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She put a hand to her brow to block out the sunlight, looking toward a distant glitter.
“Aye, that’s it,” Felix replied.
She squinted. “It’s nae as big as the ones at home. I daenae think there’s any loch as big as Loch Ness. Ye’d think it was a sea, if ye stand at one end and look ahead of ye.”
“I’ve never seen it.” Felix kept his gaze fixed on the horizon.
She cast him a curious glance. “I ken I said we dinnae have to hold empty conversations, but ye can put a few more words in yer replies. Ye forget, I ken ye’re capable of full sentences now, so ye cannae fool me into thinkin’ ye’re a mute.”
He turned to face her, wearing a bemused expression. She did not know what had confused him, and doubted he would tell her, but she hoped he would take heed of her words. If she was to be his wife, she wanted there to besomeconversation. Moreover, his invitation to the loch had softened her impression of him, as had the way in which he had stepped in to save her reputation last night.
I should ken more about him,she told herself.We daenae have to be friendly, we daenae have to feel affection, but if we can be civil, that wouldnae be so terrible.As he had offered civility in giving her a horse and allowing her to join him, she felt inclined to return the favor.
“What happened to yer horse?” he said, after a few moments. “Is there a reason ye cannae have the beast sent here?”
Of all the things he could have asked, that was not what she had anticipated.
“Kenney sold her,” she replied flatly. “I went to the stables one mornin’ to take her out, and was kindly informed that she wasnae there anymore, and I wasnae allowed to ride anymore. Kenney’s orders. I daenae ken who she was sold to, though I tried to find out. That’s why I cannae have her sent here.”
Anger flared in Felix’s eyes. “Was she a gift?”
“Aye, from my faither.”
“Then, she was yer rightful possession,” Felix muttered. “Kenney had nae right to do that.”
Edwina nodded. “I ken, but Kenney does as he pleases, as ye’ve recently discovered. It doesnae surprise me anymore, though—there’s nothin’ of mine left at Beckingdale Manor. He wouldnae even let me keep the gowns and dresses that my faither had made for me. He insisted on purchasing entirely new garments, all the opposite of my taste. Still, it gives me comfort to think he’s threatened by the ghost of my faither.”
“It does?” Felix’s eyes widened, and though his sentences were still short, she noticed a genuine interest in his expression. As such, she did not mind the short replies.
“Och, it has been my only joy since my faither passed,” she explained. “Whenever I am with Kenney, and someone mentions how wonderful my faither was, and how dearly he is missed, I take great pleasure in watchin’ the idiot squirm. Sometimes, he turns purple with anger, but there is nothin’ he can say without appearin’ like a spoiled, ungrateful wretch. It is truly satisfyin’.”
Felix laughed. The charming sound dulled the sharp edges of his aloof demeanor, bringing some warmth into his eyes and some humor into his otherwise cold exterior.
She peered at him. “Ye find me misery amusin’?”
It was meant in jest, but the sudden frown that furrowed his brow suggested he did not understand that.
“I wouldnae mock anyone’s misery when it came to losin’ a beloved faither,” he insisted, suddenly verbose. “I just liked the picture that ye conjured of Kenney, puce in the face, because he kens he’ll never be what yer faither was. He likely kens that he doesnae deserve and isnae respectable enough to have that Earldom, either.”
She smiled. “I was teasin’, Felix. Ye have to laugh at these things, or the grief will overwhelm ye. It’s the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned, as it never fails to annoy Kenney.”
“Oh—” he blinked, and the echo of a smile returned to his lips.
“Ye daenae jest much at Castle Moore, do ye?”
He shook his head. “There’s nae much opportunity.”
“Well, now that I am here, that will have to change,” she told him, grinning to help him understand that she was half joking. “I willnae ask anythin’ else of ye, but I must have my humor. Och, and I wouldnae mind havin’ the use of dear Buttercup whenever the impulse strikes. What do ye say to such terms?”
He scratched his short, dark beard. “They’re… acceptable.”
“Excellent. In that case, let us race.”
“Pardon?”
She flashed him a wink, getting revenge at last. “Last one to the loch must dine with Kenney this evenin’.” Squeezing her thighs, she urged her mare into a canter, determined to leave her worries and fears and disappointment in the dust.
As she rode hard, letting the thrill of the race chase away everything else, a thought popped into her head.Maybe this marriage might nae be so terrible, after all.Or, perhaps, that was what she had to believe in order to stop herself from riding on and on, until this entire mess was as far behind her as possible.
