“I’ll have a bath brought up to you,” she said, rushing into the house ahead of him.
He wanted to invite her to join him, but held his tongue. There would be time enough for that over the course of the week.
“What do you have planned for us after supper? Any particular entertainments?”
She surprised him by turning flustered. “Oh… I…did not think of that.”
Fionanevergot flustered.
“Well, we could play cards,” she said. “Or read. Or…”
“Or what?”
“Well, nothing…You know.”
Yes, he did know. “Are you suggesting we go straight to your bedchamber and have at it?”
Chapter Four
Supper was aquiet affair, a simple meal of rabbit stew and a lemon syllabub for dessert, after which Fiona suggested she and Rob take a walk to the beach to watch the sunset. “Not down the steps, just to stand at the top of them and enjoy the sun disappear into the water. What do you think?”
“Sounds perfect. We had better bring a lantern for the way back.”
She nodded. There was something so achingly good about being with him. Perhaps because he knew her so well and had seen her go through every stage of her life. “That’s a fine idea.”
He was also the perfect blend of kind and patient, ready to tease her but never coerce her into doing something she was not ready to do. This bedding thing was surprisingly disconcerting to her.
She wanted to do it.
Dear heaven.
It wasshockinghow eagerly she desired it.
But making treasured memories with him would also be incredibly painful because each shared moment also marked an approaching end.
As though sensing her thoughts, he took her hand, entwining their fingers—and with it their hearts—as they walked along the familiar path to the water.
But she was trying to untangle their hearts.
Not today.The hurt and despair would come soon enough, so why rush it?
He slipped an arm around her waist when they reached the beach steps, neither of them saying anything as they watched the sun’s fading rays catch the clouds and turn them to fiery shades of red, orange, and yellow across the sky.
A blaze of twilight lingered for another few minutes. Fiona knew it would leave enough illumination for them to return to the manor house without having to bother lighting the lantern. “Let’s go,” she said before the ache of darkness marked the passage of another day and became too difficult to ignore.
She had a dozen memories from these past hours alone with Rob that she needed to write in her journal while they were still fresh in her mind. Not that she would ever forget a single moment of these days of heaven, but the details could be forgotten and the recollections distorted over time.
“All right,” he said, sounding just as wistful, “and what’s next?”
It was too early for them to retire for the night, since her staff would notice and start wondering if there was something going on between them. Perhaps it was foolish of her to care, or to believe anyone would be deceived even though their rooms were far apart. “Um, we could read or play cards, as I mentioned earlier. I would offer to play the pianoforte, but I am not very good at it. Cherish is the one who plays divinely.”
He grinned. “I know. I’ve heard her…and I’ve heard you. No pianoforte.”
She laughed and gave him a light smack on the arm. “Beast. That wasn’t polite.”
“No, but truthful. I’m not judging, since I cannot play at all. Do you mind if we just sit in the parlor and read?”
“Not at all. I have some writing to do, so I’ll sit at my desk while you settle in comfortably with a book. Would you like a brandy, too?”
