He offered her his arm, and she curled her hand over it. Feeling the firm muscles shifting under her fingers as his arm tensed.
They proceeded to the dining room, and he sat her by the head of the table, next to him. The scene was so intimate, so domestic. Almost as if they were a married couple... No. Stop it Abigail! She chided herself.
Fortunately, he did not continue the conversation in the same vein as before. Maybe she really had dispelled any doubts he might have had, or maybe he had taken pity on her and abandoned the cat-and-mouse game. Either way, she was grateful for the reprieve.
The dinner passed in conversation about the estate and the plans they were working on. At her prompt, he shared some stories about his life abroad. Although she noticed he didn’t go into any specifics and she suspected there was much he didn’t talk about. That was normal, she supposed. She, too, had things she never talked about.
And yet, she found herself intensely inclined to know everything about him.
CHAPTER 11
“ABIGAIL! DO YOU WANTto go riding with me?”
Abigail sighed. Lady Elizabeth had descended on the house like a summer whirlwind a week before. It was exhausting to keep up with the boundless energy of a seventeen-year-old. Especially one as exuberant as her. The girl was chomping at the bit at being secluded in the country. And it had fallen on Abigail to entertain her.
The countess rarely left the room, and the earl, after an awkward first meeting, had mostly avoided his sister.
“I can’t, darling. I promised to take tea with your mother.” Tea sounded like a more sedate activity than galloping about.
“Bah! I’m sure mother will be glad to excuse you. Please, do say you will come with me. I am positively dying of boredom.”
That was laying it on a bit thick, in Abigail’s opinion, but she conceded it was a lovely day for a ride and that the girl had been confined to the house for a few days now.
“All right. Let me go put on my riding habit and inform your mother.”
“Splendid! I’ll see you in the stables in half an hour.”
Thirty minutes later, they cantered out of the stable yard and onto the gentle slopes that surrounded the estate beyond the park. They gave their horses freedom to gallop for a while before reining them to a more sedate pace.
Elizabeth was a splendid horsewoman and riding brought out color to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eye. With her jet black hair, big blue eyes and delicate features, the girl was a beauty. She was also quick-witted and charming. She would be a diamond of the first water in her London season.
They rode about until they were both rosy cheeked and laughing. Then rode back into the stables in high spirits. Ladies didn’t groom their own horses, but Elizabeth was very fond of her mare and liked to groom her herself, so Abigail stayed around and helped her while a groom led away her horse.
“Do you think my brother hates me?”
The question was so unexpected that Abigail wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.
