when the garden awakened under the first rays of the morning sun.
“Miss Brinton.”
I started up from where I’d bent to inspect a flower, its textured petals soft and delicate. Lord Williams strode down the path toward me.
“You are supposed to be gone all day.” I glanced behind him, but he was alone. Father. Something had happened. “My father—”
“Your father is fine. We decided to divide the estate into two days, as he wished to spend extra time examining farming strategies.”
“Oh.” This did not bode well for my lake. “He has liked what he’s seen, then?”
“He seemed to, though you would get a better idea of his true thoughts by asking him.”
“I see.” Even now, I felt a pull toward him, a certain delight that he had sought me out. I had been right to disregard him that first evening at the Hickmores’ party. Why was I still so drawn to him? “I will go ask him.”
He held up a hand. “Miss Brinton, I had hoped we could speak for a moment.”
“Do we have something to speak about?”
“I believe so.” He gestured down the path I had already been traversing.
“You must excuse me. I should attend to my father.”
“He requested time to learn more of my farming methods. I left him in the study with a large stack of books. There is no reason to disturb him.” He stepped forward, blocking my escape. “Please.”
Whatever he had to say could not take long. I nodded and we began our stroll.
“I hope the garden meets with your approval.”
“Yes. It is quite magical.” An uncomfortable silence settled between us. He should be the one to speak. It was he who asked for this conversation, after all. Yet when the silence became overbearing, I asked, “Does your estate hold any other secrets? A hidden lake, perhaps?”
“Though the estate boasts a fair-sized wood with excellent hunting and a few hills that provide quite remarkable views, I am afraid I cannot claim a lake as one of my assets.”
“Do you gather a large party for your hunts?”
“We do hold an annual hunt on the grounds, but I prefer an expedition with only a few friends for company.” He stopped and turned to me. “Let me be frank. Are you still determined to unite yourself with my cousin?”
Better Mr. Northam than him. “I do not believe it proper for us to converse about such things.”
“We have always spoken rather boldly with each other, have we not? It suits both our temperaments, and has from the very first. Do not turn reticent now.”
He had taken measure of my character so easily that first night, had known a direct conversation was my preference, had seen through my defenses and spied my weaknesses. I had not been so wise. “Yet one may speak boldly without being open about one’s intents.”
“You do not wish to tell me?”
“I wasn’t speaking of my own character.”
“You think I have not been open?”
I shrugged. “I think you have done exactly as you wanted.”
“And what is that?”
I didn’t hesitate. “To illustrate how wrong I was.”
He frowned. “How have I done that?”
Did he hope I had not recognized what he’d been about? “Did you not assure me that if your cousin wished to make me care for him he would succeed?”
“He would. Because he would stop at nothing to get whatever he desired.”
I gestured to him. “It seems to be a family trait, at least where the male line is concerned.”
“You think I am like him?” he asked incredulously.
“Aside from ensuring that your cousin and I could never be together, as you have confessed, was it not also your intent to prove the folly of my assertion that your cousin could never win my heart and make me love him?”
He stood a moment, confusion in his expression, before it was replaced with disbelief. “You think I set out to make you love me to prove a point?” He paused. “Did I succeed?”
Arrogant, hateful man. “In making your point? Yes.”
His gaze grew more intense. “Then you care for me.”
Was I mistaken in thinking he didn’t care? That look in his eyes. . . . But, no. It was only the look of someone determined to get his way. “Of course not.”
“And my having no effect on you is why you are twisting your fingers like you wish to wring them off?”
I stilled my hands. “Must I confess admiration for you to end your insistent pestering? At least there is no deception where your cousin is concerned, whereas with you