Page 81 of A Foolish Flirtation

“Haven’t you?” He frowned. “We must have missed that on your tour. It lies between your suite of rooms and mine.”

“Ah.” She paused. “It’s funny, isn’t it? How we all have our own rooms, even Teddy. And now Pinky will have her own house too.”

Funny? He cast her a sidelong glance. “In what way?”

Emmeline did not answer at once, then she simply shrugged. “I suppose I am just not accustomed to so much space.” Before he could answer, she said, “I think the rain has abated, my lord. Shall we return to the curricle?”

He stood up and blew out the candles and they made their way down the wet grass bank. “Mind your step,” he cautioned. “The grass is wet.”

Emmeline accepted his offered hand. “Where to next?” she asked.

He pulled a face. “Well, the hedges of the maze will be dripping with rainwater, so I think we should forgo that experience for another day.”

“Agreed.”

“We could walk around the formal gardens,” he suggested. “And then the informal ones.”

“What are the informal gardens?” she enquired.

“Nothing too exciting,” he responded. “The ones located around the back of the house. Namely the kitchen gardens, orchard, and hothouse,” he replied. “Or…”

“Or?” she repeated curiously.

“We could take a drive about the wider estate,” he suggested. “I could show you more of the grounds outside the gates, the lodge, and the tenant cottages, including Miss Pinson’s new abode.”

She caught her breath. “Plumtree Cottage?”

“The very same.”

Suddenly, the enthusiasm seemed to fade from her eyes, and she seemed to reconsider. “I don’t know,” she said slowly, surprising him. “I think you know that there was something in what you said before.”

“What did I say?”

“That Hannah might enjoy showing me around her home once she has it all set up how she wants it. I should hate to…to take anything away from this experience for her. Now that I know how very much it means to her to have her own home.”

She gave him a fleeting look. “I have you to thank for that, my lord,” she said, coloring faintly. “I would not have realized her feelings on the matter if you had not said…what you said. Despite our closeness, I was quite blind on that subject.”

Jeremy cleared his throat, feeling suddenly a little guilty. His motive in setting Miss Pinson up in a separate abode had been far from altruistic. “Sometimes it is like that with those we are closest to,” he said rather tritely. “You have been a good friend to her over the years, I am sure.”

“I hope so,” she said quietly. “She has certainly been the very best of friends to me.”

They had reached the curricle by this point and Jeremy helped her up into it before untying the horses. “So then…the gardens?” he asked, swinging himself up and sitting beside her in the seat.

Emmeline smiled and nodded. “The gardens,” she agreed, and they headed back to the stables, to return the carriage.

They spent the next couple of hours wandering around garden paths and narrowly avoiding rainclouds by ducking under arches and arbors and whatever else afforded shelter. Jeremy introduced Emmeline to the head gardener, Hudgins, and two undergardeners, Smith and Iverson, who promised her as many flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables as she could possibly hope for.

Jeremy was not ready to part with her when they returned to the house, so instead he escorted her to the room she had mentioned she still hadn’t seen, the private dining room. She tried to hide the fact, but he could see she was clearly disappointed as she surveyed the room.

“What were you expecting?” he asked curiously.

She looked evasive. “Well, it’s just, you said it was for informal dining and this still looks, well, like a wholly respectable dining room,” she admitted, making him laugh.

“Now, Ballentine, did you expect us to lie on low couches eating grapes in togas?” he teased.

“Perhaps,” she admitted with a laugh. “Do you know, I think that table in my bedroom with the cushions elevated my expectations. I was expecting something rather more along those lines.” She looked rather wistful.

“We could always move that table in here,” Jeremy suggested. “Teddy would probably like that.”