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Her laughter echoed around them as she took the lead to the lake. "Do you know what is impressive, Rowan?" she called out to him.
"What?"
"The fact that Hersings can contain that head of yours.” Knowing he would chase her, she spurred her mare into a gallop. He easily caught up with her and the remainder of their ride to the lake was very pleasant. He had not teased her or smiled this much in a while. He had missed it. They secured their mounts to a tree before walking the rest of the way to the lake.
"Oh!” She gasped when she saw the picnic he’d had arranged for them. "The little elves must have known of our plans. Look, they even have a picnic set up for us."
"Indeed," Albert played along. "I am famished. Let's see what they prepared, shall we?"
Albert plucked a dried fruit and offered it to her after they had sat down on the blanket. She made to collect it with her hand, but he pulled it away. "Allow me," he said.
As he fed her the dried fruit, her lips lightly brushed his fingers. Although fleeting, the contact awakened his body, settling uncomfortably in his loins. He took the sweet torture in stride, still determined not to seduce her. "This tastes like honey," she chewed. "It is very sweet and… floral?”
"You are right." He smiled at her accuracy. "It is called a fig."
"Interesting. I have never had one before.” She put another into her mouth, closing her eyes in obvious relish.
"It is imported from Greece, and I always try to acquire some," he continued. "I like exploring exotic things, you see."
"The horses gave that away," she murmured, reaching for some cheese now. As she nibbled on the cheese, her brows came together.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"What sort of cheese is this? I have never had anything like it."
"Another–"
"Exotic?" she finished for him. It delighted him when she did that.
"Yes," he laughed, "it is from a town in South Holland known for its seasonal cheese market held in the medieval-looking market squares."
"I should love to visit a cheese market like that," she said. He watched her bite into another fig. "Good heavens!"
"Are you well?"
"I think I am eating a piece of heaven. Try these two together.” She placed a small square of cheese and a piece of fig into his hand.
"Itisheaven," he agreed, savoring the mellowed blend of flavors.
"I think the fig softens the slightly overwhelming taste of the cheese. But the cheese's sourness, in turn, perfectly unearths the fruit's hidden richness." Albert burst out laughing. He never knew this part of her, and he wondered if he would have learned of it had he not brought her out here.
"What?" She eyed him with suspicion.
"Such elaboration. And here I thought myself a food connoisseur." She went on to tell him of her passion for flavors before asking him about his horse racing days.
"I first became interested in horses and racing them to spite my father," he began. She quirked a curious brow but did not say anything. "He was not against me keeping the animals' company as he was my interactions with the grooms and farriers. I spent an awful lot of time in the stables when I was a youth, you see. He thought the servants less than the horses, and most definitely beneath a future Duke. The more aversion he showed, the more time I wanted to spend with them. Those servants taught me more than he ever did, in the end. They probably even cared more."
His last statement had come out unbidden, but somehow, admitting that fact that had gnawed at him for years to Edwina felt right. He had never told anyone, not even Steven. There was a certain strength that he felt at the sudden appearance of concern in her gaze when she asked, "What was your father like?"
"What was a man who would send his steward to represent him at his own wife's funeral like?" Albert returned, bitterness rising within him. He might have been just five years of age, but the conversation he had overheard between the former Duke and his steward was one that tainted his childhood memories forever.
"I am sorry," Edwina whispered, touching his hand.
"Do not be, Darling." He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "He is gone. Everything is in the past."
"Some things linger." she shook her head. “You cannot tell me that they do not. Especially the consequences of their selfish actions. Although he loved me, I find myself still paying for my own father's bad choices. My stepmother and half-brother—”
"You do not have to endure their cruelty any longer, Edwina." He inched closer to her and wrapped his arms about her, tilting her face up to his. When her lips parted, he knew he could not resist kissing her.
