Tristan smiled again. “See this? You are becoming a horsewoman before my very eyes. Jonah doubted that you could manage the journey on horseback, but I was sure that you would succeed. Just as you do in all things.”
“You must not flatter me so. I am not used to it.” Mirrie would have loved to disguise the blush now staining her cheeks, but there was nowhere for her to hide up on the moors.
“I am more accustomed to the company of ladies who expect to be flattered,” Tristan quipped.
Of course he is.
Ladies who had been raised to make a match with a wealthy noble. Ladies who knew how to make charming conversation even whilst sitting atop a horse.
Mirrie fought against her habitual self-flagellation. If she and Tristan were to succeed at this ruse, she must take hold of her courage with both hands.
“Well, you are not conversing with them, you are conversing with me,” she retorted, employing the tone of voice Frida sometimes used with Flora. She took a deep breath and added, “Furthermore, you are not on the cusp of declaring your love for them, but for me.”
Tristan chuckled with delight.
“True enough, Mirrie. I thank you for the reminder. From this point on I will pay court to you and you alone. Methinks that will be rather fun.” He ruffled at his golden hair, his eyes dancing with mischief. “God’s blood, it is hot. And it seems we are the only ones here for miles about.” He grinned down at her from his warhorse. “My men have ridden ahead to source a spot for luncheon, but that is some time away yet. What say we stop for a while, just you and I?”
Mirrie felt as if all the air had left her lungs.What is he suggesting?
Some of her confusion must have shown, for Tristan released a great, bellowing laugh which sent birds squawking up from the trees.
“I meant only that we could rest awhile in the shade.” Tristan composed his face with seeming difficulty. “You are quite safe with me, Mirrie, I give you my word.”
She inclined her head, attempting to hide her scalding cheeks.
“I know that.” She huffed out a breath, desperately reaching for her composure. “You are like a brother to me, Tris.”
How smoothly the lie trips from my tongue.
She was only glad that neither Frida nor Jonah was present to witness it. Though neither of them had confronted her on the matter directly, she suspected they both had some inkling of her long-held attraction to the eldest de Neville boy.
“And you are like a sister to me.” He waved a hand. “In truth, some of the time I like you better than my sisters.”
“Now I know that is untrue.”
The moment of danger had passed.
Still smiling, he twisted in his saddle to look at her. “I will ask again. Would you like to stop and rest? There is plentiful shade nearby, and this may be our last opportunity before luncheon.”
Mirrie’s legs and back were aching, but she knew they had many miles ahead of them and did not wish to delay them by requesting a pause in their journey this soon. And besides, her heart still fluttered too quickly for proper conversation.
“Nay, let us continue awhile yet.” Her horse caught up and they rode for a while in companionable silence, but Mirrie was aware that Tristan’s eyes kept turning down towards her. “What is it?” she demanded, hoping fervently that he would make no further reference to hisbrotherlyaffection.
“Since we are on the cusp of such intimate acquaintance, I wonder if I might ask you a question?”
Holy hell.
She would have preferred brotherly affection.
But she kept her gaze straight ahead, looking between her horse’s bright chestnut ears. “Go ahead.”
Tristan cleared his throat. “’Tis a little indelicate. If you do not wish to answer, you do not have to.”
Her heart threatened to leap out of her chest. “I will keep that in mind.”
Tristan reined in his long-striding horse so they fell into step together. “Just now, you mentioned the death of your parents. I recall there being some scandal around your father’s passing.”He had dropped his voice to a whisper, even though there was little chance of them being overheard. “I always wondered about it, but Father was emphatic that it should not be mentioned.”
“And here you are, disobeying him.”
