“Oh, drat. Mrs. Steele is heading this way. No doubt she’ll want to talk again and see all my ribbon choices, not to mention if she sees me talking with a gentleman in a milliner’s shop, she’d probably gossip about it to everyone.” She leaned toward him and let out a tight breath, placing one gloved finger on his forearm. “Ever since that day nine years ago, I’ve always felt we should have been better to you. Before I left those woods I promised myself that if I ever had the chance, I would extend kindness to you like you did to me.”
Her awareness—and caring—surprised him to his core. Her touch did funny things to the hairs under his shirtsleeves. She fiddled with the ribbon as she watched Mrs. Steele walk to the door. “If there is anything I can do for you, do not hesitate to ask.” She raised her head to look over his shoulder, watching every movement of Mrs. Steele.
He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the old woman stopping to greet someone else in the street.
This was his chance. Charlotte might not allow him to call, but she had offered to help him. If Christopher was still in Town and Charlotte really meant what she said, he could venture his request.
“Actually, if it’s not too much to ask, I was hoping I might ride your grounds again. If I did so while Christopher was gone, would that be permissible?”
She studied his face. “Yes.” He watched her swallow delicately, measuring her thoughts. “They are beautiful grounds. I ride out most mornings with my maid. Our route always takes us nearest the south forest first.”
Was this a roundabout invitation to join her? The last time he saw her out riding, she had been without her maid. But the possibility that she had just given precise details and mentioned her maid, perhaps hinting that he might join her without impropriety, left his mind reeling.
“You go riding often?” He wanted to add, “Or just when you are hoping to run into me?,” but the first question was all he could manage. Normally he would have had the presence of mind to really tease her, but she suddenly seemed too pretty, too grown up to tease.
As though she read his mind, she replied. “I’m not a child any longer, Alex. As I said, Ellen and I are going there tomorrow.” She hesitated before continuing. “You may remember her; she was your mother’s maid before your household... my family hired her after your mother no longer needed her.” Her mouth tightened in a wince. “Forgive me. Good day.”
The door jingled as it opened, and before he could say anything, she was across the room, asking Mrs. Steele’s opinion of the ribbons she held. He exited the building and walked to where he had tied his horse.
As he loosed Cobalt’s reins, threw his leg over the animal’s back, and started toward Newcastle, Alex’s thoughts churned. He rubbed the spot on his forearm where she’d touched him. His skin was still gooseflesh.
A mixture of concern and excitement surged through him. Before he’d spoken with Charlotte, he’d been rejected and in despair about his future. She had made clear just how much Christopher loathed Alex and and mentioned how horrible her brother was to everyone around him.
During the past years, Alex had recalled so many memories with Chris, not least of all the memory of him walking away with Mr. Roylance that fateful day—but Alex had assumed his best friend had been under severe duress from his father. Now, as a grown man, Alex had longed for reconciliation. With every passing moment, he felt he was withering like a trampled flower in the sun, his heart shrinking as he realized rekindling their friendship might never happen.
So what had possessed Charlotte to mention where she’d be tomorrow, especially when every other person in this town was against him on account of her brother?
The idea gave him hope.
Maybe running into Charlotte was a mercy from God. He’d felt God’s hand in his life before, when he had been able to work his way through the hierarchy of the mining jobs, from lowest man to acquisitions manager. Little miracles had lined up in his favor. Such Providence had saved his life. Now God’s mercy might save his position, but did it have to come via a beautiful young woman? He hadn’t time to let a lady complicate his plans.
And he couldn’t tell what she thought of him. She’d been nothing but cordial, but she was also matter-of-fact. It was her goodness, her conscience, he was sure, that made her feel duty bound to extend a kind word. Charlotte, especially when riled, had always liked to do the exact opposite of what her brother wished. Maybe that was the only reason she’d mentioned riding tomorrow.
It couldn’t be because she cared for him.
And if he were wise, he wouldn’t let himself care for her either.
Chapter 5
Charlotte’s fingers fumbled with theclasp of her green velvet riding habit, her hands an outward expression of the nervous hope she felt. Once the clasp was secure, she donned her hat, puzzled that Alex’s near-immediate request for her offered help had been a desire to ride their land.
She tucked an errant curl away and hurried down the steps from the west corridor. Perhaps he’d wanted to see the grounds for old times’ sake, especially with Christopher absent and unable to berate him. But maybe—just maybe—he had another motive. At least, she hoped his smile had meant he wished, as much as she did, to meet again. When they’d danced—her eyes closed for a moment as she remembered the spontaneous thrill—he’d spoken of another rendezvous. Now that was happening.
She sighed. She had thought him a wonderful human all those years ago, especially when he’d stood up for her, and now it seemed all the ways she’d built him up in her mind had compiled into an accurate picture. She’d told him she had promised to return his kindness if she ever had the chance, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to herself that his broad shoulders, thick brown hair, and pleasant manner had helped her determination. The very way he carried himself, hisbons mots every time they spoke. Even his genuine smile.
But what did she know of him, really? Nothing.
She shook out her hands and told her body to still. She took the outside steps up the east side of the hill toward the stable entrance. Ellen was already there with her own mount.
In a matter of moments they were off and skirting around the south end of the forest, not so very far from where she had encountered Alex fortuitously a few days earlier. They rode through the most well-known roads, but after nearly half an hour, Alex was nowhere to be seen. Charlotte urged Penny to crest the hill, careful not to move too fast for the sake of Ellen’s old mount.
This was her favorite vantage point, for one could see the expanse of the forest and the fields in almost every direction. She listened to the twittering of birds and the piercing calls of falcons. She listened for horses’ hooves, but the woods were devoid of that welcome sound. Perhaps he wouldn’t come after all.
Just as Charlotte resigned herself to going back, Alex suddenly emerged from a darker part of the forest, and she tried to ignore the flutter beneath her sternum at the sight of him. Oh, how she longed to rekindle their friendship. That was what he hoped for too, wasn’t it? Why else would he have come?
From atop his horse, he inclined his head as he came to a stop in front of her and Ellen. “Good morning, Miss Roylance! It is a pleasure seeing you here.” He turned to Ellen. “Good to see you, Ellen.”
Before Charlotte could do anything more than nod, Ellen spoke up. “Good to see you, too, Master Alex. ’Twas providential there aren’t many needs at the castle this mornin’. I was happy to come along, though I assure ye, mum’s the word.”
