“Lady, why do you weep? Are you in pain?”
He joined her on the sofa amid the trees and flowers.
“No, I’ve quarreled with my mother. We see things quite differently,” she said. She brushed at her skirts, trying to not look at him. She was embarrassed that he had found her crying. “I’m too sensitive.”
“You should not weep. It will spoil your beauty.”
She laughed and he touched her face in his palm, almost caressing it.
“Thomas,” she started to say.
He immediately dropped his hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep my boundaries.”
Her blues eyes met his hazel ones.
“Thomas. There was a man that I met in Arabia. I am in love with him and he with me. I hope to be married soon. I-I have a child with him.”
“He is indeed a lucky man.”
Thomas wasn’t shocked that she was in love with an Arab man or that there was a child. She was a beautiful woman and he was certain that many men had coveted her. That she had born a child out of wedlock only meant that the man had been quick to claim her. He could not have blamed him for that. Had he been the lucky man, she would not have remained untouched very long.
“Thank you, Thomas. You have been kind.”
Thomas smiled and extended his arm to her.
“Come. We can play a game of billiards.”
“Yes. Let’s,” she said. Her lavender skirts swished around her as she moved ahead of him. “I’ll set up the table,” she added.
Thomas watched her move down the hallway in lavender silk and feminine sway and he felt a throb begin. He must never let her know how he felt. She was to marry another, and he could only be her friend.
***
Thomas and Katharine walked slowly through the gardens that surrounded the immediate manor house. She had taken to walking with Abigail and her son, and Thomas had asked to join them.
Abigail settled under a tree with the child while Thomas and Katharine continued on.
“Your lady Abigail is quite protective of you and the child,” he said.
Katharine turned to look at the older woman, who had been more of a mother to her than her own.
“Yes, she is all grace and kindness. I owe her much. She saved my life,” Kat said.
“Then she is a woman to be commended for her bravery and loyalty,” Thomas replied.
“She is.”
They continued toward the birch trees and Thomas admired her feminine curves that the simple mint-colored dress accentuated. It made her blonde beauty seem fragile, and she was all the more lovely.
“I will be gone on the morrow. I must return to London,” he explained.
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that. I have enjoyed your company,” she said. Her smile dazzled him, and he felt a tug inside himself. She was a woman not to be left alone. The more time they spent together, the more she drew him nearer to her.
“And I yours,” she said as she touched his arm.
His hazel eyes were lightened in the sun and she thought once again that he was an attractive man. He was slimmer and slightly shorter than Mohammed, but he was kind and considerate, whereas Mohammed was masculine and took what he wanted.