Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“What are you planning today, Amelia?” Lady Downe asked as Amelia ate her breakfast. “You said you and Lord Silverton were going for a ride, weren’t you?”

“We are.” Amelia sipped her coffee. “Taylor is arranging for a picnic to be prepared by the pond when we return.”

“And Taylor is going with you on this ride?” Lady Downe checked, casting her daughter a frown. “You know that you shouldn’t go off with a gentleman on your own.”

Amelia rolled her eyes.

“I know that, Mother. You don’t need to worry about it.”

The marquess sat at the head of the table, looking approvingly at Amelia as he ate his hearty plate of food.

“I must say, Amelia, you’ve taken this in your stride better than I thought. With your opinions on marriage, I thought you were going to fight back and say that it wasn’t going to happen, so you’ve surprised me in so many ways.”

Amelia gritted her teeth as she smiled tightly without responding. In reality, she didn’t like how she had been forced into this position. She wanted to be left alone and allowed to get on with her own pursuits. The charity and the children needed her. This was not something that Amelia wanted to do. She might like Edmund and enjoy his company, especially after the afternoon at his house, but she was not going to marry him.

And definitely not until she knew what Edmund was up to. He could not have wanted to court her after just a few short interactions. It was not possible to know after just a few meetings that he wanted to spend time with her romantically.

Even though Amelia was sure that her behavior toward him was attraction, although she doubted that it was romantic. She didn’t believe in things like that. It didn’t give her freedom, either, although the sensations of feeling attracted to someone were pretty nice. It wasn’t something that got in the way all the time, but it felt good to know that there was someone there in her thoughts, making her smile.

But that was defeating the object of getting Edmund to leave her alone. Amelia wanted him to find her repulsive and use the horrible rumors about her to her advantage. She had to get him to leave her alone as soon as possible.

She looked at the clock and realized that it was almost ten. Edmund would be there shortly. Thankful that she had dressed in her riding clothes before she came down for breakfast, Amelia finished her coffee and stood up.

“I’ll just go and head out to the stables. Lord Silverton will be here shortly.”

“Very well, dear.” Lady Downe gave her a knowing smile. “Enjoy yourself.”

Amelia had mixed feelings about that as she left the dining room. She doubted that it would be the case, although a part of her wanted to enjoy it.

This was such a mess.

Taylor was already in the stables with the stable manager, Kidman, when Amelia arrived. Her horse, Castellana, along with Taylor’s horse, Josie, had been saddled up already. Amelia patted Castellana’s nose and nodded at Taylor.

“Have we found a horse for Lord Silverton to ride?”

“We have one, and she’s saddled up.” Taylor grinned. “He’s going to have a hard time with him, you can be sure of that.”

“Surely the Earl of Silverton would have his own horse, though?” Kidman asked. “Why would we need to supply a horse?”

“It was something we discussed the other day.” Amelia scratched her horse’s neck. “They have two horses for the carriages, but they keep their horses for riding out on their estate, which is further out of London. To save him traveling to his family home to collect his horse and then come here, I suggested by letter that it would be better if I supplied a horse for him. It seemed like a simple solution, though.”

“But to give him Ruben? Are you sure about that?”

“He can handle it, Kidman. Don’t worry about it.”

Amelia glanced at Taylor, who was trying hard not to giggle. Kidman didn’t know, but Ruben had been purposefully picked. Amelia had suggested going horseback riding, and she could provide the horses. And Ruben would be just the horse for Edmund, being the most temperamental animal she had ever encountered. Her father had been trying to get Ruben tamed so they could use him after buying him at an auction three months ago, and Kidman had been struggling to get the horse to be calmer.

Just who they should use.

Amelia heard the sound of wheels on gravel coming along the driveway, and she nodded at Taylor.

“Stay with the horses, Taylor. Kidman, get Ruben out. I’ll go and greet our…guest.”

“Yes, my lady,” Taylor replied, unable to hold back her giggling. Kidman still looked confused as he went to get their third horse. Amelia wasn’t about to explain what she was planning.

Hopefully, Ruben wouldn’t be such a bad horse that he hurt Edmund. There was that chance, but as long as he caused some frustration on Edmund’s part, it would work.

Edmund had gotten out of his carriage by the time Amelia walked around the side of the house. He looked particularly tall and handsome today, and Amelia couldn’t figure out why. She was simply aware of how her body reacted to him, how suddenly her clothes felt itchy and her heart stuttered. That was not helpful.

Pushing that aside, she fixed a smile at him as she approached.

“Good morning.”

Edmund looked over, giving her a smile that made Amelia’s knees feel weak, and she almost tripped over her own feet. She caught herself in time, hoping that Edmund hadn’t noticed.

“Good morning. Are you ready to go?”

“Well, I have the horses ready. Yours is prepared in the stables.” Amelia beckoned him to follow. “Right this way.”

Edmund walked behind her, and Amelia was aware of his presence. She could feel everything tingling, and she couldn’t believe that she was feeling this way still, after meeting him a few times. Surely, the feelings should have stopped already, but it just seemed to be growing stronger.

That was not good at all.

They entered the stables in time to see Kidman struggling to hold onto Ruben as he reared up on his hind legs. Taylor was a little further away, holding onto the reins of her and Amelia’s horses, not looking even slightly fazed.

“Forgive Ruben, Edmund,” Amelia said as she approached the frustrated animal. “He has a bit of a temperament. He doesn’t like taking orders from anyone.”

“Right,” Edmund murmured. “And you chose him for me to ride?”

Amelia smiled and patted Ruben on the neck, which seemed to calm him down a little.

“He’s a softie, really, but he’s very moody. I think you would be just the person to tame him, don’t you think?”

Edmund didn’t look so sure about that. In fact, he looked like he would rather be anywhere but with them at that point. Amelia bit back a smile, knowing that he was beginning to get very uncomfortable.

Served him right for thinking that he could court her and put Amelia in a position she didn’t want.

“Why don’t you try and get on?” she suggested as Kidman managed to keep Ruben in one place. “You should be fine once you’re on.”

“Are you sure? He looks ready to bolt.”

“I’m sure.”

Amelia wasn’t. In fact, she had seen some of the stable hands get thrown off Ruben before they had properly settled in the saddle. He didn’t like being ridden. Part of her wondered if this was actually a bad idea, but she was going to follow through on this plan.

Edmund approached Ruben with trepidation, and the animal eyed him warily. It was like a standoff between the two of them for a moment. Then Edmund took hold of the saddle and placed his foot in the stirrup.

Ruben moved so suddenly that Amelia had to almost dive out of the way as he darted across the yard, taking Edmund with him. Then he came to a complete halt, sending Edmund flying into the stack of straw Kidman had stacked there, ready to put in the stalls. He hit the straw and landed on his hands and knees on the ground.

“Edmund!” Amelia hurried over. “Are you all right?”

“Well, that was an experience.” Edmund shook himself and got to his feet. “He’s very…spirited, isn’t he?”

“I do apologize for that,” Amelia gushed, hoping that she put on a good act. “I didn’t think…”

“Well, I’m sure it will be fine once I’m mounted.” Edmund squared his shoulders. “Let’s get him back, and then we’ll see what we can do.”

Amelia had to admire him at that moment. He was determined to do this. No matter what she threw at him, he seemed determined to face it completely.

This was becoming a battle of wits, and Amelia hoped that she would be able to withstand a stubborn man like Edmund.

***

As he urged Ruben to walk after he stopped for the umpteenth time, Edmund wondered what on earth he had gotten himself into. The horse was the most frustrating animal that he had ever come across. How was it possible to behave like this?

Had Amelia’s family not tamed him? He stopped to either eat, urinate, or just simply because he was stubborn. Things happened on Ruben’s schedule, not his rider’s. And when they were actually galloping, Ruben would pull up suddenly or jump a wall that Edmund wasn’t expecting.

How he hadn’t ended up on the ground or nipped when it came perishingly close to that, he had no idea.

Amelia claimed to be concerned about it, but she made no apology for giving him a horse who clearly shouldn’t be ridden. If anything, she looked like she was enjoying herself with his discomfort. She and Taylor rode on ahead, looking like they were having fun while Edmund struggled to keep up with them. This was definitely not going the way Edmund wanted.

It wasn’t much better when Amelia was walking alongside him, looking very much at home on her horse. She would point out each plant they came across, talking about each one in great detail.

She had mentioned enjoying horticulture, but Edmund didn’t realize she was that into it. Then Amelia would apologize for belching, something that he hadn’t heard anyone outside of his friends doing, telling him how big her breakfast was that morning. All Edmund could say to that was that she had a hearty appetite.

He suspected that she was trying to put him off. The effort she was going to put forth in order to do so was startling. No lady, even the most uncouth, was like this. She was surely making it hard work for this courtship to continue. Did she suspect that he was doing this for a bet? Was she trying to sabotage it on her side? Edmund knew that Amelia didn’t want to get married, preferring her freedom and doing what she wanted over finding a husband. Maybe that was the reason: she was trying to make herself look inappropriate.

She was doing an impressive job in trying to make it look that way, but she was trying a little too hard, in Edmund’s opinion. It was making her look a bit like a madwoman. Yet, he had to admire her determination to put him off.

He wasn’t that easily swayed. In between the random moments where he wondered if Amelia had lost her mind, they had a good time together. They could talk about pretty much anything, and it would be interesting. Amelia said that she preferred to talk about everything rather than keep it restricted, and Edmund was fine with that. She had some interesting insights into things which Edmund was curious about.

Amelia was far more interesting than she made herself out to be.

By the time they arrived at the pond, Edmund was ready to get off Ruben and simply walk back. Taylor dismounted first and held onto the reins of Amelia’s horse as she prepared to dismount. Edmund managed to get down before Ruben bucked him off and hurried over, catching Amelia as she slid off her saddle. She gasped and clutched at his arms as she regained her balance.

“I…thank you.” She cleared her throat and pulled away. “Taylor has the picnic set up for us. Let’s eat.”

Edmund couldn’t have asked for anything better. He was starving, especially after dealing with Ruben. He didn’t think he had ever met anyone that stubborn.

Except for Amelia Everly. She was definitely stubborn.

Two footmen waited on the bank of the pond, a blanket spread across the grass with a selection of food laid out on top. When he had a closer look, Edmund realized that everything was going to cause a mess. It seemed like pretty much all the food had cream on it. How was that possible?

“Come on, then,” Amelia said, settling heavily down on the blanket. “I’m starving.”

“Same here.” Edmund sat across from her. “It’s hard work handling a difficult horse.”

“Ruben’s not that bad, is he?”

“Do you want to get on his back and find out for yourself?”

“I don’t think so, thank you.” Amelia gave him a sly smile as she reached for what looked like a small tart covered in cream. “What do you fancy? We have sandwiches, jam tarts, cream-filled rolls…”

“I think it’s clear that you have cream here,” Edmund commented, casting an eye over the food. “Do you have any food to go with the cream, though?”

Amelia laughed.

“The sandwiches don’t have any cream in them. But there is homemade Hollandaise in them.”

Edmund wasn’t surprised by now. He was beginning to figure out Amelia’s pattern by now. She was going to intentionally make sure he ended up in a mess by the end of this.

He picked up a sandwich and took a bite, careful not to have too much in one go. He wouldn’t be surprised if it exploded. Amelia took a bite of the tart she had picked up and licked her lips as she chewed. Then she started to chew with her mouth open.

Edmund almost burst out laughing. She was clearly trying too hard to put him off. He could see it in the way she was doing it. It made him want to tell her that she wasn’t fooling anyone and she should just stop, but he wanted her to keep going. See what else she would do to deter him from courting her.

Well, if she thought she could get him to leave, she was going to have to work harder.

Somehow, Amelia was able to talk while eating at the same time. It was impressive, and Edmund found himself falling silent as he listened. It was clear that whatever Amelia talked about, she had a passion for. She had a mix of hobbies that kept her going, and it was rather a strange collection as well. Yet, somehow, it seemed to work. Edmund wouldn’t be able to do that himself.

She was a remarkable woman. A smart one who could hold a good conversation, but she was working too hard to deter him. If it had been anyone else, they would have been put off a while ago. But Edmund had an agenda.

Amelia Everly was worth a lot more than fifty pounds, he knew that much. She was priceless. But it would be satisfying to get that money off John and prove that Amelia was not how he perceived her to be. Edmund knew there was a lot more to Amelia than anyone knew.

It was a shame that they were being pushed into this.

“It’s a curious thing for you to do,” Edmund commented. “I take it your parents don’t know about it.”

“Of course not! They would be furious if they knew about it.” Amelia shot a warning look at the two footmen. “And they’re not going to find out. They would probably end up sending me away and keeping me under close guard for doing that.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that.”

“They’ve been overprotective of me my whole life. I have a brother who has a lot more freedom than me, even more than I ever did. He’s older and already off having his own life, but by his own admission, I’m treated like I’m stuck in a gilded cage, and he didn’t have it as bad. I tried to ask my parents why they would do that, and they simply said it was for my own good.”

Amelia sighed and absently drew a pattern on the cake between them, covered completely with cream. “If I’m honest, I think it’s stunted me a little bit when it comes to getting anywhere with anything. Socially, I do struggle, and it’s not because I find anything talked about boring. It’s because they restricted who saw me.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I had a governess and a nanny, and I barely interacted with any other children.” Amelia gave him a sheepish smile. “I suppose that’s why I was so eager to talk to you and Mathilda the day we met…I hadn’t had many chances to talk to people close to my age.”

Edmund could understand how tough that could be for anyone. When you were stunted for a specific reason, it made things a little harder. Amelia had parents who kept her away from things that made her struggle when she had to deal with them.

“Is that the reason why you are the way you are in social settings?” he asked, taking a sip of his lemonade. “Because of how things were when you grew up?”

“Sort of. But also because I have no time for disrespect and things like that.” Amelia shook her head. “There’s so much arrogance, and I have no time for it.”

“And that’s why you don’t want to get married?”

Amelia arched an eyebrow.

“You think that because there are so many cads in Society that I don’t want to marry?”

“Well, you’ve turned down pretty much everyone. You’re a beautiful woman, Amelia, so you should see why men approach you.”

Then Edmund realized what he had just said, and he felt his face growing warm. He cleared his throat, but Amelia didn’t appear to have noticed that he had just called her beautiful.

“I actually had a more practical reason for it. When I was thirteen, I wrote down all the positives and negatives about getting married. Then, when I read them, I decided that there were more positives about remaining unmarried, and I liked all of them. So I simply decided that marriage wasn’t for me.”

Edmund hadn’t expected that as a response, but he could understand why someone would think like that. Even so, he felt like he had to work to make her see that marriage wasn’t that bad.

“There are a few good points to marriage, though,” he said.

“Like what?”

“You have someone who loves you, who you don’t necessarily have to share with anyone.”

Amelia snorted.

“Really? That’s the best that you can do? I can think of plenty of reasons off the top of my head why marriage is a bad idea.”

“Like what?”

“I want to be able to do what I want when I want. No being controlled by a man. I don’t want to be a fake person who sits there and nods to whatever is being said, like a simpleton. That’s not for me,” Amelia declared. “I like my freedom and having my hobbies. I also want to travel, which I can’t do if a man is in charge of me.”

“Really?” Edmund was surprised. “Where would you want to go?”

“Anywhere. I want to explore everywhere possible.”

There was a light in her eyes that Edmund had seen before, and it illuminated her whole face. She looked excited at the prospect of doing it, of being independent and doing her own thing.

He couldn’t deny that it sounded enticing to be able to travel and be your own person. He had thought about doing it himself, but the thought of traveling alone aside from his valet didn’t sound ideal. He wanted a traveling companion, and Harold and John weren’t about to go with him; they were staying firmly in England.

Amelia had taken a big bite of cake, and she had some cream on her face that she missed with her tongue. Before he realized what he was doing, Edmund leaned over and wiped at the cream with his finger, cleaning it away for her.

Amelia stopped, staring at him open-mouthed but not pulling away. For a moment, Edmund marveled at how soft her skin was, and he couldn’t stop staring at her mouth. He wanted to run his finger over her lips to find out if they really were as soft, to watch her suck the cream off his finger.

Wait, where was his mind going? That was a bad idea. But Edmund couldn’t stop himself from thinking or wondering if Amelia would taste like cream if he leaned in and actually kissed her. She was close enough that he could do that.

Then someone pointedly cleared their throat, and Amelia pulled away so quickly that Edmund was left reeling. Taylor was standing beside her mistress, watching them in bemusement.

“Would you like some more lemonade, my lady?” she asked, holding up the jug. “I think your glasses are empty.”

“Oh. Right.” Looking a little dazed, Amelia picked up her glass. “Thank you, Taylor.”

Edmund nodded his thanks to the maid as well, both glad and annoyed that she had interrupted them. It was probably a good thing because he could sense things shifting in the air between them, and it was not really a good thing. He couldn’t allow it to happen between them, not with so much at stake.

And yet, in the back of his mind, Edmund knew that it would be all too easy to fall in love with Amelia Everly.