“Why?”
“Because . . .” He ran a hand behind his neck, looking more nervous than upset or uncomfortable. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Is that good?”
“I think it’s the only way it could be, because I don’t think there is anyone else like you.”
So many thoughts swirled through her brain—emotions, sensations, impulses that part of her wanted to share—but the words were clouded behind the uncertainty.
“Don’t make more of this than it is,” Aaron said with a sigh.
Ah, there was the discouragement she’d come to expect from him. The statement should have been negative, but instead it settled Sophia’s uncertainty and freed her tongue.
“Are you afraid I’ll never leave now that you’ve shown me a bit of kindness, Aaron?” She grinned up at him.
“Why don’t we just see what happens tomorrow, hmm?”
“I can do that.”
He nodded, then headed for the stable. He paused on the second step down from the veranda and turned to look at her over his shoulder.
“What?” she asked after he’d stared long enough to make her toes wiggle in her boots.
“I like hearing you say my name.”
Of all the things he could have said, that was one she’d least expected. By the time she’d gathered her wits, he was halfway across the lawn.
A rustle of skirts indicated she was no longer alone on the veranda. Lady Adelaide waited until Aaron had disappeared into the stable before saying, “Are you ready to see your room? I know it’s late, but I’ve had them prepare a bath for you. I hate sleeping in travel dust.”
Travel dust was a kind way of describing the filth that currently coated Sophia’s person. The last two days had been approximately one month long, and she felt like all of it had accumulated on her skin. She’d cleaned half of Suffolk from beneath her fingernails before dinner.
“That would be lovely, thank you.” Sophia bit her lip and folded her skirt through her fingers. “If it isn’t too much trouble, may I see if one of the maids has a spare night rail?”
“I’ve already had one laid out on the bed in your room.” Lady Adelaide blinked at her, blue eyes looking enormous behind black-rimmed spectacles. “I hope you don’t mind my taking the liberty.”
She should be embarrassed, but she was suddenly too exhausted to care. “I don’t mind.”
“Good.” Lady Adelaide led the way to the first floor and pointed to a door on her right. “We put your brother in that room. He intended to come back down after cleaning up, but the footman said he found him snoring in the bed when he went to clear the water.”
“Understandable.” Sophia could imagine how nice a bath had felt after a week in that cottage.
“This is where you’ll be staying.” Lady Adelaide swung open the door to a room Sophia couldn’t have even dreamed about.
Tasteful elegance covered every surface, from the rose-and-cream-colored carpet, to the gold bed with its green canopy, to the brilliant white trim around the two large windows. Two windows!
“I can’t stay here,” she breathed.
Lady Adelaide frowned. “It’s the windows, isn’t it? This is my favorite of the guest chambers, but it’s the only one that faces east. I assumed you were an early riser because of the riding.”
“It’s not the windows.” Sophia took two steps into the room, reality catching up with her wonder. She twirled about in the middle of the grand room and laughed. “This is the most beautiful room I have ever seen.”
Lady Adelaide cleared her throat. “Good. Hopefully that will make up for everything else I did.”
Sophia stopped twirling, a smile still spread across her face. She couldn’t imagine this woman doing anything awful. She was sweet and demure and everything gentle.
But the grin on the lady’s face showed a heretofore unseen impish side. “All that can wait until tomorrow. You must be tired, and your bath is getting cold.” She gave a smirk and then froze, her eyes widening. “Goodness, I think my husband might be corrupting me after all. He’ll be so proud.” She strode toward the door. “I’ll send in a maid to assist with your bath and take your clothing to be laundered.”
An hour later, Sophia was still confused but clean and wallowing in a cloud that someone had managed to tie to a bed frame. Whatever her hostess had planned no longer mattered. Even before the maids finished tidying up, she was asleep.
IN SOPHIA’S EXPERIENCE, wonderful moments were often followed by terrible days, so she rose the next morning half expecting life to go horribly wrong.
The day decided to pleasantly surprise her.
Her old clothing, cleaned and neatly pressed, sat in hilariously prominent display in the dressing room off the bedchamber. Jonas greeted her at the bottom of the stairs with a tight hug and a grin. Neither of them sported circles beneath their eyes, and no stomachs grumbled in empty protest.
He had to leave before her, but she didn’t mind eating by herself before going to the stable. She promised Rhiannon they would go for a ride that afternoon, then mounted Midas for the journey back to Hawksworth.
Aaron took her out to the Heath himself this time, showing off her abilities just as he’d promised. In between practice runs, they rode in comfortable silence, or he would ask for more circus or childhood stories. When she shared something embarrassing, he would tease her good-naturedly.
He never reciprocated with stories of his own, though. Given that a full sentence was a significant occurrence, she wasn’t all that surprised. She didn’t let it bother her. Much.
Back at the stable, she’d been prepared for the grooms to discourage her from caring for the horse, but they didn’t. One of them even told her where he hid the good currycombs. This was the type of unconventional life Sophia could learn to be a part of.
She needed to be careful about getting too attached to any of it.
Aaron had asked her to just see what today brought. So far it had been wonderful, but the day wasn’t over yet. One day and then the next. It wouldn’t do for her to build castles in the sky over a man she didn’t really know.
Perhaps daydreaming up a cottage or two wouldn’t hurt, though.
She rode Midas to her new home again, this time without any resentment. Rhiannon was waiting for her, so her mount could have been a pony and she wouldn’t have cared.
The veranda was occupied by at least four people. She eyed the figures as she approached the stable. Was she expected to join the guests or avoid them? If she guided her horse a little closer to the terrace, she could see if they acknowledged her or made a point of ignoring her.
A woman with black hair coiled up in a mass of braids and decorated with green and white feathers leaned over the railing. “I say,” she called, “are you Miss Fitzroy?”
“Of course that’s Miss Fitzroy.” Miss Snowley, whom Sophia hadn’t truly met but still recognized, came to the railing. “Did you expect another young lady to be strolling about Newmarket in a skirt and trousers? I promise you, I was the first to order a set. The modiste hasn’t finished them yet.”
“Do let me know if they’re comfortable,” the first woman said. “I don’t see myself wearing anything of the sort, but I am curious.”