“No.” His smile vanished and his eyes became serious. “I find you refreshing, beautiful and honest. It’s because you lacknormalfeminine accomplishments that I want to get to know you. I’m afraid I’ve been too long living a life of debauchery, but I’ve recently discovered I would very much like to change.”
She wanted to believe him, but really did the man think her a fool? Did he think she’d forgotten his earlier attempt to get her to meet him in the stables for a rendezvous? “When did you have this epiphany? Five minutes ago?”
“No.” He raised her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across the back of her hand. The beat of her heart echoed in her ears. “I knew I wanted to change my wicked ways the moment you told me you wanted a husband and not a seduction.”
His words made staying mad out of the question. A pleasant warmth settled low in her belly. “So you expect me to believe you decided to change your ways just because of meeting me and learning I don’t desire to be seduced?”
“Certainly not. That would be foolish of you. I recently found myself unleashed by former self-imposed chains of stupidity. And I find I am no longer driven to do certain things.”
That foolish part of her that had always hoped her mother had been wrong and someone might find a woman who was different refreshing felt flattered that he truly seemed interested in her and curious as to what exactly had altered in his life to make him want to change. “I don’t understand.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t expect you would. Might I ask you to indulge me? Let me prove to you I only want honorable things from you.”
“Only honorable things? You’re sure?” It was hard to believe it was possible, but she wanted to believe. She wanted her mother to have been wrong.
He nodded. “I’d also like to kiss you, but I don’t consider that dishonorable. And I won’t ask yet.”
“You won’t?” Her lips tingled at the thought of his mouth pressed against hers.
“No. Not yet.” He ran a finger down her cheek. She had the overwhelming desire to lean into his touch, but he pulled away. “Not until I am sure you don’t think I’m merely still trying to seduce you.”
With her blood roaring in her ears and her heart pounding, saying she believed him so his lips would find hers was on the tip of her tongue. But before she could speak, he took her hand. “Come on. The sun will go down in the next few hours and finding the ring will become much harder.”
She nodded and followed him silently down the hill. It wasn’t until they were at the very bottom that she realized she had not once glanced down to look for the queen’s ring.
Nine
“Look there.” Lord Grey pointed to the ground before tugging Madelaine down beside him. “Do you see that?”
“I see grass. Is that what I’m supposed to see?”
“No. Really look.” He rested his hand at her nape and cradled it. She tried to study the blades, but it was hard to concentrate with Lord Grey’s warm fingers against her skin and his body so close to hers. She abandoned the ground and focused on listening to the hiss of his breath. Gads. She had to do better than this. Doubling her efforts, she focused all her attention on the grass. What was different? What did he see? She sucked in a surprised breath. “Some of the blades are mashed.”
“Bravo!” He lightly squeezed her neck before his hand fell away. Moving lower, so that his face almost laid against the ground, he traced an outline repeatedly. “This is a man’s tracks.”
Madelaine scrambled lower until she was once again side-by-side with him. “How do you know?”
“Look at your slippers.”
She immediately obliged.
“There are two ways I can tell. One, women have much smaller feet than men.”
“Not all women,” Madelaine said. “My father’s cook hails from German stock, and her feet, like the rest of her body, are enormous.”
Lord Grey chuckled. “All right. Most women have feet that are smaller than men. Satisfied?”
“Yes.” But she was more than satisfied. She was happy. Being here with him made her feel carefree. The realization came as a shock. She hadn’t been happy since the day she came to Court.
“Lady Madelaine, might I ask another favor of you?”
The blue of his eyes had darkened as he spoke. And his voice had become husky. She didn’t think she had the power to deny him anything in this moment. So, she nodded.
“When we are alone, will you call me Grey?”
A rushing sound filled her ears, making her blink. She took a calming breath and said, “Yes. And you may call me Madelaine.”
“Madelaine.”
