Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
The familiar angle of sun coming through Aurora Hardcastle’s bedroom windows had her up bright and early the next morning, regardless of the long days of travel she had just endured, so she decided to put on her riding clothes and take a short gallop before everyone else was awake.
She had not counted on the Duke of Selkirk being an early riser as well, and she encountered him in the breakfast room, helping himself to a healthy plate.
He started, clearly not expecting to see her, but recovered so quickly she wondered if she had imagined it. He immediately set down his plate, stepped toward her, bowed, and kissed her hand. “Good morning, Miss Hardcastle,” he said.
The ridiculous thumping of her heart and plummeting in her stomach were still there and stronger than ever.
Aurora tried to put on her best chatelaine look and only curtsied.
He remained standing while she selected some items for her own plate, then he pulled her chair out for her and took a seat next to hers.
“I hope you don’t mind the informality of our dining habits at this early hour,” she said.
“It is not up to London standards, I know. We have always treasured the informality of our mornings. Things become a little more formal when my mother descends to eat. My father and I always liked the privacy of just the two of us.”
“I do not mind in the slightest, Miss Hardcastle. I confess to a much more informal daily existence in what might be described as a fairly rackety way of living. I am not very high in the instep. I am hoping you can demonstrate to my daughter some more appropriate, shall we say, options for regular living. But—” and here a teasing note entered his voice, “no chaperone?”
“There is a footman right outside the door there,” said Aurora, “Well within calling distance. Yes, perhaps not exactly the thing.” She gave him a shy smile and then continued.
“I would like you to see how I like to conduct my life. And how I would prefer to keep on conducting it. Oh, I know accommodations will need to be made once we are, once we are—” She had difficulty getting the word out and blushed, “wed. Yet, when we are at home, I would prefer to keep things simple. No airs and graces and hovering retainers. I know it is not the thing, if one is a member of the Ton. But, still, I wish to be honest with the man who is to be my husband.”
“Well, I most heartily approve. We may have more in common than we initially assumed.”
“Indeed, sir.” She took a bite of her food and chewed, as did he. Then she set down her fork again. “Sir, I realize this may be quite untoward of me, but, as we are, to all intents and purposes, affianced, perhaps—” She stopped.
Alec set down his knife and fork and waited. Finally, he spoke, “I confess, Miss Hardcastle, you have me on tenterhooks as to what you might mean.”
At that, she laughed. “Oh, it is not quite that exciting. No, it is that, perhaps, when it is only the two of us, you might address me as Aurora.”
She saw the Duke, her Duke, relax and smile. He reached out a hand to touch hers. “With pleasure. As long as you address me as Alec.”
“Alec. I should like that.”
“And, Aurora, I should like that too.” There was a pause. Where his fingers touched her hand, her skin felt as though it was sizzling. All too soon, he withdrew his own hand and cleared his throat. “I see you are dressed for riding. Might I accompany you?”
“With pleasure, Alec. I will show you some of my favorite haunts. There are some beautiful prospects around here. And a few spots where we might let our horses loose into a real gallop.”
“Excellent, Aurora. I shall change to my riding boots and meet you in the stables shortly. That is, after we have finished our breakfasts.”
The two settled down to eating, with only a word here or there, until they had finished, and Aurora rose to head directly to the stables, and Alec to return to his room to change his boots.
* * *
His stallion quickly outpaced Aurora’s more sedate mount when they reached a point where they could let their horses go in a headlong gallop.
He did not keep his lead long, however, and pulled up, bringing his horse to a slow walk until Aurora could reach them.
She did within minutes, eyes dancing and with a few unladylike whoops of sheer exhilaration at the run.
She had not firmly fixed her hair into place, and now it streamed down her back, pins scattered between where they had started and where they ended up.
She stopped where his horse was now placidly chewing on some grass and watched him hop down.
He crossed over to her, held up his arms, and helped her dismount.
“Riding sidesaddle is a total and complete botheration!” she exclaimed.
“With that I heartily agree. I understand the proprieties and niceties of it all, but it is harder to control your horse in that position. You ride well, Miss—Aurora.”
“As do you, Your Gra—Alec. Practically a centaur.” He responded to the teasing note in her voice with a smile. “Shall we walk over there?” She pointed with her crop at a lovely oak tree. “It is one of my favorite places. Ares is used to this spot and will happily chomp his hunger away for a while.”
“Ares?”
Aurora laughed. “I know. He seems quite docile, doesn’t he? I was feeling adventurous when he was given to me as a colt. I had high hopes for a wild, fierce streak. Sweet lamb,” and she gave his side a good rub. Ares turned to look at her and then resumed his meal of the lush grass.
“After you, Aurora.”
Aurora headed directly to one spot which was well padded with a patch of clover and began to sit. Alec rushed to get behind her, took off his coat, and set it down so she had a covering to sit on.
“Thank you, Sir Walter Raleigh. Years of grief on the part of my mother and my nurse and the maids thank you,” she said.
“I have always been careless of my skirts when I am out for a ride.” She leaned back a bit, supporting herself on her arms, and looked up at the branches forming a roof above them. Alec seated himself beside her.
“So, this is one of your places?” he asked.
“Yes, I discovered it soon after we moved here—I must have been about ten or eleven. I had a very docile little pony whom I would trot out on walks, with a careful groom following behind me. After a couple of years, I persuaded my father to allow me to be let off the leash, as it were, so I could come by myself. I would bring an apple and a book and sit here for hours. It was always pure heaven; I found it restored me to myself.”
She turned to look at him. “And what is your country like, Alec? Fields? Woods? Glens? I suppose this is tame to you in comparison.”
He took a moment, looking around him. The air was still fresh with the last dew of early morning.
The sun was out, and it would clearly be a warm day.
Birds were hopping from branch to branch.
The whole scene was a bucolic painting by Constable.
“Well, yes, I will be forthright: it is lovely, but tame. The prospects at Selkirk are much wilder. More in the Keatsian vein. Or Byronic.” He accompanied this with a raised eyebrow and a leer, which Aurora responded to with a hearty laugh.
“You are a terrible tease, Alec.”
“As are you, Aurora.”
“Then perhaps we are well matched.” She looked at him directly, unsure whether she was appraising him or beseeching him.
He returned her gaze. She wrenched her eyes away, realizing she had thrown propriety to the winds yet again and they had no chaperone.
The grooms were so used to her going out riding on her own, no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary when she had the lead groom take her horse out of its stall and get it saddled and bridled so she could ride it out of the stable yard.
But she was not on her own this time. While this was a lovely spot, they were far from anyone.
Her mother would be horrified. She shuddered to think what Missie would say if she knew.
She took a deep breath and met his eyes again.
“I realize we have no groom in attendance. I, I am no forward hussy, sir. Appearances notwithstanding. I am also quite aware of how little I know of the world. I am not good at flirtation. I prefer to be direct in my dealings with those around me. It sounds so miss-ish to say I trust you to be a gentleman. Because I do not believe you would ever do anything I did not want you to do. Or at least, I tell myself that. My na?veté puts me at a disadvantage. But I do wish to become better acquainted with you, to get to know you, before we take our vows, so that we are at least comfortable in each other’s company. ”
In response, Alec reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.
He did not release it, however, but leaned back against the tree, still holding on to it.
Neither spoke. Aurora leaned back against the tree as well, their bodies and arms touching as each sat there.
The quiet was soothing, and the comfortableness grew between the two of them.
After a few minutes, Alec let go of her hand and reached his arm around her, pulling her in so that her head rested on his shoulder. Time dropped away.
Then Alec began to speak:
“Therefore am I still
A lover of the meadows and the woods
And mountains; and of all that we behold
From this green earth; of all the mighty world
Of eye, and ear,—both what they half create,
And what perceive; well pleased to recognise
In nature and the language of the sense
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
Of all my moral being.”
“Oh, ‘Tintern Abbey’,” was all she could manage to say. And then, “It is one of his most beautiful.”
Alec sat quietly a few moments longer, then cleared his throat, but his voice sounded gruff. “It is one of my favorites.”
Aurora looked up at him, and, for the first time, he bashfully turned his head away. The tips of his ears reddened. She watched him take a couple of deep breaths. He began again, striking a lighter note. “So, what would Homer, not Wordsworth, have Achilles say at a moment like this?”
She managed to get out, “Well, Achilles was more one for acting and not talking.” Then the import of her words struck her, and her cheeks burned.
“Perhaps he would tell Briseis this, then,” is all he replied, and now he looked directly at her.
Very slowly and tenderly, he lifted her face to his.
Their mouths met in a kiss, gentle at first but with a growing insistence.
She felt his tongue against her teeth, and she opened her mouth to let him in.
Aurora had expected to be afraid or to find it odd or distasteful.
She found instead she was enjoying kissing quite a bit.
With dismay, she felt Alec pull away from her and reached out to bring him back.
Instead, he gave her the lightest of kisses on her lips, jumped up and lifted her to her feet.
He did not step far away, however. His arms quickly encircled her again.
His eyes were wide and dark, and he seemed to have momentary trouble finding his voice.
When he did, all he said was, “You are a most surprising woman, Aurora Hardcastle. I believe I shall enjoy having you for my duchess. Do you still wish me to be your duke?”
“Most decidedly, Alec Raeburn,” she responded. “Most decidedly.” But then she found herself blurting out, “But Briseis was nearly as beautiful as Helen! How—”
At that, Alec threw his head back and laughed, cutting her off. “Aurora, you do like to look a gift horse directly in the mouth! I refuse to answer that question on the grounds I do not anticipate getting out on the other side of it in one piece!”
He cupped her chin in his hand and gave her a long, lingering kiss, stopping her from saying anything further.
But all too soon, with a slight groan, he pulled himself away, leading her back over to their horses and helping her mount.
He then remounted his own horse, and, reluctantly, they turned back the way they had come.
“Oh, hold!” she said. “Let me quickly plait my hair. This is the way I usually return from my rides.” He nodded while they paused, and then continued on back to the house, this time at a more sedate pace than when they had left.
He insisted on helping her dismount once they reached the stables, refusing to let one of the grooms do so, escorted her to the house, and gently took his leave of her by bringing her hand to his lips with a kiss that worked its way to the crown of her head and the tips of her toes.
“I will see you at luncheon,” he said. “I think I need to go and submerge my head in a basin of ice water first.”
That only made her giggle. “Perhaps you should ensure Archibald is at hand. I should not like you to drown.”
“Wretched woman,” was all he said, but his eyes were warm and mischievous. They went their separate ways.