“Well, I still think I should practice more.” His whisper was met with another giggle as he supported her, walking out from the alleyway and across open grass. She was still struggling on her leg a little, but it was slowly starting to get better. “There, that is the view we have been waiting for.”
He brought the two of them to a stop, and she looked up, with her lips parting in wonder as she set her eyes on the horizon. It was a perfect view of the Bath skyline, with the Abbey spire reaching into the clouds and a myriad of yellow-stone buildings shining in the cold sunlight of the winter months. Set within a valley between hills, such as the hill they were standing upon, it was a majestic view to behold.
“It is beautiful! How did you know about this place?” she asked as she walked forward, stumbling towards the town in the clear effort of wanting to be closer to the beauty as her breath clouded the cold air.
“Ah, that is something I do not tell people.”
“Mysterious indeed!” she said, turning back to face him, her hand still in his. He was thankful for how quiet it was on this hill between the old cottage houses. It meant he could hold her hand without fear of being overseen, for they were hidden by a bank of trees behind the houses. “Do you keep many secrets to yourself?”
“You might grow bored of me if I told you all my secrets. What if you no longer found me intriguing?”
“I think that would be a difficult thing to accomplish!” she said, laughing. “Please? How do you know of this place?” He walked closer to her side and nodded his head towards the trees.
His past was something he didn’t talk about very often, which had earned him the moniker of ‘quiet man’ from Tommie, and some of the maids often stared at him, calling him a ‘mystery’ when they didn’t think he could hear them. It was simply that he liked to keep the past to himself.
“I grew up on the other side of those trees,” he said, pointing them out for her to see. “There was scarcely a day that I did not come to this field to look at the view. It brought me solace. Somewhere to escape to, when times were bad.”
“Were times bad?” the duchess asked, her smile fading as she looked at him. He could see the concern for him in her face. It made him cling to her hand all the more.
“One time, they were, but I have never spoken of it. Not to anyone.”
“Would you tell me?” she asked. For some reason, there wasn’t an objection in his mind. He trusted her more than anyone else, even Tommie.
“I was part of a big family. My father was a butler before me; my mother had many children indeed. Four sisters, one brother, and myself. We lost my brother.” It came out rather abruptly, for he didn’t know how else to say it. The duchess’ lips parted, and she stepped towards him even more. “I believe they call it consumption.”
“Ah …” She looked out to the trees and back to him. “The same thing took my mother.”
“It did?” he asked, horrified at the thought. It had been hard enough as a boy to watch his own brother lost to this world, but some of the memories were marred a little from time passing and growing age. He couldn’t imagine seeing someone lost to that sickness as an adult. The memories would be sharper and more in focus.
“I am truly sorry, Mr Arnold,” she said softly, stepping towards him and resting her head on his shoulder. “No one should have to go through that pain.”
“I quite agree,” he said, finding himself leaning down and kissing the top of her head where she rested it. She clung tighter to his hand at the kiss. “I am sorry for your loss too.”
“It is a beautiful place,” she said, pointing out to the horizon.
“Indeed it is. If it can bring you half the comfort and peace it has given me over the years, then I feel I have done something small to help.”
“You have no idea how much you have done to help.”
Owen stood there beside her for some time, loathe to go back to the carriage, where he would have to release her hand again.
Chapter 12
“Lean on me a little more,” Owen pleaded with the duchess. “Please, Your Grace.”
“It seems foolish you address me as such all the time,” she said as she did as he asked and took his arm. She had been keen to walk that day. With the snow beginning to melt a little more beyond the windows, revealing the first signs of green shoots and snowdrops poking through the earth, it was a beautiful sight. Yet her ankle was still weak, and she hobbled when she walked.
There was not a chance I was going to let her walk alone.
“It is what I must address you as … Your Grace,” he added playfully as he escorted her through the woods. He had been careful to allow her to go as far as the woods before he took her arm, just in case any of the staff were watching out of the windows, but now he could not resist. With her hand safely through his elbow, he couldn’t take the smile off his face, aware of the heat of her body as it moved alongside his.
“Please, call me Diana,” she whispered. He flicked his head toward her, laughing at the brazenness of it.
“I cannot! You know that I cannot.”
“It is very simple. It is my name. I do have one, you know.” She laughed, clearly feeling mischievous today. “You can still call me ‘Your Grace’ when we are around others. I merely mean when we are alone.”
“You wish it?” he asked gently.
