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He didn’t know how long he held her, only that she was the first to break the embrace. She pulled away with a gasp, glancing around nervously as if to make sure no one had seen them.
‘Robert...’ she sounded out of breath ‘...our agreement...’
The agreement. His blood cooled instantly at the reminder. For an intoxicating moment, he’d forgotten all about it—had thought she had, too. Apparently not. But after everything he’d just told her about his past, he didn’t feel up to discussing their arrangement just then. He certainly didn’t know how to explain what had just happened.
‘I’d like to swim.’
‘What?’
‘You asked me what I wanted. I want to swim.’
‘Now?’
He looked out to sea, trying to distract himself so that he wasn’t tempted to haul her back into his arms, agreement or not. They felt altogether too empty without her.
‘When I was a boy, I swam here all the time. Nobody cared. Then I got older, took on more responsibilities, became Robert Felstone Esquire, and people expected me to behave a certain way. But I still want to swim.’
She sat up, brushing the sand off her skirts. ‘I’d like to learn one day.’
He looked at her incredulously. ‘You can’t swim?’
‘I’ve never tried.’
‘You can’t live by the sea and not swim. It’s dangerous.’
‘Why?’ She sounded defensive. ‘It’s not as though I’m going to jump in.’
‘That’s not the point. I’m not taking you to the shipyard until you learn.’
‘But you promised!’
‘I didn’t know you’d be a liability.’
‘Then I wish I hadn’t told you.’ She scowled down at him. ‘Are you saying that everyone who works for you can swim?’
‘I make certain of it. Safety’s important.’
‘Oh.’ She was quiet for a moment. ‘So how would you go about teaching me?’
‘You can rent bathing huts further down the beach.’
‘It’s autumn!’
‘It’s the warmest October I can remember.’
‘Won’t people on the promenade be able to see?’
He shrugged. ‘A horse pulls the hut out into the water, but it’s perfectly respectable, I assure you. Ridiculous, but respectable.’
‘All right.’ She sounded circumspect. ‘I’ll let you teach me to swim, but only on one condition.’
‘Which is...?’
‘You have to recite a poem.’
‘What?’
‘Find one you like and recite it to Matthew.’
