A little while later, Ben and Charlie emerged from the grove with satchels hung over their shoulders. Liza, Ben, and I set off toward the bend where we’d part ways for home. I noticed Charlie lagging behind, digging through his satchel, so I held back.
“You are deep in thought,” I said as he secured his bag and walked toward me. “I hesitate to engage you.”
His lips twitched. “I have had a difficult day.”
“Impossible. I am here,” I teased. “And we have checked yet another thing off our list.”
“Ourlist?” He cast me that funny look again.
My cheeks warmed, and I strode beside him, looking out in the distance. “You know what I mean.” We walked in silence for a beat. Then, because I could not stop myself, I said, “You can confide in me, Charlie.”
He sighed and swallowed hard. “My parents are being unreasonable again.”
“Liza told me,” I admitted. “I want to feel sorry for you, but I am simply too confident in your future.”
His smile finally broke free.
“Speaking of which, you still have not told me what your original plans were for yourself. What did you study at university?”
My question seemed to take him off guard. He blinked and looked over his shoulder as though whatever he had to say was a closely guarded secret. Then he looked back at me. “I wanted to be an architect.”
“You?”
“I wanted to design and build things.”
“I know what an architect is, Charlie.”
He grinned at my dry tone and tugged my arm through his. My stomach tightened, and my heart picked up its pace. All in one swooping rush, there was only us. Charlie and Rosalind.
“My professor thought me quite skilled,” he admitted proudly.
I squeezed his arm. I had no doubt. “Did you have any commissions?”
“I never got far enough along, but I’d have liked to.”
“I should like to see your work. Do you have any sketches?”
He seemed both surprised and pleased. “I do. My mother sent me to her parents’ estate one summer, and I helped my grandfather design an addition to his stables.”
“I’ve met your grandparents. They came to visit Ivy Manor long ago. Their estate is in Dover, is it not?”
“Yes, not too far from here.” He looked down at me, and I swore his eyes rested on my lips.
“It must be a half day’s drive.” I watched his lips, mesmerized by some new and unfamiliar pull. Charlie was my friend. But he was also a man. A very attractive, very compelling man.
He turned his head and looked forward. “A little less.”
I shook my head to clear it. Dover. We were speaking of Dover.
That would be a perfect place to visit, so close to the sea.
I sucked in a little breath.
Oh, but I couldn’t. Mama needed me here to continue preparations for the wedding.Mywedding. Not to mention the issue of propriety and the risk of leaving home with a handsome, unattached man, even if he came with a domineering cousin.
Then again, I was nearly of age. Months away, really. And Charlie was just a friend.Just a friendbecause I was engaged to the duke. And friends could travel together, could they not?
“I’ve just had the grandest idea,” I said.
