"I am sorry," she said foolishly. "I did not mean to intrude. I could not sleep and thought I would come down here to explore. I had no idea you were here. I shall go back to the house."
"There is no need," he said. "You must feel free to do as you wish here. Do you often get up early? I hate to miss the early morning myself."
"I cannot miss it even if I wish to do so," she said. "The birds will not allow me to. But yes, I think it is the loveliest time of day. You have a beautiful home, my lord. I do not wonder that you like to spend your time here." She hoped as she said the words that she did not sound regretful.
"Would you care to walk a little way?" he asked, and waited for her to fall into step beside him.
He led her back the way he had come, strolling at a leisurely pace, his hands clasped behind his back. Jane held her shawl with both hands.
"This is a boathouse," he said. "Rather a grand structure for such a humble purpose, is it not? There are two boats for anyone who cares to take them out. We keep towels here too for swimmers. I sometimes swim here early in the morning. There is no more relaxing and peaceful exercise. You would not find it so, of course. You are afraid to put your head underwater." He turned toward her and gave her one of his unexpected grins.
Jane smiled back. "I believe I would find it more relaxing and peaceful to sit on the bank and watch," she said.
"Even if I swam past and splashed you?"
"If you were so ungallant," she said. "I should run to the boathouse and steal all the towels."
He laughed. "Let us move on," he said. "On the other side of the folly is what we have always fondly called the beach. It is merely a small area where the bank slopes down into the water. That is where I bring my daughters to swim. It really does not deserve the name, does it?"
Jane viewed the small shingled area. "I suppose anything is what one makes it," she said."The folly, for example.I should firmly call it a temple if I lived here, and dare anyone to laugh at me."
If I lived here, she thought with some horror when it was too late to recall her words.
"Perhaps you will change your mind when you see a real Greek temple," he said. "I don't doubt Sedge will take you to Greece."
An awkward little silence stretched between them as they wandered across the beach.
"Will you like that?" he asked tonelessly. "Traveling, I mean?"
"I believe so," she said."Though I doubt if we will travel soon.There is going to be war any day, is there not?"
"I fear so," he said. "The Duke of Wellington will have the fight of his life against Bonaparte, especially with so many raw troops and so many of our best still in America."
"Will he be defeated, do you think?" Jane asked.
"I do not know," he admitted. "But let me say this. If anyone can save Europe, Wellington is the man. Are you afraid of what will happen if Napoleon defeats him?"
Jane shrugged. "I suppose life will go on basically the same no matter what happens," she said. "But I would not like to think of having a foreign ruler."
"We must wait and see," he said. "There is no point in becoming worried before we need to do so."
"No," she agreed.
They strolled on in companionable silence. "There is my favorite childhood spot," he said at last, pointing ahead to the wooded island. "I believe I dug up every inch of it at one time or another looking for treasure."
"Did you ever find any?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh yes, always," he said, "thoughI did not realize it at the time. Childhood imagination is one of the greatest treasures a person can have. I want to make sure my daughters have a carefree childhood in which they can give free rein to their own imaginations. Did you have a happy childhood, Miss Matthews?"
"Oh yes," she said. "I was considerably younger than my brother and sister, so I grew up essentially alone. But I was never lonely. All of the moors were mine. I did not usually play in quite your way. I used to make up poems and stories as I roamed around."
"Did you write them down?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she said. "I still do sometimes. You are walking with a still-undiscovered Shakespeare, my lord. My works will be discovered and published posthumously, no doubt, and I shall become famous after my death."
"You mock yourself," he said. "Do you have any of your writings with you? I should like to read some."
Jane laughed in some embarrassment. "No," she said. "I have not written since leaving home. And nothing I have done is for anyone's eyes but mine. I do not pretend to any great talent."
