He grinned at that. “Why, thank you, Miss Upton.”
She brushed at his sleeve in a playful manner before gulping and snatching her hand away. His arm was solidly muscled. A vision of the muscled abdomen she’d seen the night he climbed up to her window flashed before her eyes. She shook her head. “I’m serious. How did you go about becoming a lieutenant general?”
He scrubbed a hand across his face and looked off into the meadow as if contemplating the matter for a moment. “I was raised in a military family.”
She picked her way along the base of the tree, holding up her pale yellow skirts. “You were?”
“Yes, my father was a solider. He fought in the revolution.”
She glanced up at him, eyes wide. “Was he a general?”
He pushed his hands into his pockets and shook his head. “No, actually. He never advanced far.”
“But you did. Quite far.”
He leaned his head back, looking up into the branches of the tree. “I was trained for the military from the time I was a babe. I began military drills when I was three years old.”
Lucy stopped and let her skirts drop. She turned to face him. “Surely you’re jesting.”
“No. I’m afraid I’m not.” He smiled at her, and her heart skipped a beat.
“Why so young?” She began walking, much safer than looking directly at him.
He stared off across the meadow again with a faraway look in his eye. “My father intended me to be a great military leader since the day I was born. He ensured that I was prepared for it.”
“Is it what you wanted?”
He kicked at a tuft of grass with his boot. “It’s all I know, Lucy.”
The tenderness with which he said her name made her breath catch in her throat. “You had no choice?”
He shrugged. “We were not of the privileged class. I had few options open to me. The army seemed as good a choice as any.”
She bit her lip. “Well, you’re obviously quite good at it.”
Another shrug. “When you train for something your entire life, it’s easy to be good at it.”
“I can’t believe that. Surely you also have a natural talent for it.”
“I suppose I do.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Two brothers,” he said.
“Are they also in the military?”
“You could say that.”
Lucy wrinkled her nose at that answer but let it pass.
“It must have been difficult for your mother to see all of her children go to war.”
“It has been.” Derek held back the long branches of the willow tree, and Lucy preceded him into the meadow where they resumed their stroll.
Lucy twined her fingers together and watched her feet. “Your father must be exceedingly proud of you.”
A wan smile passed his lips. “My father is dead.”
