Chapter 10
A stableboy came running as Gyles trotted into the stable yard. He dismounted; the boy led the horse away. Gyles hesitated, then went into the stable. He stopped before the stall in which Regina stood placidly munching.
“Her ladyship didn’t go out today.”
Gyles turned to see Jacobs coming up the aisle.
“She went for a walk. Saw her heading off to the bluff.”
Gyles inclined his head. There seemed little point in denying he’d been wondering where she was. He strolled back into the sunshine. It was early afternoon and very pleasant out of doors. Too pleasant to go inside to the ledgers that awaited him.
He discovered her on the bluff overlooking the bend in the river. Seated on a bench set amongst flowering shrubs with her back to the old rampart, she was gazing out over the river and fields. In her primrose day gown with a simple yellow ribbon threaded through her dark curls, she looked like a Florentine princess, pensive and far away. Untouchable. Unknowable. He paused, oddly unsure of his right to disturb her, so sunk in her thoughts and so still that sparrows hopped on the grass at her feet.
Her face was serene, composed-distant. Then she turned her head and looked directly at him, and smiled gloriously.
She gestured. “It’s so lovely here. I was admiring the view.”
He studied her face, then walked the last steps to the bench. “I’ve been at the bridge.”
“Oh?” She swept aside her skirts so he could sit. “Is it finished?”
“Almost.” He sat and looked out over the land-his land, his fields, his meadows. “The new bracing should ensure we don’t lose it again.”
“How many families live on the estate?”
“About twenty.” He pointed. “See those roofs? That’s one of the villages.”
She looked, then pointed east. “Is that another?”
“Yes.” He glanced at her. “You must have been here for some time to spot it.” The three thatched roofs were all but concealed by trees.
She lifted her face to the breeze, clearly enjoying having it ripple through her hair. “I’ve come here a few times. It’s a perfect vantage point from which to learn the lay of the land.”
He waited, his gaze on her face, but she kept her gaze on the rolling green and said no more.
“Have you had trouble with the staff?”
Her head whipped around. “No.” She considered him. “Did you think I would?”
“No.” He could see the subtle amusement lurking in her eyes. “But I did wonder how you were getting on.”
Her smile dawned. “Very well.” He lost contact with her eyes as she stood. “But I should be getting back.”
Suppressing a spurt of irritation, he rose, too, and matched her stride as she
climbed the sloping bank. He’d been trying for the last two days to get some indication of how she was faring, how she was coping. Whether she was happy. It wasn’t a question he could ask outright, not as things were. But a week had now passed since they’d wed, and while he had no complaints, he did wonder if she was content.
She was his wife, after all, and if he was having his cake and eating it, too, thanks to her sensible acceptance of his plan, then it seemed only fair that she should at least be satisfied with her new life.
But he couldn’t ask the simple question, and she stubbornly answered all his queries literally, smiling and sidestepping his point. That only made him wonder all the more.
At the top of the rise, she paused, drew in a savoring breath, then she slanted him a catlike smile. Her eyes held his as he joined her, daring him to look at her breasts, at her figure clearly outlined as the breeze plastered her gown to it.
Another of her ploys-distraction. He arched a brow, and she laughed. The husky sound spiraled through him, reminding him of the night just gone and they games they’d played.
She was an expert at distraction.
Smiling, she linked her arm through his. They started across the lawns, fallen leaves crunching under their feet, the scent of autumn in the air.