Admiration glowed in his eyes as he turned back to manning the horses.
They rode in silence for a little while as the breeze chilled their cheeks and the boys chattered.
“Was it you I heard on the pianoforte today?” the marquis asked.
“Some of the time,” she said. “Both Gwen and I played, and so did Mrs. Edgeworth.”
“All of you are talented. I enjoyed hearing it.”
“Thank you,” she answered with a smile of satisfaction. “It’s easy to be talented when you’ve had many hours to practice each day.”
“Which reminds me,” he said. “I had a letter from the innkeeper’s wife today. She said Mrs. Barstaple is on the mend, but still not well enough to travel.”
“That’s good news that she’s come through the worst of her illness. I’m sure it pleases you that she’ll be returning soon.”
“Yes. I was wondering if perhaps you might be willing to spend the day with the lads tomorrow. I think they’ve grown tired of me and they asked if you could.”
That Fallon and Heron had asked to spend some time with her made her smile.
“Of course. I’d be happy to. We can play hide-and-seek.”
He cut his eyes around to her.
“Inside if there is no sunshine. Though,” she added casually, “I’ve heard a child can hide for three days in a house as big as Hurst.”
The marquis kept his attention on the horses, but from his profile, she saw a smile on his lips and heard the rumble of his chuckle.
So she added, “And you’ll be sure to write out their assignments for me, won’t you?”
He didn’t bother to look at her as he said, “All twenty-five pages.”
In spring, summer, and autumn Hurst Valley was lush with vibrant green meadows, colorful wild flowers, tall grasses, and scrub trees of varying types and sizes. In winter the trees were barren except for clusters of mistletoe hidden among their branches. Shrubs were mere spindly weather-beaten bushes, and the ground was snowy white as far as the eye could see.
The boys talked, squealed, and hit each other a few times as the horses pulled the carriage around the estate. When Lillian looked back to them with a stern expression of warning about hitting, she saw they’d helped themselves to a plum tart from the basket. She didn’t mind. She’d put extra inside, not knowing how many the strapping marquis would eat.
Fallon had crumbs on his cherub cheeks and down the front of his coat. Unobtrusively, she hoped, she made a brushing motion with her hand across her cheek and then down her chest. Luckily, the bright little boy caught on immediately and raked the crumbs away.
A wide turn took them up a rise to the back of the manor house. From the top of the small hill they could see the carriage house, two paddocks, and a stable. Farther in the distance, rooftops of several tenant cottages were visible.
Expansive snow-covered lawns of the estate were in full view from the top of the hill. A hedge of long perfectly cut yew interspersed with tall topiary trees, whose tops had been trimmed into the shapes of pyramids, outlined the formal garden. The shrubs, fountain, and crushed stone pathways that led to a now-barren rose-and-knot garden were covered with clumps of melting snow. A bevy of large birds flew south across the spacious sky.
When the paddock came into full view, the boys’ voices grew louder and more excited as they tried to talk over each other to make sure Lillian and the marquis heard them.
As soon as the carriage stopped, the boys threw off the blanket and bounded down and ran over to the fence. They stepped onto the bottom rung and started calling and whistling for the horses before Lord Wythebury had secured the ribbons and jumped down.
“I think they’re excited,” he said, reaching for Lillian’s hand. “Let’s join them.”
She lowered her parasol, closed it, and laid it on the seat before placing her hand in his.
Four horses were out being exercised. Their ears had pricked forward when they heard Fallon and Heron. All of them were big and powerfully built. Three of them were dark chestnut in color, but a fourth—the largest—was a magnificent, proud-looking gray.
Curious, the three chestnuts trotted over to the boys with their heads held high, their manes flapping in the breeze. The gray kept his distance and looked at the boys with a suspicious, big brown-eyed stare.
Fallon reached out to touch one of the horses. The animal’s ears twitched. He snorted and tossed his head at Fallon, scaring him. Heron laughed. The horse then turned his back on them and trotted off to the other side of the paddock.
Lillian watched as the marquis patiently showed the boys how to reach out their hands and wait for the horse to explore their palms with its velvety nose. Her heart filled with love for this gentle-sounding man standing with the boys, teaching them the kinds of things that can’t be learned from a book or studies. This was the kind of man she wanted to marry. Not the stern man who didn’t want children to play outside when it was cold, the one who wanted them to spend all their time reading a book in front of the fire.
It wasn’t long before the boys grew tired of watching the horses, and they all climbed back into the carriage. The marquis told them there used to be a swing hanging from a tree not far from the paddock and if it was still there, it would be a good place to have refreshments and they could swing.
