He winked. “I am always wicked when it comes to you.”
And she was appreciative of that. She wished she could freeze this moment, have their time forever halt here, just the two of them, standing in the great hall, surrounded by such extravagance and yet having eyes only for each other.
But they could not. Time was forever their enemy.
She forced the thought from her mind and sent him a bright smile. “Come along then, or we shall be racing back up the stairs together before we have even ventured outdoors for our ride.”
He raised a brow. “I fail to see the problem with such a circumstance.”
Tilly could not stifle her chuckle. Thankfully, none of the servants were within earshot, and the staid butler, Campbell, was otherwise occupied. She took Robin’s elbow and tugged him toward the double doors.
Outside, the day was cloudy but still warm. None of the sunshine which had marked most of their four weeks.
“It looks as if it is about to rain,” Robin observed. “Perhaps we ought to save our cycling adventure for another day and race back up the stairs as you suggested.”
The clouds in the distance were dark and potentially ominous, but they were far away. “You are determined to avoid cycling with me, are you not?”
“I am merely determined to avoid finding ourselves trapped in the midst of a storm.”
“We have time aplenty before any storm clouds should find us where we are going,” she said with a great deal more authority than she possessed.
In truth, she did not know how quickly the impending weather would blow over the massive park. Nor did she know which direction it was headed in.
“Seems doubtful.”
“You are attempting to avoid cycling, and I shall not have it. Do not spoil my fun.” She tugged at his arm, and gamely, he went with her, allowing her to guide him to the cycle awaiting them in the courtyard.
When they stopped before it, her handsome lover shook his head. “How the devil are we supposed to ride it at once, Tilly? I shall make us fall, I know it.”
Could it be that her daring, bold, fearless man was actually intimidated by a cycle? She tried not to smile at the thought. “Nonsense. It is perfectly well-balanced. That is why it is equipped with three tires.”
He cast a dubious glance over the entire affair, his expression making his opinion of cycling clear. “If I break an arm, the blame will entirely be upon you.”
“You shan’t break an arm,” she promised.
“What about a leg?”
“I shall protect you. I’ll be riding in the front and doing all the steering.”
“Bloody hell,” he muttered.
She wanted to ask him why he had never ridden a cycle before, but she did not. Robin was very protective of his past, and he did not like to speak of it. She expected something painful had happened. In time, she hoped, he would share more with her, but until then, she would not force him.
“It will be great fun. Promise you will give it a chance for me?” she wheedled.
His stare was intense and unwavering on hers as he replied, “You must know by now that I would do anything for you, Tilly.”
She swallowed against a sudden rush of feeling, because now was not the moment to turn into a watering pot when she was attempting to make the most of their day. And when some of the groomsmen were milling about the stables, discreetly occupying themselves with their work.
Tilly was certain there was no way the servants could not know by now that she and Robin were lovers. Their arrangement would not be unfamiliar; many society marriages relied upon a husband and wife’s ability to find their happiness outside of the marital bed. But she had never been so open as to take a lover to Coddington Hall.
“Come with me,” she told him softly, before gripping the steering bar with one hand and lifting her skirt with the other.
She flashed him a good bit of leg—quite shamelessly, she knew, for he admired her ankles—before settling herself upon the front saddle. Taking care to keep her feet planted on the ground as she situated herself, she turned to Robin. “Now it is your turn. Get on the seat behind me, and when you are ready, I shall remove the stand.”
Slowly, he did as she asked, slinging his long leg over the rear saddle of the tandem cycle as she looked on with admiration. Robin’s legs were so very long, and the knickerbockers revealed the fine turns of his calves, though encased in stockings. Still, the leg was a place she had never supposed she would take note of on a man’s body until this very moment.
Then, everything about Robin was worthy of admiration and especially fine.
