Chapter 29 #2
Next they inspected the barley fields and toured the barn and pen that housed the pigs.
It was somewhat overwhelming for a girl from Manhattan, who had never even visited a farm, let alone considered taking one on.
Of course, she would not be doing any of the farming herself—that would be left to the more-than-capable tenants who appeared to be experts in their fields—but she also knew she could not sit idly by and only concern herself with the house when there was so much more to running an estate of this size.
She would want to be like Edward, able to feed chickens if the occasion called for it, or draw water from a well, or discuss the latest developments in agricultural studies with him over dinner.
If she was going to give up fighting for the protection of numerous properties in order to ensure the preservation of one, then she would be the greatest and most thoroughly educated countess ever to own such an estate, and to have Edward be the one at her side—to be given abundant opportunities to tease a smile from his serious countenance; to advise him on matters societal and political; to watch him work in the noonday sun, his shirt clinging to his skin, as she had earlier this day—well, it no longer sounded as awful as she had first imagined.
Whitefawn and its proprietor were beginning to grow on her.
Very much. And it no longer scared her as it once did.
But was it enough to leave everything she knew and loved in New York behind?
To never finish her articles? To never see her book published?
The ache such a thought caused could not be ignored, no matter how much she wished it could.
“Calliope?” Edward asked, his brow furrowed as they directed the horses away from the fields and toward the long gravel drive that would take them to the village.
She blinked. “Yes?”
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m feeling a little distracted.”
“By good things, I hope?”
“In truth,” she said, Star’s hooves clopping beneath her, “I was thinking about everything you’ve shown me this day. Whitefawn is even more impressive than I could have imagined.”
“Does it have you considering my proposal?”
“Perhaps.” She said it slowly and did not miss his intake of breath. “I cannot deny that any woman would be blessed beyond measure to be the lady of such an estate, but I find I still have many questions regarding its lord.”
“I am an open book, Calliope,” he replied. “Ask away.”
This was her moment to prod him, to ask whether she was reading his regard for her correctly. To see if he still viewed her only as a solution to his problems, or whether he was beginning to fall for her the same way she was for him.
But as he stared at her, awaiting her question, she found she could not say the words for fear of embarrassment and dashed hopes. So, instead, she asked, “Are you happy?”
His brows rose. “That’s really what you want to know?”
She shrugged (thank God her mother wasn’t nearby, or she’d never hear the end of it).
“I couldn’t be with someone who was not, at his core, a happy person.
Of course, there will be days and circumstances that will be most decidedly unhappy—that is the way of life—but I always imagined the man I would marry would know how to have fun and maybe get into a spot of trouble now and again. ”
He made a hmm noise in the back of his throat.
“In truth,” he began, mimicking her earlier words, “I have had so many responsibilities heaped upon my shoulders since my father’s death that I fear I’ve completely forgotten how.”
“How to have fun, or how to be happy?”
“Both, I’m afraid,” he admitted. “Except when I’m around you.”
Her heart kicked into a gallop as his gaze met hers.
Steady, girl.
“You seemed to have no problem having fun with the tenant children as well,” she reminded him.
He smiled. “They bring out the best in me.”
“Thus your desire to have six children.”
“At the very least.”
“But as I said,” she teased, wanting to bait him, to continue breaking him out of his staunch shell and find the real Edward he kept hidden underneath. “I could not marry someone who does not know how to have fun.”
“That does present a problem, then,” he replied. “Unless you believe me teachable?”
She grinned. “I’m sure we can think of something.”
“Exercise and fresh air are similarly very important when it comes to a debutante’s physical appearance, although it is vital that she expend her energies in acceptable pursuits, such as in a daily walk, dance instruction, and lawn games.
She should not exert herself to the point of perspiration, especially in the presence of an intended suitor.
Horseback riding is also acceptable, although always in sidesaddle and never at a faster clip than an easy trot, lest she fall from her horse and incur injury, or worse, develop a reputation for wild behavior that will not win her any advantages in today’s highly competitive marriage market. ”
—Mrs. Marcell’s Book of Proper Etiquette, Second Edition