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Finally, she seemed to relax enough to allow the rich laughter that he loved to hear from her. It was rare for her to do so in his presence.
“For one thing, I wouldn’t be nearly as concerned about not getting dirty. And could allow myself to become absorbed in my own thoughts instead of needing to pay attention to what others might be saying.”
Ashford joined her in laughing. “I can see how that would be far more enjoyable.” He allowed silence to lapse between them for a moment before asking her gently, “Would you rather be left to your own thoughts now? We can just ride along in silence, if you’d prefer.”
She stared at him with a somewhat inscrutable expression. Ash suspected she was enthralled with his suggestion.
“Wouldn’t that be rude of me?”
Ash laughed again. “Not since I offered. It might be rude if I was trying to have a conversation and you just ignored me, but if we both have agreed to spend some time with our own thoughts, then we’re being most polite, wouldn’t you agree?”
She laughed and shook her head but didn’t bother replying; she merely allowed her horse to sidle up next to his and matched his pace.
It was a beautiful day and the surroundings were picturesque. While Ash would have enjoyed finding out from Lady Vigilia what she had discussed with Bertram, he found himself quite enjoying the companionable silence that grew between them.
Close to ten minutes had passed by as they were each absorbed in their own thoughts, causing Ash to suspect they would make the entire trip back to Crossley in silence, when Vigilia surprised him with a question.
“Might I interrupt your thoughts to ask you a question, Mr. Northcott?”
“You certainly may,” he answered with a grin.
She returned his smile with a small one of her own, as though she were anxious, and he was instantly contrite. “What is it?” he prompted as he grew concerned.
Again, her smile was small and tight, but she took a deep breath and asked, “Do you have any sort of relationship with the Court?”
If Ash had tried to guess what she was going to ask him, never in a year of guesses would he thought of that. He frowned over her words, wondering what could possibly be behind them.
“The King’s Court, do you mean?” At her vigorous nod, he frowned again. “Not in particular,” he said. “Why are you asking? Do you think I might make a good courtier?” He tried to make light of her question, but she seemed terribly earnest for the strange question. When she continued to stare at him, chewing on her lip as though she were nervous, Ash fought the urge to pull her into his arms to offer comfort to her.
“What is it, my dear? Have you been invited to court?” Ash couldn’t imagine what had prompted the strange question and her equally strange nervous reaction.
“No, no, no reason, really, I was just wondering if you know His Majesty well or have had any dealings with him.”
Ash shrugged, not really convinced this was what had motivated her question, as she seemed far too skittish for it to be something so simple as just making conversation. His eyes flitted over to where Bertram was ahead of them, riding with Lord Clifton, but had turned in his saddle to watch him and Vigilia’s approach. His heart felt as though it had skipped a beat, and his mind almost stuttered to a stop for a split second.Was the bounder truly trying to involve Lady Vigilia in his traitorous schemes?Ash had suspected as much but hadn’t thought the viscount would actually stoop to such lows.
“Has Lord Bertram been speaking ill of His Majesty, my lady? Is that your concern? Because even if I was close with the king, I wouldn’t necessarily run to him with tales. It would be far better to intervene with any plots than to run to Court for help.”
The young woman beside him paled suddenly and was blinking rapidly. She began to stammer. “No, no, of course he wasn’t speaking ill of the king. How could anyone do so? I don’t know His Majesty well, of course, but he seemed quite lovely when I was presented. And, of course, him being unwell lately.”
“My lady, whatever has come over you?” Ashford finally interrupted her wild flow of words. “Have you had too much sunshine this afternoon?”
He watched as she clamped her lips between her teeth as though to keep herself silent. She shook her head and avoided meeting his gaze. Ash’s gaze again slid toward Lord Bertram, who appeared inordinately interested in their conversation.
“Vigilia, you know I’ll stand your friend if you should ever need one, right?”
It was evident to him that she was trying to recover her sorely misplaced composure. She offered him a smile that didn’t quite seem sincere.
“Of course, Mr. Northcott, thank you, but I truly meant very little by my question. I was merely making conversation. But if you don’t wish to discuss politics, perhaps you’d like to tell me about your business affairs.” Suddenly, her face flooded with colour, and she finally met his eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry. I was just wondering if you miss India or if you were relieved to return to England.”
Ashford laughed. These seemed to be the first genuine words out of her mouth since they had started their ride back to Crossley.
“That’s a difficult question to answer, to be honest.” His words brought a charming wrinkle to her nose.
“What’s difficult about it?” she demanded.
“I’m really of two minds on the topic. Having grown up in England, I will probably always feel an affinity for it. But I have seen some remarkably beautiful parts of the world that I long to return to when I am here. On the other hand, when I am elsewhere, I long to return home. It is a dreadful conundrum.”
Her rich laughter rang out, sounding to him as though there were an edge of hysteria to it, but she seemed to be relaxing back into his company.
