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“I want you to be happy and do what’s best.”
“There’s so much pressure.” Sarah closed her eyes. “From my father, I meant.”
“And now that he’s arriving here, I’m sure that the pressure is mounting.”
“Indeed.” Sarah looked off into the distance, wishing that it was all different. “I suppose I must be honest with him. Yet still, I feel as though he won’t listen.”
“I can speak with him if you wish.”
Sarah’s lips broke into a smile. “And what would you say?”
Now Reginald was the one to smile. “I’d tell him that you’ve fallen for another.”
Sarah’s gaze turned serious. Was Reginald toying with her? Her affections for him grew quickly and ferociously, but there was no world in which she could ask the man to have a conversation with her father. The Earl of Benton would think the whole matter preposterous.
But what if her father approved of Reginald in some way? Would Sarah be willing to move to Wales, leaving her father and Lisbeth behind? Oh, but why was she even having these extreme thoughts? It was all too difficult to comprehend.
“I must return to my sister,” Sarah said warmly, politely removing her hand.
Reginald nodded his head. “We’ve tarried for too long.”
“I think you will enjoy my father’s company. Despite the pressure that he puts upon me, he is a good man.”
“I have no doubt. He has raised a good daughter.”
They both smiled at one another yet again. Sarah considered that she didn’t wish to leave the little plot of grass where they sat. The rest of the guests had entirely disappeared, leaving Sarah and Reginald alone. How could the duke not suspect?
“Come,” Reginald said, getting up from the ground and putting out his hand. He hoisted Sarah up effortlessly with his strong arm.
Sarah had to wonder from whence Reginald got all his strength. If he was merely a hermit, ensconced in his estate in Wales, why was he built like a Corinthian?
“I suppose my sister will be terribly cross with me for staying out so long.”
“Why didn’t she attend?” the earl asked, walking back to where their horses were tied to a tree.
“She stated that she wished to remain at the estate to sit in the garden. Although Lisbeth is much more social than I am, she does like to seclude herself from time to time.”
“I understand the feeling.”
“I could have remained in the library all night. The duke does have a remarkable selection. I’ll grant him that.”
Just then, Reginald became silent and distant, and Sarah had to wonder if she’d said something amiss. Finally, he spoke. “He has a lot to offer you, Lady Sarah.”
She knitted her brow. Although the statement was true, there was nothing that the duke could give her in terms of affection.
“I’m not sure that I need what he is offering. Oh, there would be endless parties and balls, and I’d spend the rest of my life trying to escape all of that.”
“Again, this is something that I’m familiar with.”
Just as they reached the horses, a gust of wind blew between them, and once more, something came over Sarah that she could not describe. She stepped in close to Reginald, got up on her tiptoes, and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“I’m grateful for your good council,” she said.
It was the first time that she saw in Reginald’s eyes something akin to longing. She recognized it because it was precisely what she was feeling at that moment. She’d never kissed a man on the cheek before. It was the only appropriate gesture to signify what she was truly feeling.
Reginald’s jaw was knit as he looked down at her. Yes, perhaps Sarah had finally gone too far. “I apologize,” she said, looking down towards the ground.
Reginald reached out and placed a finger underneath her chin, tilting her face towards his.
