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“Yes, well, I’ve been coming down to visit with them when things get too…hectic at the house. They’re very soothing.”
“That’s true.”
She could feel his eyes on her, so intent it almost burned her flesh.
“What is it?” she asked, unable to look at him.
“I just…I am surprised that I did not know you came here. Shall we ride?”
“Yes.”
She saddled Henry VII while Bertram did the same with his usual black mare, named Cleopatra. They set out side by side, riding out to the road before taking off across the fields, galloping steadily as the wind whipped at their hair and added to their exhilaration.
They got to the downs and Letty challenged Bertram to a race. She was not surprised when he won. While she loved riding, he had practically grown up on a horse.
“You’re no gentleman,” she pouted. “You’re supposed to let me win.”
He threw back his head and laughed, the joyful sound filling her heart with gladness. “Who says?”
“Well, if you loved me, you would let me win.”
He laughed again before alighting from his horse and hobbling it and then coming to help her off her own horse. “BecauseI love you, I will tell you the secret to winning a race.”
She looked expectantly at him. “Well? What is it?”
“Choose a fast horse.”
She hit him on the arm. “No slander against Henry VII will be tolerated.”
With a chuckle and a shake of his head, he turned away from her. “Come. Let us leave the horses to their grazing. I wish to show you a little cove where I go sometimes when I want to be alone.”
“Is that so?” she smiled coquettishly as she fell in step beside him, “Do you wish to take advantage of me there?”
He snorted. “You’re more likely to take advantage of me. I am agentleman.”
Wrapping her arm around his she smiled as they walked companionably, not able to identify what it was that was niggling at the back of her mind. A feeling, an emotion that felt both foreign and yet familiar. Suddenly she stopped short, staring at nothing.
“Letty? What’s wrong?”
She began walking again, shaking her head. “It’s nothing. Just…I realized something.”
He reached for her hand, squeezing gently. “Would you like to tell me what it is?”
She considered him thoughtfully. “I am happy.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oh? I am glad to hear it.”
“No, you do not understand.”
“Well, then explain it to me, please.”
She huffed a bit, watching her feet as they walked, trying to arrange her words in a way that he would understand. “I…am happy.” She bit her bottom lip, watching him from beneath her lashes, “I just…I do not remember the last time I felt this way.”
He pulled her to him, encircling her shoulders with his hand. “I’m truly glad then,” he said softly before leaning in to kiss her cheek.
“Me, too.” She grinned at him and then let him go so that she could skip ahead, her hands in the air, feeling so carefree it was all she could do not to scream it to the wind.
“This way!” Bertram called and she whirled around to find that he had turned down a hidden pathway. She ran to him, letting him hold her hand as he led her down to the beach. The wind was crisp and sharp but she had a shawl around her shoulders and it was sufficient to keep her from feeling cold.
