The little dog whined but fell into a sitting position anyway.
“It’s all right,” Marina said. “I do not mind getting my dress dirty.” She looked at Lilly, whose smile was already fading, and then back at Evan. She grinned. “Evan, why don’t you tell Lilly about how you heroically saved me during that fateful day at the river?”
His breath caught slightly when she said his name. “I did not save you,” he said. “You were never in any physical danger, except from maybe catching a cold.”
Marina elbowed him. “Tell it anyway.”
Evan looked at his daughter, who was looking at him expectantly. “Very well,” he said. “Prince William and I were walking along the river, and I threw the ball for him. He dove into the river to catch the ball, as you know. The last thing I expected to see was a young lady diving in after him. Your nanny was shocked as well, because she saw fit to grab your hand and take you back to the manor so I could handle the awkward situation alone.”
As he told the story, Lilly watched him. She didn’t quite smile, but her attention never strayed. “… and then the party guests found us. The end.” He ended the story there, not wanting to talk about Marina’s unintentional humiliation afterward.
Marina smiled at him before turning to the little girl. “Your father continued to be a hero later by coming to my house and proposing to me. After I made such a public scene, my mother was ready to send me to America. Thanks to your father, I get to stay right here in England! See? Even though he did not save me from physical danger, he’s still a hero.”
Heat stirred in Evan’s chest at her words, and he turned away.That’s not how she sees me, not really. She is just trying to make Lilly like me more.“I thought we were supposed to have a fishing lesson,” he said.
“Of course,” Marina said. She held out the fishing rod she was carrying to Lilly. “Here you are. You can probably teach her better than I can.”
Evan took the rod and walked next to Lilly, determined. It had been a long time since his father had taught him how to fish, but he could still remember the basics. “Here,” he said, handing it to her. “The first thing you want to do is make sure the rod is in good working order. You also want to hold it like this.”
He showed her the best way to hold it, while also teaching her where to look for signs of disrepair. “After a while, you will be able to see at a glance if the pole needs to be repaired or replaced …” he trailed off as he looked at Lilly, whose attention was already starting to wander.
He looked up at Marina, who gave him an encouraging smile that filled him with determination. He didn’t want to fail her any more than he wanted to fail his daughter. He turned back to his daughter. “Now it’s time to cast the line into the water. Here’s how to do it safely.”
He showed her how to use her wrist to flick the rod to cast the line. “Be careful not to let the hook tangle in your hair or get caught on your skin.”
Lilly watched the movements of his hands and wrists, captivated by the act of casting the line. When she tried to do it, her movements were clumsy, and the hook almost tangled in her hair. Evan caught it at the last moment, right before it hit her head. “Let’s try again,” he said.
As he watched her cast the line, he couldn’t help but be tense at first, worried that the hook would go rogue and get into her eye. He relaxed when it was safely in the water.
“What happens now?” Lilly asked.
“Now we wait,” he said. “Until a fish catches on the hook.”
“How long will that take?”
“That’s up to the fish.”
Lilly giggled at that, and Evan almost smiled at the sound of it.Maybe Marina was right. If I keep trying with Lilly, then we can find common ground.
They waited in silence for a few moments. Normally, Evan didn’t mind silence, but today, he wanted conversation. “Marina has told me that you are advancing in your lessons. I’m glad.”
Lilly made a face. “I don’t like them. They’re hard.”
He raised his eyebrows. “But they get easier with time, do they not?”
“As soon as they’re easy, the lessons change,” Lilly said.
“Well, yes. After all, you must keep learning.”
She huffed. “It’s boring.”
He felt almost indignant.How could anyone think learning is boring?He glanced at Marina, at a loss for what to say.
Marina smiled. “It can be fun sometimes, Lilly, can it not? You just learned how to cast a line. That was fun.”
“That’s different learning.”
“Education takes many forms,” Evan said. He thought back to his school days. Even though he had been content to spend his days studying books in silence, many of his classmates did not, and his teachers sometimes found other ways to get them to learn their lessons. “Like through song. Have you tried singing while spelling?”
