“He is ten years older than I am,” Rachel mentioned. “And he just spoke poetry to me.”
“Poetry?” Jane asked. “Is he a romantic?”
“Yes,” Rachel said while pulling away from the window. “And alone. He is an orphan, Jane, and from what I gather, a drifter wandering the land. Only staying when he finds a job.”
What troubled her was the sinking feeling that had settled into her stomach from saying those words. If it were true and William only stayed around for the jobs he was tasked with doing, why did she feel so troubled at him moving away? He was nothing to her—but even thinking about that did not feel right.
He is the first man to call me beautiful, and I know it was not only because of the painting.
She stared out into the darkened garden for a long, marked silence before Jane broke it. “My Lady, I may be a bit presumptuous, but…do you like Mr. Smith?”
“Yes,” Rachel said plainly. “I do…as a friend and more. I am fascinated by him.”
“My Lady—”
“I know, Jane,” Rachel said tightly. “It is very risky and perilous of me to fancy a painter, but my parents have already chosen to control my life. What will it hurt for to me throw caution to the wind and dream for a moment? It probably will not go anywhere, but until they tighten the noose around my neck, I am going to pretend that it does not exist.”
“He is handsome,” Jane mentioned. “But I would have never expected him to be that much older.”
“Neither would I,” Rachel said while moving away from the window and facing Jane. “Would you prepare a bath for me and have supper sent up soon after?”
“Yes, My Lady,” Jane curtsied and left the room.
Alone, Rachel mused on the words William had said, mere inches away from her eyes. As if he were talking to her soul.
“Rather a romance of the ages, elopement at moonlight and ladder and rose-rimmed trellis….”Rachel whispered. “What is he trying to tell me?”
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Chapter 6
The glow of the sunset gave William the perfect background for the rosebushes he was twisting into another Nymph, only this time, the immortal spirit had Rachel’s face. The day had gone well with another sketch started with her in the library, this time, she lay on a divan with a book on her lap and her legs covered with a blanket.
Her image had not left his mind, which was why he found himself drawing her into another mystical figure. He was shading in a rose that formed half of Rachel’s stunning face when he heard her approach.
Rachel had a very tender gait, and she treaded light, almost silently on the ground. Still, he heard the tiny crunch of dry leaves under her delicate foot. He closed the folio and turned to her, “Good evening, Rachel.”
She smiled. “How are you?”
“Would you like to take a stroll with me?” he asked.
“Sure,” she nodded. “And the reason why?”
“Your garden is spectacular,” he mentioned. “The flowers you have here call on me. I want to teach you a few meanings of some of them.”
He stopped at the Primrose bush and reached out a finger to stroke the petals. “Primrose means consistency, stability, assurance.”
“I had a friend named Primrose once,” Rachel said as she too touched the flower. “But she moved away when I was ten. We sent letters for a while until her father divorced her mother, and Mother told me that I should not speak with her anymore. That her father did that Devil’s work, and Primrose was going to follow him.”
“Your mother said that an innocent child was going to be what? A heathen?” William said carefully.
“In as many words, yes,” Rachel said with a soft shrug. “I never understood that at the time, but now I feel it was a cruel thing to do.”
“It was,” William said as he moved to another flower. “Pansies mean thoughtfulness, but there are underlying meanings as well. Because of the many colors, they too come with different meanings. Red and violet mean passion, yellow means happiness, blue equals calmness and trustworthiness, and pink denotes innocence.”
He plucked up a flower from the bush. “The white color meanslet's take a chance.But even that is more complicated. If one were to offer you a bouquet of white pansies—” he pointed the section. “—edged in violet, the person could secretly be saying,let’s take a chance on my passionate feeling towards you because I trust you with my feelings.”
“So, it conveys romantic feelings,” Rachel noted.
