only in jest. Although I fear she might suffer from apoplexy if I do.”
The two exchanged another light-hearted chuckle but then, the manor was before them and he halted the horse.
“Allow me,” he said as he raised his hands. Given the precarious manner in which she was seated on the horse meant she could not dismount as she usually would. She reached for him and felt his hands around her small waist, supporting her weight as she was suspended in the air for a moment.
It was a comforting feeling; to have him so close. It was also nothing she’d ever before experienced. His scent, a woodsy smell with undertones of pine, wavered into her nose. How odd he should still smell so nice after being caught in the rain and entirely drenched.
“Thank you,” she said. She curtsied before adjusting her dress, so it flowed as it was meant to and did not crease. She did not like sullying her gowns as she knew how much care the seamstresses at home took to make them as fine and as beautiful as they could.
“Thank you,” he replied. “I had intended to shelter at the chapel until the storm passed, anticipating a terribly boring afternoon, but as it stands it was much more interesting than I could have dared to hope.” He smiled and reached his hand out toward her. Hesitantly she stretched her arm out and he kissed the back of her gloved hand. A tingle spread from the back of her hand up her arm and down throughout her body as his soft lips connected with her hand.
“I will be sure to have the cook make some lacy pancakes for you again in the morning. And perhaps you would do me the honor of having breakfast with myself and my father? And yours, of course.”
She swallowed. She was blushing, she knew it. She averted her face as she knew blushing always drew attention to her scar as it did not change color as the rest of her face did, making it stand out further. He did not seem to notice, or if he did, he did not let it show.
“I look forward to breakfast. And the pancakes.”
