She was a chance he wasn’t sure he could take, yet he knew he would never get a better one. Meet a woman more compelling, one more deserving of his trust.
Honesty, sincerity-an inherent integrity. The passionate wanton who set him alight and his beautiful, assured countess were one and the same. Neither role was assumed; both were different facets of her true character. That was why people responded to her so readily-there was no falseness in her.
Understanding her, learning more of her, knowing more of her, had become an obsession just as much as possessing her physically had been. Still was.
He sensed the soft huff of her breathing, continued to stroke her hair. Continued to stare out of the window.
The barbarian within him wanted to give her what she wanted, and claim in return all she was offering him. Or, at the very least, try. The careful, rational gentleman vowed even trying was too risky. What if he succeeded? How would he cope then?
Yet denying her was beyond him-he, and she, had just proved it. A wise man holding to the arguments he’d espoused would have kept his distance other than in the bedroom.
He hadn’t. He couldn’t. He would have to try a different tack. At the very least, he could search for a compromise, if such a thing was to be found. That much he owed her.
Owed himself, perhaps.
Chapter 12
“Would you like to go riding this morning?”
Francesca looked down the breakfast table. “Riding?”
Gyles set down his coffee cup. “I offered to show you the Gatting property. I’m riding that way this morning. We could amble through the village on our way back.”
“I’d like that.” Francesca glanced at her gown. “But I’ll need to change.”
“No rush. I have to meet with Gallagher first-why don’t you join us in the study when you’re ready?”
She struggled not to blink, not to let her amazement show. “Yes, of course.” She forced herself to sip her tea calmly, and wait until he left and had had time to reach his study before pelting up the stairs.
“Millie?” Rushing into her room, she spied the little maid by one wardrobe. “My riding habit. Quickly.”
Shedding her gown, she scrambled into the velvet skirt. “Would I like to ride-huh!” He’d avoided asking her until now. Join him in his study? She knew where it was but hadn’t set foot inside the room-she hadn’t wanted to intrude uninvited into his private space.
Standing before her mirror, she fastened the short jacket and fluffed out her lace jabot. Then she glanced upward. “Thank you, Lord.”
There was nothing worse than loving someone, and having no idea whether they would allow themselves to love you in return.
Bootheels tapping, she went quickly down the stairs and strode to his study, her gloves in one hand, her crop swishing, her cap’s emerald plume jauntily dancing above one eye. A footman scurried past to open the door for her. She smiled sunnily and swept over the threshold.
Gyles was sitting behind the desk, Gallagher in a chair before it. Gallagher rose and bowed. Gyles had looked up; he smiled easily. “We’re almost finished. Why don’t you sit down-I’ll be ready to leave in a moment.”
Francesca followed the direction of his wave and saw a comfortable chair angled in a corner. She went over and sat down, then listened. They were discussing the tenant cottages. She made mental notes for later; she was too wise to evince any overt interest. Not yet. Time enough once he’d invited her opinion; just because he’d asked her to go riding about the estate didn’t mean he was ready to let her further into that area of his life.
The estate itself was an arena he could legitimately keep to himself. Many of his standing did, but she hoped he’d allow her to become involved in more than a peripheral way. Large estates were complicated to run-the prospect fascinated her, not the questions of income, output and how many bags of grain each field yielded, but the people, the community spirit, the combined energies that drove any successful group effort. On an estate such as Lambourn, that spirit was reminiscent of that of a large, sprawling family, the prosperity of all interdependent on everyone performing their allotted tasks.
Her view might be naive, but from all he’d revealed of his ideas on the voting franchise, she suspected their opinions would be largely compatible. At the moment, however, she was biding her time.
And idly scanning the room.
Like the library, the study’s walls were lined with bookcases, in this instance housing, not books, but ledgers. Surveying the serried ranks, she was prepared to wager that accounts predating the establishment of the earldom would be found among them. She swung her gaze over the regimented rows, then stopped, staring at the one shelf that contained books. Old books, including one in red leather with a spine at least six inches wide.
She rose and crossed to the shelf. The book was, indeed, the old Bible she’d sought.
Behind her, a chair scraped. She turned as Gallagher bowed to Gyles, then bowed to her. “My lady. I hope you enjoy your ride.”
Francesca smiled. “Thank you. I’m sure I will.”
Her gaze shifted to her husband on the words; he arched a brow at her, then came around the desk as Gallagher quit the room.