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‘It’s larger than you’d think. My lands stretch past this forest and across the fields on this side. Then closer to the village on the opposite side.’

They were nearing the top and he paused. ‘I thought you might enjoy the view from up here.’ He held out his hand to her, and she took it.

The moment she saw the fields spread out all around them, she let out a soft sigh of amazement. ‘Oh, Alaric.’

A large field of yellow daffodils bloomed in a vivid ribbon of colour in the morning sunlight. Her expression grew wistful. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before. Who planted the field?’

‘My mother did. She had meant to order a hundred bulbs for the gardens. But someone made a mistake, and they ordered ten thousand. And so she claimed this field and had them planted here instead. My father wasn’t happy about it because the land couldn’t be used for farming. But she told him it was his gift to her, and she wouldn’t allow him to take it back. He indulged her, and it was one of her favourite places to visit in springtime.’

‘I don’t blame her.’ She kept her hand in his and leaned back against him. ‘It’s breathtaking.’

He wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her as she stared out at the flowers. ‘I’m glad you like it.’

‘I do, yes.’ She glanced at him. ‘I think it’s one of the best gifts you’ve ever given to me.’

In her green eyes, he saw the joy that had been missing for weeks. And although he wanted nothing more than to kiss her soundly, he waited. ‘You’re welcome.’

Unspoken tension seemed to rise between them, but before he could claim the kiss, she turned her gaze back to the field.

‘How long has this been here?’ she asked.

‘A very long time,’ he admitted. ‘I was a boy, possibly eight years old, when they planted it.’ To lighten the mood, he added, ‘My brother tried to murder me here a time or two. He tried to shove me off the hill.’

Charlotte cast him a sidelong glance with a faint smile of her own. ‘I can’t say I haven’t considered doing the same in the past few weeks.’

‘And why is that?’

There was mischief in her eyes. ‘You did leave me for a long time.’ When he didn’t deny it, she pressed, ‘I still don’t understand why you stayed away for so long, Alaric.’

Although he didn’t really owe her an answer, he heard himself say, ‘It was wrong of me. But I swear to you, I never saw Lenora once during that entire time.’ He took a deep breath, inhaling the floral scent of her skin to steady himself. ‘At first, I stayed in town because I wanted to ensure your safety. But later, I needed to prove to myself that it wasn’t necessary to be around you each day.’

‘I don’t understand.’

He kept her in his arms. ‘You never saw my father after my mother died. He went into seclusion because losing her broke him apart. It shattered his mind, until he was no longer capable of taking care of Severn. The estate suffered, and he drove us into debt. We should have paid more attention to his grief. We should have stepped in to help him.’

‘You were not to blame for what happened,’ she said.

‘Wasn’t I? At the time, I had just begun courting Lenora. I was distracted and paid little attention to my father.’

He swallowed hard and admitted, ‘I swore to myself that I would never become like him. I stayed in London because I needed time. I thought I could put things back to the way they were before. When our marriage was just an arrangement.’

She didn’t look at him, but he heard the emotion in her voice when she ventured, ‘And did you succeed?’

‘No.’ If anything, he wanted her even more now.

‘But you still want it to be an arrangement, don’t you?’ Her voice was quiet, but heavy with unspoken emotions.

‘It was easier then,’ he admitted. Before he had known how good it could be between them, how much he desired her. Their marriage had shifted so quickly, he’d never imagined it could change so fast. Even now, he wanted to pull her back into his arms and breathe in the scent of her skin once more.

But the only reason why he wanted to return to the rules was the desire to return to a time when he hadn’t been so vulnerable.

Was there a way to compromise? he wondered. Maybe he didn’t have to become utterly besotted with his wife, the way his father had been. Maybe he could lower his boundaries and rebuild their marriage with quieter emotions, based upon respect and friendship. It didn’t have to be so all-consuming, did it?

‘Easier…’ Charlotte repeated. Her expression held a blend of hurt and anger. ‘Yes, I suppose it was far easier when our marriage was nothing more than conversations at mealtimes and occasionally consummating our union.’

He was doing a poor job of finding the right words. ‘I know we agreed on our rules to have separate lives. But we—’

‘The rules are ridiculous.’ She cut him off and took a step back. ‘They don’t work for me any more.’