Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
“ I promise no harm will come your way.” Nora’s eyes were bright and eager.
Sarah raised her eyebrow as she speared a strawberry. She pointed the strawberry at her new sister. “I heard that one before.”
Nora bit her lip to stop the laughter that was no doubt bubbling within her. “I swear. It’s daylight out, the chances of you mis-stepping and falling down another hill is less this time.”
Sarah clucked her tongue before popping the fruit in her mouth.
“Please! And, I know exactly where this lake is. It’s just on the edge of the estate, closer to the village.”
Sarah wiped her mouth with her napkin. “You said you knew of the pond as well.”
Nora chewed her lip. “Well, yes, I did say that, but I also said my memory of the grounds wasn’t the best.”
Sarah laughed. “So why should I trust your memory now?’
“What’s all the laughing about?” Charles stepped into the breakfast room with a bounce in his step.
Sarah lowered her eyes to hide the blush that blossomed on her cheeks. It was increasingly difficult to look at her husband after the times they spent together. Her body heated as memories of rough touches and skillful lips infiltrated her mind. She shifted in her seat, hoping to shake off the warmth that just coated her body.
She cleared her throat. “Uh, your sister was trying to take me back out into the wilderness and finish me off. She failed last night.”
Nora guffawed and put up a finger. “One, it’s not the wilderness, it’s your estate and you should get to know it. Two, it was your idea to take a walk last night.” She poked her own strawberry with a fork and pointed it at Sarah. “And three, I told you I wasn’t familiar going to the left out of the garden gate. I always went right, which is the direction we’d go today.” She said with a sniff before eating the strawberry.
“Going for a walk?” Charles asked as he buttered some bread.
“I would love to go for a picnic by the lake.” Nora offered.
Charles’s hand hesitated mid stroke before continuing to butter the bread. “Sounds like a lovely idea. I think I would like to join you.”
Of course, Charles picked the most inopportune time to become social. The tea came sputtering out of Sarah’s mouth at his idea.
“What?” She asked as she blotted the tea dripping from her chin onto her dress.
One side of Charles’s mouth tipped up into a sly smirk. “I simply said I would love to join you both on your picnic. The lake is a favorite of our family’s and I think you should see it. A summer afternoon is the perfect time.”
Nora bounced her chair. “Yes, please do come, Charles!” She turned to Sarah, joy pouring out of her. “It is a beautiful place, especially in the summer. There’s a willow tree that hangs low that is just lovely to sit under and the reeds blow in the wind. It’s so peaceful. It reminds me of the lake by my home. The one with the ducks, remember?”
Sarah was finding it difficult to not look at Charles. His admission surprised her and the ease in which he joined the conversation startled her.
Did their time together last night finally move things in the right direction between the two of them? It wasn’t like their normal intimate interactions, but perhaps him seeing her in a state of distress unlocked something for him.
Regardless of the reasoning she was happy with the thought of spending an afternoon with both him and Nora.
She forced her eyes to drift to Nora. “It does sound lovely.” Without conscious thought she found herself looking back to Charles. “And if it is a popular spot amongst the family I would love to become familiar with it.”
Charles nodded once. “That settles it then. I’ll talk to Mrs. Bates and Samuels to get everything prepared for us.”
Sarah sat up. “Oh, please, let me do that, Charles. It is my responsibility, after all. I would be happy to organize it for us.”
Charles’s eyes darkened in appreciation and caused butterflies to swarm in Sarah’s stomach.
“This is going to be so much fun.” Nora squealed. “And with Charles we definitely won’t get lost!”
Sarah narrowed her eyes on Nora. “We better not.” She joked.
“You never know, Sarah, I might purposefully get us lost. I would love to see you go head to head with a rabbit.” Charles took a healthy bite, his smile wrapping around the piece of bread.
Sarah scowled. “Nora jumped, too. I only screamed because she did. How did you find out about that anyway?”
Nora dipped her head, sheepishly. “Charles and I spoke this morning about last night.”
Sarah shook her head. “Ah. I see. Is all well.?” Sarah looked at Nora. Charles was known to be stiflingly strict, she could only imagine the discipline he bestowed on her.
Nora shook her head. “Yes, we’re fine. I know how serious it is to be out after dark around here and I should have made that more apparent to you since you’re not aware.”
Alarm rang through Sarah’s body.
“Around here? What do you mean by that? My goodness, are there actual beasts out there that I need to worry about?”
Visions of man eating bears or giant mountain lions on the prowl infiltrated her brain. Which was ridiculous because those two specific animals lived nowhere near them. She shook her head. Maybe she did read too many books.
Charles grimaced. “No. You are perfectly safe here. There was some issues when Nora was young with some people in town and we had to be vigilant. But it has since been dealt with. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
Sarah locked eyes with Charles’s whose were now darkened, not with lust, but rage.
A shiver ran down her spine. Instinct told her the ominous way he said the issue was dealt with most likely had to do with the town’s perception of Charles and vice versa.
Sarah eyes looked to Nora who was looking at her food, pushing around random pieces of fruit aimlessly. The mood had definitely shifted within the last few moments.
Sarah blew out a breath. “Well, I’m glad to hear that the only animal we’ll need to concern ourselves with is a rabbit. Last night, our furry friend gave us quite the scare. It’s about all I can take.” She said with a laugh.
She watched as Charles’s demeanor changed in front of her eyes. It was as if a switch was flipped. One moment he was cold and calculated and now he was looking at her as if she invented the fork.
“Yes, you let me know if you see a rabbit. I’ll make sure to protect you both.”
Nora wrinkled her nose. “We can take care of ourselves, right, Sarah? It’s like you said.”
Sarah nodded, proud of her words getting through to the young girl.
“What did you say?” Charles leaned forward in interest, resting his arms on the table.
Sarah waved her hand in front of her, dismissing his question. “It was nothing.”
Nora shook her head. “No. It was sage advice.” She turned to Charles. “She said that if believe in something it controls you. So, if you’re afraid of something, then it controls you, and nothing should control me but me.”
Charles smirked. “Is that so?”
Sarah licked her lips. Her mouth always seemed to run dry around her husband. “I did say that, yes.”
He tilted his head to the side. His eyes roamed over her face causing another blush to form on her cheeks. She took a deep breath to try and control her breathing.
“And who is control of you, Sarah? Are you afraid of anything?” Charles’s voice was low with a note of seduction she had hoped Nora did not pick up.
Sarah lifted her chin. “I control myself, Your Grace. And I am afraid of nothing.”
Charles brought his cup of tea up to his mouth. “Fascinating,” was all he said.
Something in his eyes told her she was very wrong to admit she was in control of herself. Especially since with one look, or one word, from her husband and she was a quivering mess of want and need.
Unfortunately for her, he knew it.
“I’ve seen this before.” Sarah’s voice whispered, in awe of the landscape in front of her. It was the lake from the painting she found in the studio. Her instinct was right. Charles’s mother had truly loved this place for she captured the serenity and beauty of it perfectly.
Charles looked down at her as Nora walked ahead of them to place a blanket underneath the hanging willow tree.
“You looked at my mother’s paintings.” It wasn’t a question.
Sarah shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry for snooping. I was just so curious and I couldn’t wait for answers.”
Charles smirked. “Yes, I found your impatience to be somewhat of a nuisance.”
Sarah wrinkled her nose. “Do I get to list traits of yours that I find annoying? If so, we best go sit down, it will take a while.”
Charles’s smirk widened into a full blown smile and it nearly knocked Sarah over. His smile was dazzling. His green eyes lit up and there were slight crinkles at the corners of his eyes that made him look refined.
“I think we should sit down before I decide to punish you here and now for that tongue.” Charles whispered into her ear.
Goosebumps sprung up all over body at his words and the memories of what his tongue could do to her.
She took his arm as he helped her cross the last bit of grass to the blanket Nora was now sitting on.
“I looked in the basket Mrs. Bates put out. She made some of my favorite sandwiches. Oh, and look,” she exclaimed as she pulled out little jars. “She put my favorite jelly in here with some extra biscuits!”
Sarah sat down next to Nora. Charles remained standing, looking out over the water.
She followed his gaze and once again took in her surroundings. “It truly is beautiful here. I can see why it’s your family’s favorite spot.”
Charles looked down at the ground and smiled. “Yes. My mother would bring me and Eli here when we were young to go swimming in the summer months.”
Nora sighed. “That sounds divine. I wish I could go swimming.” The young girl began to chew her bottom lip. Sarah noticed Nora would often do that when she was about to say something she didn’t know if she should say. Sarah had the same affliction. It was one more thing that drew her to the girl.
“What is it, Nora?” Sarah prodded.
Charles’s eyes darted to Nora. “What is it?”
Nora shrugged. “Nothing. I just often wonder if Mama was still here if she would have brought me here to go swimming when it was hot or would I have always ended up at her cousin’s home.”
Her eyes squinted as she looked up to her older brother who stood at the water’s edge looking back at her.
Charles sighed.
“I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she would have brought you here. We all would have. Unfortunately, when she passed, I didn’t have the resources to give you the life you deserved.”
His voice had grown thick and Sarah could tell it took a toll on him to talk about his mother and the events after her death.
Nora brushed a wrinkle out of her skirt. “Would you have kept me if you had the resources?” She sucked on her bottom lip to stop it from quivering.
Sarah’s heart broke at the emotion in the young girl’s voice. She reached over and covered Nora’s hands with her own.
“Yes.” It was all Charles said, but it was enough for Nora.
A smile blossomed across her face.
“There now, enough of that.” Sarah said, hoping to dispel the weight of emotion that had settled over them. “Let’s eat. I’m famished from the walk.”
Charles sat down next to her as she passed out napkins and offered the sandwiches.
“Mmm, I forgot how much I love Mrs. Bate’s jellies. Sarah, you must remind me to ask her for some jars before I return to London. I have gone much too long without these in my life.”
Sarah smiled at Nora’s dramatics. It was nice to sit with family and just be.
Family .
Was she truly starting to feel like this was her family now? She looked over at Charles who was making a silly face at his sister, causing a giggle to fall from Nora’s lips.
A warm familiarity settled within her. Yes. This was her family now. For all that it was, the ups and downs, the confusion, the frustration, it all came together and gave her a sense of belonging. A feeling she has so desperately wanted to feel for a while.
A squeal of laughter rang out from beyond the lake.
“What is that?” Sarah questioned.
“Probably a wild boar getting ready to attack you.” Charles teased.
Sarah furrowed her brows. “You won’t be laughing if that is true.”
Nora scrunched her face as she looked out over the water. “It looks like there are some boys fooling around by the village.”
Sarah looked at the boys. “Are they on the estate?” She looked to Charles. “Is that a problem if they are?”
She was enjoying the mood the day and didn’t want to disrupt it by bringing up town nonsense.
Charles leaned back on his elbows and stretched his long legs. He lifted a shoulder. “They’re just beyond our border, but they know better. They won’t cross it.”
Sarah looked back over to the young boys. After watching them for several seconds she could tell they were being careful to stay a certain distance from the water. She wondered if there was some marker there that she couldn’t see from where they sat that indicated the estate line.
“Eat.” Charles nudged her with his foot. “I don’t want to have to tell Mrs. Bates you ignored her food.”
Sarah brought her attention back to her husband. He seems relaxed and not concerned with the boys at the perimeter. She picked up a sandwich and took a small bite.
She looked over to Nora who’s gaze was lost to the horizon and the boys on the other side of the water. Instead of biting into her sandwich, she was nibbling on her bottom lip.
Sarah wanted to say something but decided against it. If Nora wanted to say something, she would say it.