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“I think women should wear what’s comfortable for them. Susan wears split skirts when she rides, and so does Alice. They just work better with the horses. I’ve seen horses get spooked by a skirt and almost kill a woman who was trying to mount it. So, I think bloomers should be worn on horses as well. And I think women should do things for fun and not always work. I don’t think Susan remembers what fun is. She thinks it’s relaxing to have several women over for tea, and then all of them do their mending together.”
“Oh, trust me. I always have fun.” She glanced over at him in the waning sunlight. “Are you looking for a wife?” She’d found she preferred straightforward questions. She would never know if she didn’t ask.
“I haven’t really been looking, but I’m not averse to the idea either. Say if a woman who was supposed to marry someone else came into town, realized the man was not suitable for her to marry, well then, I might be interested.”
Sydney grinned. “I see. How would you know if you were interested? Or more importantly how would the young lady in question know if you were interested?” She was finding herself more and more enamored of the man by the moment. When everyone had started telling her she needed to marry Lewis, she’d thought they were just being silly, or trying to get her to marry an undesirable man. Now she knew he was a truly viable option.
“Well, I guess if the woman appealed to me physically, then I’d try to get to know her a little better. I don’t want to marry a woman who thinks it’s my job to keep the house, or thinks she needs to constantly have a servant working for her. Albert had a crush on a woman like that for a while, and neither of us wanting to marry a woman who would sit around reading dime novels all day instead of working.”
“And once you got to know her some? How would you let her know you were interested in a little more than just a casual acquaintance?” she persisted.
“Well, I think I’d probably take her waist in my hands, like so,” he said, putting his words to action. “And then I’d probably try to steal a kiss.” When his lips pressed against hers, she felt a shiver run up her spine. Many men had stolen kisses from her, but they all bored her. Not Lewis.
Once he raised his head, she looked at him, wondering what would happen next. “I see.”
“Then I’d tell my ma that I wanted to know everything about the girl, and she’d figure out how to find that stuff out. Probably by asking the girl herself.”
“That makes sense.”
“And then I’d have her over for supper, and let my Pa and Susan tell me what they thought of her after. In my experience, when you marry, you marry the whole family, and not just one person. But once I found out that they liked her, I may just propose that fast. I don’t see a need for grass to grow under my feet.”
“We should probably head inside,” Sydney said softly. She was still so tired from her journey. “I’ll be curious to know what your parents thought of me.”
“Me too.”
Once they reached the house, Sydney sought out Susan and bid her goodnight. She was too tired to stay up much longer. “I promise I won’t sleep this much tomorrow,” she said with a laugh.
Susan shook her head. “It’s going to take a few days for you to recover from that journey.”
“I hope you’re wrong, and I’m at full strength tomorrow. I want to help with the chores.”
“I’d like that a lot. Goodnight, Sydney.”
“Goodnight, Susan.” Sydney turned to David and then to Lewis, both of whom were right there. “Goodnight, gentleman. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, she went upstairs to find the comfortable bed she’d napped on for so long. A bath could wait until morning.
