“I agree.”
She raised her brows in astonishment. “You do?”
He lowered his arm and walked toward her, stopping next to her to examine the stone. “I do. Your logic makes sense. I am now of the firm belief that this is the remains of a Celtic Cross.”
She warmed at his agreement. When he said it, it made it sound absolutely true.
He offered her his arm. “Now that you’ve solved the puzzle of the standing stone, are you ready to eat? That did take quite a bit of reasoning.”
She linked her arm with his and glanced at him to see if he teased, but there was no smirk on his face as he led her back toward the others, who were already sitting beneath various trees. “Though the mystery may be solved, it is not nearly so endearing as the story of the Devil playing leapfrog. I don’t believe The Jumps Inn will be willing to change its name to TheBroken Cross Inn, as that does not sound nearly as appealing a place to stay.”
“Yes, well, we needn’t tell the innkeeper.”
They passed the Earl and Countess of Sommerset then stopped beneath a tree, where a tablecloth of pale green, embroidered with purple flowers, had been laid out. Upon it sat multiple plates of food.
As she lowered herself to sit, Lord Harewood waved over one of the footmen to give him an order for tea and ale before joining her. He sat with his back against the tree, his long legs out and crossed at the ankles. “If you enjoy such stories, then I’m pleased to tell you about the church in town, St. Mary’s.”
She liked sitting next to him better than standing because they were of more equal height, making her feel as if they had a mutual respect.
As he spoke, he gathered different food onto one plate and handed it to her.
He’d chosen cold roast beef and duck, a piece of pigeon pie, cucumber slices, a scoop of blancmange, and a fruit pastry. She stared in surprise. “This is everything I enjoy. How did you know?”
His grin spoke of confident pride. “I told you. I observe people.”
“You observed what I like to eat?” She couldn’t quite believe that he had been focused on her and the thought had her heart skipping a beat.
“I did.” His smile softened. “You do not like ham or collared calf’s head, but you do enjoy your sweets. I had another plate prepared with plum cake, pound cake, and a few macaroons. As we are outside today, transporting strawberry ice cream was not a possibility.”
She felt the back of her eyes sting with tears. No one, not even the cook at home, had ever paid attention to what she likedto eat. She swallowed hard. “Thank you. I’ve never had someone take an interest in my meal before.”
He didn’t appear surprised. “That is because men today are too busy noticing what women are wearing instead of what they are eating. I suppose it is to their advantage to gift a person with a ribbon to match. But as your dresses, bonnets, and other accoutrements of blues, greens, purples, and maroons are complete, as most women’s are, it makes no sense to focus on such frippery.”
Though he called itfrippery, his recognition of what colors she wore had her looking down at her food so he wouldn’t see how much his observations touched her. Did he look at all the other women in the same way? How could he focus on everyone and keep their likes and colors organized and to what purpose?
“Is your food not acceptable?”
At his concern, she quickly met his gaze and smiled. “It is perfect. I’m simply dumfounded by how thorough you are.”
He gave her a nod before using a fork to bite into his own roast beef.
She followed suit, needing a moment to ruminate on her own feelings. Despite the earl’s statements regarding his disinterest in marriage, he seemed to truly enjoy her company. She definitely preferred his to that of any other gentleman present. Maybe if she continued to keep her conversation in line with the others, someone would become interested in her as a prospective wife. Lord Harewood would never be interested in her. He’d loved the Angel. She was nothing like the late Lady Belinda, more was the pity. But she had learned one important trait from the stories of Lady Belinda. The lady had been very kind and wished to aid others for no other reason than in her pleasure in doing so.
Dory reviewed her perfect plate and stabbed her fork into a piece of duck before plopping the moist bite into her mouth.Maybe she could help Lord Harewood find his happiness again. He’d made it very clear he didn’t wish to marry anytime soon, and she needed to marry as soon as was respectable, before her mother made that impossible. The only reason she had a chance at accomplishing that now was due to his idea on how to curtail her squiggly conversations. For that kindness, she felt a certain indebtedness to him. She would like to repay him if she could. Helping him find happiness again would not only be kind, it would be a repayment of a debt, so to speak. Yes, that was exactly what she would do.
“Is the duck done to your liking?”
She finished chewing it before answering. “Yes, it’s very good.”
“Excellent. Then allow me to tell you the story of the church of St. Mary’s at the end of this field, since you enjoy the quaintness of the fictional tale over the mundaneness of the facts.”
She grinned. “I do. What is special about St. Mary’s?”
“If you were to visit this church, you would discover that the bell tower is completely separate from the rest of the building.”
“You mean there is no door to it from inside?”
“Not at all. It is a walk away from the main building.” He widened his eyes as if that fact were quite shocking, which caused her to giggle.
