“I doubt it, my lady. Our old mare was nothing special.”
“Well, he’s a beautiful horse.”
?
?Thank you. What is your mare’s name?”
“Begonia. She’s Lily’s. My horses are in Hampshire.”
“When are you returning to Hampshire?”
“I’m not,” Rose replied, her heart thundering. “At least not until the end of summer.”
Cameron stroked Apollo’s mane. “My lady…”
“Yes?”
“I would like to apologize for—”
“No,” Rose interrupted. “You don’t need to apologize for anything. It was my fault. I just…well, I just shouldn’t have put myself in such a position.”
Cameron snorted. “What position? Being compromised by a mere tenant?”
“Here we go again.” Rose sighed. “Why do you make such a fuss about our respective stations?”
“Because our stations are a fact of life.”
“Nonsense.” Rose mounted Begonia and secured her riding habit. “If you’ll show me the way back now, I would be obliged.”
Cameron mounted and maneuvered Apollo so that he and Rose were next to each other. “Whether you think it was my fault or not, I want you to know that I regret…what I said to you as you left.”
“It’s no matter.” Rose turned her face away from his.
Cameron reached for her cheek and turned her to face him. “I regret a lot of things about my life, Rose,” he said, “but none so much as hurting you.”
His silver eyes penetrated her soul. “It was my fault, Cameron.”
“No.”
“Yes. I…didn’t know that I would cause you…pain if we stopped.”
Cameron chuckled. “I’ve been in worse pain, sweetheart. Although at the time it seemed insurmountable.”
Rose’s skin tingled at the endearment. “If we had it to do over again, I would…”
“You would have left before we danced?”
“No.” She looked away.
“Then what?”
“I would…” Her heartbeat was rapid and her skin cold and prickly. She spoke quickly. “I wouldn’t have stopped you.”
He caressed her cheek and stared into her eyes.
“I got frightened. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry.” He lowered his face to hers and kissed her lips lightly. “I’ll show you how to get back now.”