Page 41 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘Are we still on your estate?’ Lina asked, eyeing the rolling countryside that stretched out before them. They hadn’t come across any wall or boundary, but she couldn’t imagine all this land could belong to one person.

‘The estate stretches another two miles west,’ Alex said, pointing in the direction they were travelling. ‘Most of the land to the south and east is farmland, but out to the west it is undeveloped and natural.’

‘How can one person own so much?’ Lina murmured quietly.

‘When so many own so little?’

She glanced at him to see if he was irritated by her question, but there was no anger or annoyance on his face.

‘When I first inherited, it took me a while to appreciate just what owning an estate such as this one meant,’ he said, looking out into the distance. ‘Most people see money and riches, fine clothes, fine houses when they think of the aristocracy, but running an estate is so much more than that.’

Lina remained quiet, she could see this was a subject he was passionate about and wanted to hear what he had to say. She loved listening to him talk, hearing the conviction in his voice, and she appreciated how persuasive he could be in an argument.

‘I provide work for two hundred people, either directly or indirectly. I own many of the houses in the village and have the responsibility of maintaining them whilst keeping the rents low enough for people to afford. My farms are a reliable source of crops for the local area and the dairy at Home Farm is the largest in the county.’

It was impressive. She wondered how one man kept on top of it all.

‘Over the years I’ve seen how people who own less, who have less money or property or livestock, look at me, but I always ask how they would fare with this responsibility. Yes, I live in a fine house and wear fine clothes, but I also provide jobs and homes and sustenance for so many, as well.’

‘You speak so passionately,’ Lina said quietly. ‘I admire that.’

Alex looked at her, holding her gaze for a long few seconds, and Lina found she was unable to look away. Every day she spent in Alex’s company she found out something about him that made her like him more and more. She’d realised long ago that the facade of boredom he’d projected at the Pottersdown Village Fair when they’d first met was just that: a facade. Underneath that was a passionate, caring, driven man. It was hard not to admire him, probably a little more than she should.

‘Here’s the perfect spot,’ Alex said, indicating an area under the shade of a tree with views down to the shimmering lake below. Quickly he slipped to the ground, secured his horse and then turned back to Lina. Before she could begin to dismount his hands were around her waist, lifting her off the horse and to the ground as if she weighed no more than a bale of straw.

There was a vice-like pressure around her chest as Alex’s hands lingered on her waist for a second longer than was necessary, then he turned away and the contact was lost. Trying to distract herself, Lina spread out the blanket under the tree, smoothing out the wrinkles until it provided a soft and comfortable place to sit. Alex was rummaging through the saddle bags, assessing the picnic Mrs Witherly, the cook, had provided.

‘You’re so nosy,’ Lina said, jostling him to one side and taking the bags from him.

‘I’ve yet to meet a man who isn’t interested in the contents of his next meal,’ Alex said with a shrug.

Taking her time, with Alex hovering over her, Lina set out the feast. Despite her initial reluctance to make up the picnic, the cook had evidently not wanted to disappoint her employer. There was enough food for six people, all beautifully packed and smelling delicious.

‘For two and a half weeks I’ve lived your lifestyle,’ Lina said as she finished laying the last of the food out. ‘Now you are going to spend the afternoon as a gypsy.’

Alex kicked off his boots and sat down, resting his back against the trunk of the tree.

‘If I’d known you feasted so well, I’d have run off to join a group of travelling gypsies years ago,’ he said, tucking in to a slice of meat pie.

‘This afternoon is not all about the food,’ Lina said, grinning as Alex eyed her suspiciously.

‘You’re not going to whip a fiddle from the saddlebags, are you? Or make me carve a chest of drawers?’

‘We have a rich and varied culture, and all you know about us is that many of our men are talented carpenters and we like music.’

‘That’s not true,’ Alex said, biting into a radish. ‘I know gypsies hail from all over Europe and farther East. I know music and dancing is important to your culture, and that you move about the country, staying in each place for a few weeks to a few months at a time.’

‘Impressive,’ Lina said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

‘Educate me. Tell me something about your people that I wouldn’t know.’

Lina considered for some moments. Her heritage was truly mixed, with her mother being of Spanish descent and her father coming from one of the oldest gypsy families in Europe. He used to boast he could trace his ancestry back to the original Romani people. His family had been travelling through Europe for centuries and her father had visited twelve different countries in his lifetime.

It was hard to put any of that into words, hard to describe the sense of belonging, the sense of being part of something much bigger.

‘Do you know what my favourite part of our lifestyle is?’ Lina asked eventually.

Alex shook his head, leaning forward as he waited for her to answer.