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Chapter35
Stella’s small cart wasn’t too difficult to manage, and after a week of lessons and a new pair of driving gloves were delivered, I was somewhat adept at taking my mule and cart about Chelton’s small lanes. James met me at the stablehouse while the early morning fog still clung to the hilltops, a glint in his eye that spoke to something he had planned. My parents were set to arrive soon, and I was glad Lady Edith and I had found an agreeable rhythm with one another prior to their appearance. I was eager to show my parents the comfortable life I’d found at Chelton and within my new marriage.
“Where are we off to today?” I asked, taking the reins and settling myself on the driver’s seat of the cart. James and I had fallen into a routine over the previous week that suited both of us. In the mornings we went driving together, but we’d taken to playing chess in the evenings or I would read aloud while James listened on. He found he enjoyed stories, just not reading. Every day we made sacrifices for one another and found a way to choose our marriage and prioritize one another in small ways.
“Do you recall the day you rode Luna?” he asked.
“How could I forget?”
“Yes, well, I had wanted to show you something I thought you would appreciate. It is too far to reach on foot, and riding horses is out of the question, so I thought this would be the way to accomplish it.”
It took a moment for his meaning to settle. “You bought me a mule and cart and spent a week teaching me to manage them just so you could show me the thing you wanted to take me to when I first came to Chelton?”
“Yes.”
I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “That was extremely sweet of you, James.”
“Save your praise until you’ve seen the surprise. You could be disappointed and this will all be for naught.”
I highly doubted that would be the case, but I quieted. James directed me where to go and we left the stableyard and slipped onto a narrow lane that ran up toward the hills behind Chelton. The house shrank further away when we left the road for the rugged countryside, and I recognized the hills we climbed and the stream we passed from our first terrifying ride.
Birds sang above our heads and dove through the misty trees, but Stella was unruffled by them. She was sedate, steady, and strong, and I loved her excessively.
After we crested another hill, James sucked in an eager breath. Sunlight bore down on us, melting away the lingering fog, and the curves of the countryside were making themselves clear. “Just over there,” he said, pointing. “Toward that copse of trees.”
I directed Stella toward the thick crop of trees at the base of another hill and we navigated around grazing sheep dotting the grass, their long, fuzzy tails flicking occasionally.
When we reached the trees, a white stone building came into view, its pillars tall and shadowed by the doming ceiling above them.
“It is a folly,” James explained. “My grandfather had it built for my grandmother as something of an escape. She loved to paint, and she could often be found out here while her horse grazed the field. I thought you could find the same peace here that my grandmother seemed to.”
I pulled Stella to a halt before the beautiful folly and secured her reins. “It’s lovely, James.”
“You like it?” he asked hopefully.
“I do.”
He helped me down, and we walked toward the stone structure, mounting the steps until we stood on the platform. Chelton’s rolling hills and lush, green lawns spread out in every direction, dotted with sheep and trees and the faint sparkle of the river in the distance. Warm light touched the tips of the trees and edges of the hills, laying an orange glow over the varying shades of green, and I could see how a painter would long to spend hours here replicating the natural beauty.
“It is magical,” I said reverently. “But the best thing about it, I think, is how thoughtful it was of you to bring me here.”
“It was nothing, really,” he protested. “You drove the cart yourself.”
“But you bought me the mule and the cart, and you taught me to drive it. I have an escape now, and a way to bring myself here without being dependent upon another soul.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest, gazing out at the expanse of luscious land while I inhaled his spicy scent. “I do not deserve you.”
James scoffed. “The opposite is true.”
I leaned back to see into his eyes. “You jest.”
“No, I mean it. I cannot fathom how I was so fortunate to become your husband, Liss. I love you, dearly.”
“Heaven knows why.”
His arms tightened around me. “I’ve loved you, I think, since the moment you argued with your father in his study and begged him to allow us to test the waters of Society before entering into an official engagement.”
Loveon the second day of our acquaintance? Impossible. “You hardly knew me.”
“But you’d piqued my interest in the library, as you well know, and when I asked Mrs. Hutton for a character reference, she assured me that you came from the best of families and were possessed of a good character. I saw the truth of that character and your claims that you had not been trying to trap me for my money when you fought the engagement. I had gone to your house to do the respectable thing and protect my family name and your own, and I left the meeting with the confirmation that you were someone I wanted to marry.”
