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“And leave you here by yourself? What manner of man do you think I am?” He motioned for her to sit.
“I must get my food from the sideboard first,” she began to say but he held up a hand.
“Allow me that honor,” he said, pointing at a covered dish on the table beside him. “I served you myself, selecting for you everything I would eat."
"Which is everything off the sideboard, I presume?" Edwina laughed, sitting down and allowing him to uncover her food.
"You know me so well already," Albert said. There was only one footman in the room and she suspected Albert had instructed him to not interfere. She rather liked the attention he was lavishing on her. As expected, the plate was full to the point of spilling.
"I am ready to eat," she agreed, accepting the coffee he handed her.
"Now, what do I get for my troubles?" A slow smile spread across his features.
"The gratitude of a satisfied lady?" she suggested.
"My services are worth more than that," he snorted.
"Are you bargaining? I did not know that Dukes bargain.”
"I need to know how to bargain in order to be a good Duke. Arguing skills are valuable in the House of Lords."
"What is your price then?" she asked.
"I shan't tell you now," he winked.
"Why is that?" She cut a piece of bacon and ate it.
"Leverage," he replied. "You see, people have the tendency to forget what is not right before them. This is my way of intruding into your thoughts now and again, keep you wondering what it is that I will come asking for."
As if he was not already plaguing her thoughts and dreams. Edwina’s face warmed and she did not know if it was his words or the coffee in front of her. Believing it was the coffee was safer. Albert was excellent company, she discovered as she ate and he was knowledgeable in various topics of conversation.
After breakfast, she returned to her bedchamber to change her slippers for sturdy boots, deciding to go find the lake on the Estate that Danny had mentioned earlier. The morning was a good one for a little dip.
After changing and donning her bonnet, she took the route through the garden to appreciate its beauty. She reached a very green part of the gardens with fountains and statues everywhere. She turned to admire a marble statue of a woman holding a water pot. "Going somewhere?"
She started and turned to see Albert sitting on the ledge of a fountain. "I have never seen an idler Duke in my life. Are you following me?”
“I wish I was. I just finished speaking with the gardener and thought I should rest here for a bit.”
“Rest? In the morning?” she jested.
“Being a Duke is a very tasking job. Every minute of rest is important,” he returned in an equally teasing tone.
“I heard there is a lake on the Estate. I am on my way to find it.”
"You mean Glass Blanket?" he asked. She blinked in confusion.
"Glass Blanket," he repeated. “The name was my sister's idea."
Edwina did not know which was more surprising; that a lake was called Glass Blanket or that he had a sister. She had never heard of her. "I did not know you have a sister."
"I do. She is married and lives in Russia.” He kicked a pebble on the ground and began to walk toward an opening that led out of that part of the gardens.
She followed him, lifting her skirts a little and quickening her pace to catch up to him. "She eloped at six-and-ten and almost gave the former Duke apoplexy," he continued as they walked.
"Good heavens!" Edwina breathed but not out of surprise at his sister’s elopement but at the way he had impersonally referred to his father as the former Duke. And she wondered what kind of family he had while growing.
When they reached Glass Blanket, Edwina understood why the lake was given such a name. She had never seen stiller and bluer waters. It was so serene in its beauty that one would wish never to part from it. That was how she felt as she stood before it.
