Miles quickly put his hand up. “My apologies. I did not mean to be insensitive. Forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive,” she assured him.
His next words slipped out before he could stop them. “Beautiful and gracious,” he murmured.
A blush crept up Edwina’s cheeks as she lowered her gaze. “You shouldn’t say such things, my lord,” she chided.
“But it is the truth,” Miles insisted.
Edwina brought her gaze back up. “We hardly know one another.”
“That may be true, but I already consider you a friend,” he confessed. “Do you not feel the same way?”
In a soft voice, she replied, “I do.”
“Then with your permission, may I call you by your given name?” Miles asked.
Edwina seemed to consider his words. “I have never given a gentleman leave to call me by my given name before,” she remarked.
“I am not just any gentleman,” Miles started, “since we have already shared an embrace.”
Her eyes went wide at his words. “A true gentleman would never bring that up.”
Miles chuckled at her reaction. “I am just merely pressing my point.”
After a moment of contemplation, Edwina conceded. “Very well, you may call me by my given name, but only when we are alone.”
“And you will call me Miles.”
Edwina met his gaze, uncertainty flickering in her eyes. She spoke in a hushed tone, barely louder than a whisper. “And I shall call you Miles.”
Feeling a need to tease her, he leaned closer and asked, “What was that?”
Her eyes darted around the path before saying, “Miles.”
Miles wasn’t prepared for how his heart reacted to her using his given name. It felt right. Comfortable.
Edwina pointed towards a quaint thatched roof cottage just off the path. “This is the Warrens’ cottage.” She held her hand out. “If you give me the basket, I shall drop it off to them.”
“I can deliver the basket to them myself.”
“That is wholly unnecessary,” she insisted. “You don’t need to trouble yourself by coming to the door with me.”
His lips twitched. “Why, Edwina, are you embarrassed by me?”
Her mouth dropped. “No, I am not, but you are a lord?—”
“And you are a lady,” Miles interjected.
“Yes, but you are a stranger to them,” Edwina reasoned.
As they stood debating, the door to the cottage opened and a short, rounded woman stood in the doorway. “Lady Edwina, is everything all right?” she called out.
Edwina dropped her hand as she replied in a cordial voice, “Yes, Mrs. Warren. Lord Hilgrove and I were just discussing who would have the honor of delivering a basket to you. It is from all of us at Brockhall Manor.”
With a graceful wave, Mrs. Warren encouraged them forward. “Do come in. I have no doubt that Mr. Warren would be delighted to meet Lord Hilgrove.”
Miles secured his horse before he followed Edwina inside the cottage, where the scent of freshly baked bread and warm spices filled the air. Once inside, he extended the basket to Mrs. Warren.
