Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The afternoon rolled on, and so did the conversation. The only thing that changed was the sudden creeping in of nerves that Diana experienced. When the picnic had started, she hadn't been worried about it at all.

However, every time Mark glanced at her or teased her about something, she felt her nerves grow stronger. Then, problems that she never knew she had became apparent to her.

She was growing feelings for him, and it was apparent that she had no idea what to do about it. Or how to behave accordingly. Every time he looked at her, it made her belly flutter and her voice get caught in her throat.

And she was certain that he was aware of it, which only made her feel a little embarrassed.

Finally, the servants came down with a tray of more refreshments. For the men, they had glasses of cold beer and for the women, two small glasses of ratafia.

"Oh, this is pleasing to see, isn't it?" Mark asked. "It's precisely what I was in the mood for."

He flashed Diana a dazzling smile that set her stomach alight. She quickly took a sip of the ratafia to calm herself down.

"You spoil us," he said kindly.

Diana truly didn't know how to behave, and it was becoming clear that neither did Anna. That was a disappointment, as Diana was hoping to have taken some tips from her. That was a pointless endeavour.

It occurred to her then that she could not ask her mother what to do, either. And the last person on Earth that she wanted to ask about such things was her aunt. It would only open a channel of conversation that Diana couldn't stand the thought of.

It made her feel lonely and worried that she was doing something wrong or making a fool of herself. It created a tightness in her chest.

What carefree emotions she'd had when the picnic started were long gone. All she had then was anxiousness with a small amount of shame.

The shame came from not knowing what to do and never considering the possibility of such feelings before. Even the books she had read held no answers for her. In those books, she read about heroic women who saved lives and changed the world.

She did not see herself as one of those women, so she could not behave as such. Besides, she didn't know what would be attractive to men. Particularly men as wonderful as the duke.

The conversation from her end was starting to change, and she was aware of it. Diana was having a hard time formulating the proper responses or adding to the interesting conversation. It was as if something about Mark's presence had suddenly sucked what intelligence she once held, making her a bumbling fool.

Thankfully, the two girls came running towards them with picked flowers in hand to distract her. It was the perfect pull away from her conflicted emotions and feelings towards Mark.

"What kind of flowers are these?" Evangeline asked.

Diana smiled. Finally, something she could answer with absolute certainty.

"That is a daffodil," she answered.

"I believe that's a jonquil," Anna corrected her.

Diana felt warmth blazing through her neck and face, then, and was certain that she was blushing a bright pink. She turned more towards the girls so that Mark would not see her embarrassment.

"That's right," she said. "I had it wrong. Those are jonquils."

"They're very pretty," Evangeline said. "Are they your favourite? I think they're my favourite."

"Well, that's a very good choice," Diana responded with a kind smile. "My favourite flower is a daisy."

Evangeline looked at her. "Not a rose? Or a lily?"

"No," Diana said. "A daisy."

"But they're so common," Evangeline said. "They're everywhere! What's so special about a daisy?"

Diana smiled. "When I was younger, my mother planted daisies outside my bedroom window. In the mornings, she would sing me awake and open the curtains, and I'd be met with a bright bloom of little flowers."

Evangeline listened closely as she told her story.

"Some mornings, my mother would lean out and pick some for me to wear in my hair," Diana continued. "It always made me feel so pretty."

Evangeline reached up and touched the flowers that Diana had put in her hair. "Like you did for me?"

Diana nodded. "Yes, exactly," she answered. "That's where I learned it from."

The young girl was thoughtful for a moment as she checked that the flowers in her hair were still in place.

"You're right," she said. "They do make me feel pretty. Like a princess."

"You certainly look like one," Diana said kindly.

Then Evangeline did something Diana could never have expected. She took the jonquils she had picked and made her way around to Diana's back. Then, she slipped the flowers into Diana's hair.

It tore at Diana's heart as she fought back sweet tears. How could such a young girl have such a profound effect on her so unexpectedly?

"Thank you," Diana said, doing her best not to cry.

"Now you are a princess, too!" Evangeline said.

"Anna needs some flowers, then we'll all be princesses at this picnic," Diana said quietly.

That excited the girls as they ran off to pick more flowers for Anna's hair.

With such a strong reminder of her mother's presence, Diana wondered how she could rejoin the conversation. But the sadness she had felt was fleeting, and suddenly, the joy that her mother had given her came flooding in, and it replaced the grief.

She reached back, touched the flowers in her hair, and smiled happily at herself. When she looked up, she saw that Mark was still watching her. He had a proud look on his face. One that he deserved to wear.

"You have the sweetest daughter," Diana said.

*

Mark didn't know who was more happy to see Diana. He or Evangeline. Hugh had been talking his ear off in the carriage ride over to her manor, a sign to Mark that he was nervous. Mark found it endearing.

While he had a few nerves flying through him, it was overrun with an eagerness that he didn't know what to do with. The flowers had been the girls' idea. They wanted to do something to surprise Diana and Anna, and so they stopped to buy two bunches.

The carriage door had hardly been open when the girls jumped out and ran towards the house.

Mark was taking it easy. His intentions had been to get to know Diana before he decided how he might feel about her. She was, after all, a stranger, and the one conversation they'd shared couldn't possibly be enough to know what kind of woman she was.

He liked to pretend that he had accepted the invitation on behalf of Evangeline, but in truth, he had been dying to see her again. To speak with her once more and understand just what made her happy and what made her sad.

She had occupied his mind more than he liked to admit. It didn't help that Evangeline kept asking about her and remembering their meeting at the park with such fondness.

In the end, it was a perfectly sunny and pleasant day at her home. The gardens were beautiful, they were comfortable, and Evangeline was having the time of her life.

Hugh had done his best, mentioning that he'd noticed Anna's beautiful eyes when they'd met the other day. But Anna had paled and was clearly too shy to respond in likeness. It was amusing to watch, to say the least.

Diana had been talking to Evangeline, and Mark had only caught the tail-end of the conversation, noting that daisies were her favourite flower. And, after he'd heard the story why, they had become his favourite flower, too. He wondered if he should plant some outside Evangeline's bedroom window.

He hadn't realized how long he'd been staring at Diana until she looked up at him with a small smile.

"You have the sweetest daughter," she said.

He opened his mouth to respond when Anna and Hugh's conversation cut through.

"What did your parents do?" Hugh asked in Diana's direction.

It drew her eyes away from him, and he felt some of the warmth within him cool.

"Her parents were artists in their own right," Anna answered on her behalf. "They were really good. Daniel and Victoria Fairchild."

"Is that so?" Hugh asked. "I am aware of their artistic ability. I saw one of your father's works on display once and made a note of the name. It was completely thrilling. I must say, you had talented parents. I hope the talent runs in your blood, too. I've always found art to be a pillar of what society is today. Without it, I fear humanity would not be what it is."

"My favourite sculpture that her father ever made is right here in this garden," Anna said excitedly. "I can show it to you if you'd like?"

Hugh accepted eagerly. With that, he helped Anna to her feet, and they made their way to the far end of the garden. With the sun out, there were servants everywhere, so none of them would really be alone at any point.

So, there was no reason to dispute them going off together.

Julia and the children were on the hunt for butterflies after Anna had mentioned how many she had seen in the garden over the years. That left Mark and Diana being the only two on the picnic blanket.

Suddenly, he found that he did not know what to say. The words had dried up in his mouth, and his chest filled with a nervous energy.

"Would you like a tour of the gardens?" Diana offered, relieving him from his worry. "I've been sitting too long, and soon, I'll lose feelings in my legs."

"That sounds lovely," Mark happily accepted.

He got to his feet and extended his hand to help her up. The moment she took it, he felt as if it softened him. What anxious and difficult thoughts he'd had before simply melted away along with the week's stresses.

They walked as she told him eagerly about all the plants and animals they kept there. It was clear that she had knowledge of all of it, more than most people would have.

"Here are some of my favourites," she said as they slowed down a little.

They were standing in front of a large aviary filled with various birds. They seemed to flutter with excitement when Diana arrived. She reached into a nearby box and pulled out some seed, scattering it through the cage.

All the birds descended upon the food, and Diana smiled.

"They're beautiful," he said.

"All of them are unable to live out in the wild," she said, her eyes fixated on them. "They're all birds that I've found who have been injured and ill. I've nursed them all back to health and put in here to keep them safe."

"You've given them a new life," he said. "One they might not have afforded otherwise."

Diana nodded. "Some people have told me that it's a waste of time. That I should have let nature run its course. But it was not nature that threatened them."

She cast another handful of seed into the cage to feed them.

"Carriage wheels have injured some of them, while others have been ill from eating food left out by humans," she explained. "All of these birds were injured and threatened by something made by humans. Something they were never meant to come across in nature. So it is only right that I help them."

Mark knew at that moment that he was in more trouble than he thought. He was falling head over heels with every aspect of her. And it would not be a slow descent. He was tumbling into his feelings for her as if he'd been knocked off a cliff.