“Hmmm, I will remember that for later.” He began to braid her hair.
She was surprised that he had paid attention yesterday and was able to duplicate the style seemingly without trouble. When he was done, he bent and placed a kiss on her neck, sending a delicious shiver through her. Then he reached for her hand that had held the sticky bun and slowly sucked honey off her forefinger, then the middle finger, making his way all the way to the pinky, giving it an extra lick. Adeline ran her tongue over her lower lip, tasting the sweet honey left behind. Would he give this much attention to all of her if she let him?
Malcolm stepped back. He took the bag, reached inside for a pastry, and took a large bite. “Today, I think we should take a break from traveling and spend the day exploring the autumn festival instead. We are not in any hurry to get to Millstone Manor. We deserve a relaxing day after yesterday’s difficulties. Would you like that?”
She nodded. “I have never attended an autumn festival. We are always in London during the autumn months.”
He grinned. “Perfect. The innkeeper said it is a short walk to the festival grounds. They have pig racing, pony rides, musicians, and many vendors selling produce and crafts. Let’s get Mr. Bosely and go explore. Oh, and he said they plan to have a large bonfire this evening, and the whole village comes together.”
Adeline laughed at his childish enthusiasm. His eyes sparkled with it, and he gestured with his hands as he talked. She went to slip on her wool cape and put on her bonnet. Glancing over at her carpet bag, she had a moment of indecision. She didn’t want to risk leaving the artifacts unattended in the inn. She better keep them with her. She grabbed the bag.
“You are bringing your books?”
“Oh no. I shall leave them behind. I want to bring the bag with me in case I find anything interesting to buy. This bag comes in very handy when shopping.”
Kingsbury gave her a quizzical look but then shrugged. “All right. Let’s go exploring.”
*
Yesterday’s storms hadpassed through, and Adeline enjoyed the sun’s warmth on her face as she gazed up at a blue sky dotted with white clouds. The walk to the edge of Andover was indeed an easy, pleasant stroll. As they approached the tents that held a variety foodstuffs, Mr. Bosely abandoned them to go buy a bag of salted nuts from the next row. Adeline spotted a table laden with baskets of apples. “Let’s get an apple to munch on.”
“Your wish is my command,” Malcolm replied.
They continued walking down the grassy aisles in between the tents and tables while crunching loudly on crisp, sweet apples. A table of books for sale took her a good half hour to peruse. She kept glancing over at Malcolm, where he waited lounging against a fence post, but he never appeared cross or frustrated with how long she was taking to look through the haphazard piles of books. She finally wandered over to him.
“Find anything good?” he asked.
“Not really.” She shook her head.
He weaved his fingers through hers. “Come, I heard there was going to be a puppet show at noon. Let’s see if we can find it.”
Adeline smiled as he tugged her along. Their connected hands swung gently back and forth between them. What a perfect morning. They found the puppet show and laughed as hard as the children seated in the grass at the antics of a goat herder and his naughty goats. Right next to the puppet theater, delicious smells wafted from the meat pasty vendor, and this time, she tugged Malcolm’s hand. There were long wooden tables set up by the aisle of food vendors, and they sat to enjoy their lunch among other villagers and travelers.
“Honestly, I don’t know the last time I had so much fun,” Adeline said. “I haven’t once had to worry about how I should be acting or what I should be saying. It has been quite relaxing.”
“I agree. As glittering as all those parties in town are, they come with so many rules and expectations of how to behave. I was always afraid of doing the wrong thing.”
“You were?” She set down her pasty and gawked at him. “You never appear to have anything but endless confidence.”
“Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it? Make it look like you know what you are doing.”
Adeline thought about the truth of that. She had never been very good at pretense. Although—she glanced down at the bag at her feet—she certainly was doing an excellent job with this secret. She felt a bit guilty not telling Kingsbury about the artifacts she was carrying around. But she did not want him to turn them around and return to London. She simply needed to keep it a secret until they arrived at Millstone Manor. Then, she would hide the pieces and figure out the plan from there. No reason to ruin a perfectly lovely day with the truth.
After they finished eating, they followed the crowd to the pig races. Fascinated, Adeline stood at the fence bordering the makeshift track.
“The six pigs race to the end of this grassy stretch. You can pick your favorite pig and bet on them to win,” Malcolm said.
“I’ve never bet on anything. How do you know which pig will be fastest?”
He leaned one elbow on the top rung of the fence and smiled down at her. “They’re pigs. I don’t think they have the intelligence to realize they are racing. You shouldn’t overanalyze your choice,” he said with a shrug of one shoulder.
Oh, well, that made sense. Adeline looked over the porcine contestants. “I like that small one.” She pointed to the third lane, where a feisty pink pig snorted and danced around in its cage. “He looks like he would be fast.”
“All right, number three, Speedy Sally. How much would you like to wager?”
“Oh, I approve of the alliteration. Let’s see, how about one pound?” It seemed like a reasonable amount to waste on a pig race.
Malcolm disappeared to make their bets. Adeline felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She glanced around. Everyone around her concentrated on the pigs, but she couldn’t help the feeling she was being watched. She gripped the handles of her carpet bag tightly. She was fine. Kingsbury would be back shortly. She told herself it was natural to feel out of place in a new environment. Her rational thought did not prevent her from jumping when she felt a hand slip around her waist.
