Mr. Drew chuckled nervously. “What would you care to know?”
“How did you meet her?”
“We grew up together,” he shared. “I cannot remember a time when Rebecca wasn’t involved with my life.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
“Heavens, no,” he replied. “She is many years younger than me, but our mothers were dear friends. Whenever her mother would come over to visit, she would tag along and follow me around the manor.”
“When did you start developing affection for her?”
Mr. Drew grew silent for a long moment. “It was about a year ago,” he shared. “I saw her walking down the street, and it hit me. I realized that she had grown into a beautiful young woman and I wanted to be a part of her life.”
“Did she feel the same way?”
“Not at first, especially since our paths hadn’t crossed since I left for Cambridge,” he explained. “I knew I needed to rectify that situation by calling on her the very day I saw her on the street.”
“I take it that it went well.”
He shook his head. “It did not,” he replied. “She spent the time chiding me for racing my horses too fast on the roads.”
“She does have a point,” Henrietta said. “It isn’t safe to race your horse on country roads.”
“I agree, which is why I promised that I would stop racing my horses with my friends.”
“Did that appease her?”
A smile came to his lips. “It did, for a time,” he shared. “Then she found something else to complain about.”
“Which was?”
“One of our tenants, Mrs. Moore, is a widow, and she lived in a small cottage near the edge of our property,” Mr. Drew explained. “Our steward wanted to evict her because she hadn’t paid rent in months and started the process without our knowledge.”
He continued. “Mrs. Moore went to the vicar for assistance, and Rebecca decided to get involved. She marched right over to our manor and requested to speak to my father. After an impassioned speech, she demanded that we let Mrs. Moore remain in the cottage.”
“How was that received?”
“Not well,” he admitted. “My father dismissed her concerns out of hand and returned to his work.”
“So what happened to Mrs. Moore?”
Mr. Drew shifted on his saddle, then said, “I followed Rebecca out of the manor, determined to give her a piece of my mind. Then, I saw the tears in her eyes, and I was undone.” He paused. “I agreed to help her, knowing I would do anything to make her happy.”
“How did you convince your father?”
He huffed. “My father is quite stubborn, and it took much persuading on my part to convince him to let Mrs. Moore stay in the cottage,” he said. “In lieu of rent, she mends all the clothes at the manor.”
“That was kind of you.”
He looked uncomfortable with her praise. “It was of little consequence to me.”
“To you, perhaps, but I am sure it meant a great deal to Mrs. Moore and Rebecca.”
“That it did,” Mr. Drew agreed. “Rebecca was immensely grateful for what I had done, but her heart still hadn’t been turned towards me.”
“No?”
He grinned. “She is quite the stubborn little minx,” he said. “It took a great amount of wooing on my part before she started softening towards me.”
