“Besides your brothers…what else do you love?”
The question rang in my ears. “What do Ilove?”
Owen nodded. The firelight made his features softer, but his eyes still pierced through me. “I want to know more of what occupies your heart. The happy things.”
I sat back as I contemplated his request. I had never made a list in my mind of the things I loved, but now that Owen had asked, I would have to come up with something.
There were very few things I loved in Silton, and what little there was, I rarely took time to enjoy. I closed my eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath and opened them. Owen watched me patiently, awaiting my answer.
“Well, Peter and Charles do take up the majority of my heart.” I gave a quiet laugh. “There is little room for anything else.” I swallowed, searching my mind for something to add. “I do love flowers. I love freshly baked bread, particularly the breadthat has been served here every morning.” I cracked a smile, my list growing longer as I spoke. “I love horses, and other animals. I love rain…and oranges. I love tea served in pretty cups, like the blue ones your mother brings out each afternoon.”
Owen smiled, leaning his elbows on his knees as he listened.
“My aunt doesn’t have a pianoforte, so I have loved listening to your grandmother’s music in the evenings. I love playing cards, and dancing, though I’ve never been to a real ball.”
I stopped myself, looking down at my lap. That wasn’t a confession I had intended to make. Owen had spent several seasons in London—he would think less of me if he knew that I had never been invited to a ball. At twenty-one years old, most young ladies had attended too many to count.
“I love the way Lizzie arranges my hair,” I added in a quiet voice. “I love watching the sunset from the window upstairs.” I met Owen’s gaze, a wave of embarrassment passing over me as I realized how long I had been rambling. I clung my hands together, drawing a deep breath. “Is that a sufficient list?”
He smiled and nodded, his intent gaze tracing over my face. “It seems your heart belongs here at Kellaway Manor.”
I laughed, my gaze flickering to the floor. “Everything here is quite easy to love. When I go back…I’m afraid my heart might feel empty for a while. In truth, I find very little to love in Silton.”
Owen’s expression softened. “Come now, Silton can’t be entirely bad.”
I shook my head with a laugh. “You cannot say that. You have never been there.”
He leaned forward in his chair, looking into my eyes. “I think I would find much to love in Silton.” His mouth was curled in a smile, and his eyes held both a statement and a secret.
I looked away fast, unsettled by the warmth of his gaze. “Perhaps you are more optimistic than me. You do seem moreinclined to love things that others don’t, simply for the sake of being different.” I cast him a skeptical look.
He shook his head, the movement so subtle I almost missed it. “I don’t love anything for the sake of being different. I love what I love because I can’t help it.”
Hearing the wordloveon Owen’s lips so many times made my skin hot. Or perhaps it was the fire. Either way, it burned somewhere deep inside me. What were these things Owen loved so much that hecouldn’t help it? I wanted to ask him to share his own list, but the thought frightened me.
“I can understand that,” I said. “I neverchoseto love my brothers. I love them without trying.” I was silent for a moment as the sentiment sank into my heart. Perhaps that was the essence of true love—that it wasn’t something that required permission to grow. I cleared my thoughts, eager for a change in subject. “Thank you for teaching them to shoot. They seemed to be enjoying themselves…until the rain started, anyway.”
Owen gave a wry smile. “The real enjoyment began after the rain started.”
I laughed, a nervous breath escaping my lungs. “I should have ran to the orangery instead. I still need to see it during a storm.”
“You will. There is plenty of rain this time of year.” Owen’s hair was almost dry already, the ends forming soft curls. Silence enveloped us for a moment, and I found myself studying each of his features. I loved the way his eyes wrinkled at the corners when he smiled, and I loved the way his mouth lifted a little more on one side than the other.
But I would never, ever tell him that those things were so high on my list.
I slipped his jacket off my shoulders and handed it to him. “I should go change.”
He nodded, standing up beside me. As I stood, a severe pain struck my ribs, making me gasp. My hand flew to my right side.
Owen’s brow furrowed, and he stepped toward me. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head dismissively. “It’s an old injury. I broke some ribs a few years ago that never healed properly. I’m afraid running to the house may have awakened the pain a bit.”
His concern only intensified. “What caused the injury?”
I swallowed. “It was nothing important.”
Owen caught my arm as I turned to leave. “Annette. Did your aunt have anything to do with it?”
