The Accidental Countess (The Aristocrat Diaries 3)

“Jousting with knitting needles?”

“I suppose it’d keep the local pensioners busy.”

“Yes, and the local hospital.” I snorted. “They’d either take an eye out, put their backs out, or seriously break a bone.”

“You’re right.” She sighed, tucking her hands in her pockets. “Although it would be entertaining to see them having mini sword fights with knitting needles.”

“How do you think I know it’s a dangerous idea? I have seen it. Once. When they smashed a glass, they were told they weren’t allowed to do it anymore.”

“Were you the one who ruined their fun?”

“I was not. That was the landlord of the pub they were playing pirates in.”

“There’s a part of me that really wants to see a ton of pensioners dressed up like pirates, but the rest of me is quite alarmed by the notion.”

“It is… something.” I peered over at her as she yawned. “Do you want to start heading back?”

She slowed to a stop, pressing her lips together. “We’re going to have to answer a thousand questions about the baby, aren’t we?”

“We are.”

“Can we find somewhere to sit here for a bit?” Eva glanced around. “I don’t think I’m ready to go back just yet.”

“Of course.” I reached over and took her hand as Baxter looked up, interested in another dog who was on a lead. With one small command he returned his attention back to me, walking past with no problems, and I rewarded him with a small treat from my pocket.

We walked for a while through the forest, turning off to a less-used path, and Baxter finally bounced in front us so we could walk properly. After several minutes of careful walking—back in the general direction of the way we came in—we came upon a clearing with fallen trees and stumps that made perfectly good seating, and we made good use of it by both sitting on a tree trunk.

Eva looked around at the trees that stretched high up into the air above us. “It’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“This time next year, there’ll be three of us here.”

I smiled, watching Baxter as he circled the ground until he found an acceptable place to lift his leg and pee on. “I suppose we need to decide what room is best for a nursery.”

“What? You mean there isn’t a designated room ready for a baby to move in at any moment? Disney movies have been lying to me for years.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You know what, there might be. Have you seen how many rooms are in Menai Castle? There are loads. There’s every chance there’s a ghostly nursery somewhere hiding under sheets like Mrs. Havisham’s house.”

Eva rubbed her hand over her chin. “Can we look for it?”

“A ghostly nursery? Sure, if you really want to. There’s probably all sorts of random baby stuff stored in the house somewhere, if I think about it.”

“I bet your mum knows where it is.”

“Where’s the fun in that if you want to look for it?” I nudged her. “Or are you just saying that so you don’t have to really think about it?”

“Both?”

“That was a question more than an answer, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. The art lover in me wants to uncover all the cool baby stuff, but the Eva in me is like, “Whoa, shit, a baby!” And I’m not quite sure which one is winning right now.”

“That’s all right, you know that?” I said softly, looking at her. “Sweetheart, you’re allowed to feel like that. I’ll keep telling you that until you understand.”

“You’re being so nice to me.”

“What else am I going to do? Be horrible? What good does that do? It’s not like I’m going to sit here and dictate to you how you should feel. If you were happy and bouncing off all the walls? Amazing. If you were sad and crying in the bathroom? Fine. If you’re conflicted and don’t know how to feel right now? Great.” I reached over and pushed her hair behind her ear, away from her face, and I tilted my head and leaned forwards until I caught her gaze. “You’re the one who has to go through all this. I have it more than easy, and it’s really not my place to tell you anything about how you should or shouldn’t feel over the next few months. Or ever, really.”

She smiled at me, even though her eyes were filling with tears. “Thank you.”

“Come here.” I scooted over and pulled her into me, wrapping my arms around her. She turned her face into me, and I kissed the top of her head, letting my lips linger there for a moment longer that truly necessary. “We’ve got this, sweetheart.”

“Matthew, I… I didn’t think things would go this way. It’s only been a couple of weeks, and you have feelings for me, and I…” she trailed off.