Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Rose was beginning to regret letting Edmund plan everything. For all she knew, he might take her on a ride down to Southampton and then sail across to France.
And how on earth could I prepare for that?
Even now, she had been waiting all morning, and now part of the afternoon for him to call. She was beginning to think that he had forgotten about her.
She wore a plain dress that reached the ground.
She pulled elbow-length gloves up her arms, protecting her skin from the chill.
She searched for her favorite ribbon, but she could not find it.
It was not like her to misplace anything, but she had searched the whole house.
The last time she had worn it was when she visited Lydia, so she would have to ask her to find it when they next had their book group.
Instead, she grabbed a blue ribbon and pulled her hair away from her face, tying it so it rested against the back of her neck. She took a deep breath and went down the stairs. Her parents were waiting for her, their faces anxious with anticipation.
“Remember to be polite,” Thomas said.
“Do not speak too much about yourself. Ask questions about him, and do not feel as though you have to go on about all your books either,” Margaret said.
“Make sure he knows he is welcome to stop by here anytime,” Thomas added.
Rose nodded along. It was easier to pretend she would follow all these instructions than to tell her parents she would handle this her own way.
They did not speak for long because the carriage approached outside.
The horses came to a stop. Thomas and Margaret hugged Rose, and by this point, it was clear how much this meant to them.
And it was a foregone conclusion that it would end in disappointment. Rose felt sorry for them and was tempted to end their misery, but then she thought that they had had so little reason to hope for her future that they could enjoy it now.
Rose bid them farewell and then ventured outside. She was accompanied by her maid, Jenny, who was a couple of years younger than Rose. She had straight black hair, wide eyes, and a generous figure. The footman came to open the door. Rose peered inside, expecting to find Edmund sitting there.
Instead, the carriage was empty.
“Where is he?” Rose asked.
The footman inclined his head. “His Grace is waiting for you, my lady.”
“Waiting? Where? He has kept me waiting all day.”
“I am afraid I am under strict orders to keep that a secret. His Grace would like you to be surprised,” the footman said.
She had not even met with him yet, and he was already irritating her. She climbed into the carriage. Jenny followed. The door was fastened shut, and then the carriage set off at a steady pace.
“I cannot believe he is not even here to greet me,” Rose said.
“Perhaps the surprise is worth the wait,” Jenny said. “He must have something grand planned if he has gone to all this trouble, my lady.”
“We shall see,” Rose said. “I just wish I knew where we are going.” Rose pressed her face to the window in an effort to see in which direction they were heading, but she could not discern anything.
“I am sure there is no need to be nervous. It’s not as though His Grace is going to bring you anywhere dangerous. He is just making a show of it, I imagine, and what you want is a man to make an effort. That’s what my mother always said. It shows they care.”
Rose was about to tell Jenny that it did not matter to her whether Edmund cared or not, but thought better of it. The fewer people who knew the truth of the arrangement, the better.
The carriage ended up stopping at Green Park.
The door was held open, and the footman helped Rose down.
The day was bright, and the air was crisp.
Great swathes of green carpeted the land, only separated by winding stone paths.
Trees stood proudly, their leaves catching the sunlight.
It was not a crowded park, but some people were still enjoying various gentle activities.
And sitting atop a small mound was Edmund. He waved and beckoned her over. A pale yellow blanket lay upon the ground, and a hamper was beside him. Edmund rose to his feet and greeted her with a smile.
“Good afternoon, my lady. How are you today?”
“I am fine, although I wasn’t expecting you to take so long.”
“I do apologize. I thought it would be worth the wait, and you did say you don’t rise early, so I thought I had better play it safe.”
“When I said that, I didn’t mean I slept in until the afternoon! I am not an idler,” she said.
Edmund just grinned.
“I have a gift for you,” he said, and held out a fist. Rose stared at it.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Open your palm and close your eyes.”
“I am not playing silly games.”
“This isn’t a game. It’s a gift,” Edmund gave her an encouraging nod. Rose huffed and did as he asked. As she held out her palm, she felt something fall into it. She opened her eyes to see her ribbon.
“My ribbon!” she exclaimed, and the annoyance retreated from her face as she looked at Edmund in wonder, thinking to herself that he might not have been all that bad.
“I noticed you left it behind. I thought I’d bring it back to you. I know how protective you are of your possessions.”
“Thank you,” Rose said. “Luke was playing with it for a little while. He managed to untie it, and I must have forgotten to take it with me.”
“Well, now you can stop fretting, and please, sit down. Your maid may join us if she wishes. What is her name?” he said, turning toward Jenny.
“This is Jenny,” Rose said.
“Your Grace,” Jenny curtsied and then moved to sit away from them, far enough to give them some privacy, but close enough for things to remain respectable.
“Help yourself to any food. There is plenty here,” Edmund said.
As Rose smoothed her dress beneath her, Edmund opened the hamper and started bringing out dishes of food.
There were miniature pies, cuts of meat, various cheeses, grapes, apples, bread, preserves, boiled eggs, mushrooms, and all kinds of other items.
“I think this might be too much for just the two of us,” Rose said, boggled at the size of the feast.
“Better to have too much than not enough. Besides, I was not quite sure what you liked, so I thought I had better make sure there was at least one thing you would enjoy. Considering you are so particular,” he added with a teasing smile.
Rose gulped, beginning to regret that she had portrayed herself as a spoiled woman. She picked a few things and placed them on her plate. Everything tasted wonderful. Edmund poured some sparkling water flavored with fruit. It was cool and refreshing, and the view was rather perfect as well.
“It is not too crowded for you, I hope. If they trouble you, I can ask those people to move along,” Edmund said, gesturing to a group of people who were on another grassy area, the murmur of their conversation and bubbling laughter just about reaching Rose and Edmund.
“No, not at all. This is fine,” she said, and gazed around to enjoy the view. This splash of color was a welcome change from the usual London landscape. “This is lovely,” she added.
“There are parts of London that are quite beautiful. It’s a shame that not all of it can be like this, but I suppose people have to live somewhere.”
“You prefer the country?”
“I do. You must know about our parents and their interests?”
Rose nodded. “Botany. I am aware of Charlotte’s book as well.”
Edmund chuckled. “Have you read it?”
“I have. I found it quite illuminating. I wasn’t aware that there were so many fascinating plants all around us. It made me look at the world in a different way.”
“She will be pleased. I must get around to reading it myself one day.”
“You have not read your own sister’s book?”
Edmund waved a hand through the air. “I already know everything that’s in it, and besides, I would rather touch the plants than read about them.
But it was the same with my parents. They always tried to get us to study all the time, but I just wanted to be out in nature, climbing trees. That was far more fun.”
“I see. That must have been infuriating for them.”
“Not especially so. My father did encourage hands-on experimentation. It was just a shame I never got to join them on their expeditions.”
A moment of silence fell upon them. Rose knew what had happened to his parents through Lydia.
She had only told Rose the vaguest story, how they had gone on an expedition but encountered bad weather.
Rose wondered whether she should offer her condolences to Edmund or if it would seem trite coming from someone who was practically a stranger.
However, Edmund did not seem to want to linger on the topic and instead moved the conversation along.
“You must try these,” he said, picking up a ripe, juicy strawberry.
Before she could take it from him, he was already holding it to her lips, expecting her to take a bite.
She nibbled the fruit carefully, avoiding his fingers.
The sweet flavor exploded within her mouth, but she drew back all the same.
Edmund nibbled the rest of the strawberry, eating everything apart from the leaf.
There was something oddly intimate about sharing the same fruit, even though they had not touched each other.
Rose’s cheeks became warm, and she glanced over her shoulder, checking that Jenny was still within good distance.
She breathed deeply until the flush of heat passed.
“And what did your parents encourage you to do?” he asked.
She almost quipped that they encouraged her to marry, before she remembered that she would have been breaking her own rule. So instead, she gave a serious answer.
“They encouraged me to develop my own mind, to sing, to dance, to learn about literature, geography, and mathematics. They wanted me to be able to stand firm and hold myself well.”
“Then it seems they have succeeded. So, where is your favorite place?”
“My favorite place?”
“Yes, if you’ve studied geography, then you must have a favorite place.”
Rose paused. “I am not sure that I do.”
Edmund clapped his hands together and smiled with glee, as though he had just won a debate. Rose was entirely befuddled.
“See! This is what I mean. What is the use of learning about geography if you are not going to experience it? I am sure you could tell me plenty of facts about the world, but can you tell me what it’s like to live there?
To smell the air? It is like someone describing the properties of an apple just by looking at it,” as he said this, he produced an apple and held it before her, shiny and red.
“Now I could tell you all about the shape, the size, the texture, but nothing about the taste, and that is the most important part, wouldn’t you agree? ”
He then took a bite and crunched the apple between his teeth.
“I believe that with rigorous study, we can know all that we need to know. I do not need to experience something to speak about it. Experience does not equate to knowledge or understanding.”
“There we differ. Life is to be lived, not studied, not written about, not even sung about. It is meant to be experienced to the full extent of our senses.”
“You are veering toward hedonism, and such indulgence is definitely a sin.”
Edmund laughed again. He didn’t seem to take anything seriously.
“Even Our Lord did not refuse wine,” Edmund said.
Rose’s mouth dropped open because such a thing was considered close to sacrilege, although when she thought about it more deeply, there wasn’t actually anything inaccurate about what Edmund said.
Perhaps it was just the way he said things.
Rose angled her head away sharply. Her mind was flustered, and she had no idea what to say in return to him, as anything she said was twisted.
He was more intelligent than she had given him credit for and could hold his own in an argument.
He was no dolt. Before she could say anything else, he started to sing a hymn.
His voice was low and rich, and not displeasing to the ear.
He leaned in low, making it clear that he was singing to her and only to her.
It was a romantic hymn, but Rose showed no reaction.
She especially hated that Jenny was giggling and looking at Rose in a way that suggested Rose should feel fortunate to be in that position.
The light grew dim, and the air temperature dropped.
“Perhaps it is time to call it a day,” Rose said.
“Nonsense, the evening is still young,” Edmund said. He seemed prepared for everything as he withdrew some candles and matches from the hamper. He carefully placed them on the picnic blanket and lit them. The flames danced in the air, illuminating their immediate surroundings in a soft glow.
Rose shivered, the warmth from the candles insufficient to ward off the cold, so she asked Jenny to go back to the carriage and get her shawl.
“Now we are alone,” Edmund said with a seductive look in his eyes, although laughter followed quickly. She could never tell how serious he was about anything.
Edmund’s words did not remain true for long, however.
A small, furry black dog scampered toward them.
It looked thin and nervous, with ears perked up like two triangles sitting atop its head, and its gaze was furtive.
It slowed as it neared the blanket, stopping and watching them warily.
Now that it was closer, Rose could see a worn collar around its neck.
“Easy, there’s nothing to be afraid of here. What’s your name? Where did you come from? Are your owners around?” Rose asked, gently moving forward, kneeling to keep low. She stretched out her palm, hoping the dog would interpret it as unthreatening, but sadly, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
As soon as she started moving, the dog did as well. It turned and made its way as quickly as it could to a copse of trees. Rose noticed that it had a limp. Her heart was already softened by its appearance, and now she felt a keen desire to help the animal. Without thinking, she followed its path.
She was led to a quieter, more hidden area of the park.
Edmund was behind her. She saw a rustling of leaves and a dark shadow darting away, and then she heard a whimper.
There was something so plaintive and distraught about the sound that her heart was moved, and her only desire was to reach the dog and help find its owner.
“Rose,” Edmund said. Rose turned, glancing over her shoulder. It was only then that she realized how far they had strayed from the park. Jenny was not with him, having gone to fetch Rose’s shawl.
They were alone, unchaperoned.
It was exactly the kind of thing that Rose had wanted to avoid.