Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

W hen William stepped into the dinning hall, he found himself speechless. He didn't think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight. Rebecca was in one of the new gowns she had ordered, the neckline was a bit more daring than her usual attire.

Then there was the stunning bit of diamonds in her ears and around her neck. The whole thing was pulled together with a few jeweled pins holding back her hair.

She wasn't looking at him. Rebecca must have noticed she was staring. He needed to say something.

"You look lovely this evening," William finally said.

Her eyes darted up to look at him, a smile speaking across her face. "That's very kind of you to say. Thank you, it is all thanks to Mary's hard work."

"Somehow I doubt everything about how you look can be credited to the work of a lady's maid."

She flushed looking away. "That might be true, but everything of note is."

He shook his head. "Some how I doubt that," he repeated.

Her faced warmed even further. "Shall we sit to eat?"

William found himself unable to take his eyes from her for the entire meal.

She was breath taking. A fresh wave of guilt threated to wash over him, but he did his best to push it down. Rebecca may have been forced to marry him, but his guilt did nothing to help the situation now.

The least he could do is try to court her properly, try to give her the kind of marriage she deserved.

They ate in a haze of pleasant conversation.

"I was thinking we might go on a picnic tomorrow," he said during one of the natural lulls in conversation. "We could go on a walk of the whole grounds, give you a bit of a tour, make a day of it if you like."

She lit up. "I would love that! Tru ly."

"Then it is settled."

"But don't you have work I would be keeping you from?"

"I can assure you, that if I offer you my time, it is because I have it, I promise."

She nodded. "Then I think that sounds lovely. Thank you."

"Then that settles it."

The pair enjoyed the rest of their meal in a content silence.

The next morning, when Rebecca dressed, she didn't make her way to the unusual parlor where she would meet with Mrs Anderson. Instead she headed down to the landing where William was waiting for her, a large basket in his hands.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked when he saw her.

"I am, but are you sure you want to carry that basket the whole time? I can understand if you would rather simply return home for lunch."

"I want to carry it. I could also simply have someone arrange the picnic while we are on our walk, but I wanted to do it this way."

She hesitated, "Very well, if you are sure."

"Then let's go," he said, offering her his arm.

She hesitated for a moment, flushing softly before the couple stepped out into the late morning light.

They spent the better part of the morning walking the grounds and talking about everything under the sun.

"When we get back, I need to meet with Pat rick today."

"Why? Is everything all right? I hope you aren't having any difficulties with your business."

"No, nothing like that. He simply prefers to have me look everything over t least once a week to ensure I am still happy with it. It usually doesn't take long, but I may run late for dinner."

"Then would you like to invite him to join us? It seems a shame to send him all the way home hungry with you working so late."

"I can ask him, but I'm not sure if he will be free."

"If he doesn't want to, I understand. I just thought I might save him a trip."

"That's very kind of you."

"Then again, it might make trouble for the kitchen if they don't know we might have an additional guest. Perhaps you could have someone send word to him to see if he would want to."

"I'll see what I can do, but even if we don't find out until he arrives, it shouldn't be too much trouble."

"I'm glad. Even if he can't stay, perhaps you could stop and introduce him to me for a moment."

"I can if you like, but I don't understand why you want to meet my solicitor so much."

"The other day, when I was talking about Pnelope and I mentioned she was the person I was closest to in the world, you said Patrick was the person you were closet to." she paused, smiling at him. "That makes him seem rather important if you ask me."

William blinked in shock, stunned. "I didn't realize you would remember that conversation."

"How could I not? It seemed rather important."

"Still, I- I didn't expect you to. I will see what I can do about having him stay for dinner."

"Thank you, please let him know if he can't stay tonight, I would like to invite him another day."

"I will let him know, but I doubt he will turn down the invitation. I have no doubt he will want to meet you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Did I ever tell you how I came to be looking for a wife to begin with?"

She shook her head.

"It was all William's idea. I would never have even let myself consider it on my own. I've lost so many people it seems almost selfish to bring anyone else into this, but he knew how important it is to me to keep my family line going. He played on that to talk me into allowing him to search for a wife on my behalf."

"How did it go, if you don't mind me asking."

"I wouldn't know. He didn't say a word to me about it after that until he found you."

"Oh," she could hardly hide her surprise.

"It's true, but I don't imagen it went well."

"What makes you say that."

"Because the time between when he initially asked and he told me about you was so long I had almost forgotten the conversation had happened at all."

"It could have just taken a while for them to hammer out the details of it all."

He let out a half laugh. "Somehow I doubt that. I won't lie, I was rather surprised he was able to find anyone willing. I know what is said about me. Any reasonable family would have been terrified to marry their daughter to me."

Rebecca looked away. "Forgive me. That came out wrong."

"We have been walking for quite sometime. Perhaps it is time we stop to eat."

"Of course. If you like. There should be a nice clearing just up ahead. It should be the perfect place for us to take a rest."

Sure enough, only a short walk later, they found themselves standing in a large clearing. William walked a short way ahead of her and started to set up their picnic.

The more she saw him pull out of the basket the wider Rebecca's eyes grew.

"Were you just caring all of that our entire walk?"

"Obviously," he laugh. "It didn't magically appear when we arrived at our chosen spot. It had to come from somewhere."

"Still, it's all so heavy. It couldn't have been easy to carry all that."

"It wasn't that bad. Besides, now we have a nice change of scenery for lunch today."

"I suppose that is true, but it feel rather unfair to have you do all of the work."

"If it bothers you that much you can always carry the basket on the way home."

She winced. "That wasn't quite what I had in mind."

"If you don't want to be the one to carry it then keep your thoughts to yourself."

She looked away "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry."

"No, I', sorry. That was supposed to be a joke, but clearly it wan't a very good one."

"No, I'm sure it was fine. I tend to take these things a bit more personally than I should."

"That might be true, but if you aren't laughing then I don't consider it a good joke."

She flushed, looking away. "There you go again, being so very kind to me. I'm hardly worth all the trouble."

"I think you are, so let me be as kind to you as I like, all right?"

"If you insist, who am I to argue?"

He chuckled and the pair made their way back to the estate. It was only a short time later, when Rebecca made her way to the dinning room, dressed in her best, heart pounding in her chest.

She could hear voices from where she stood on the other side of the door. She took a deep breath.

She wanted desperately for this to go well. It was her first chance to make a good impression on Patrick. She could only hope their first meeting didn't leave him with too bad of an impression of her.

Rebecca took a deep breath then pushed inside.

The second she stepped through the doors, William and Patrick both turned to look at her.

"Patrick, I'd like you to meet my wife, Rebecce," William said with an easier smile than Rebecca was used to seeing him wear. "Rebecca, this is Patrick, my solicitor."

"Lovely to properly meet you," Rebecca smiled. "I have heard so much about you."

"I wish I could say the same, but William won't tell me anything no matter how many times I ask."

"Oh," she tried to hide the way her face fell. She should have known he would have better things to talk about than her.

"Forgive me for trying to discuss business when you tell me you came over to discuss business."

"But this is business! I spent so long arranging it. The least you could do is tell me if things are going well."

William huffed out a half laugh.

"But you will tell me how things are going, won't you, Rebecca?" he asked turning to her.

"What?" she asked, stunned. "I-I don't know."

"You don't need to worry, I am simply teasing you."

"Why don't we sit down and enjoy our meal?" William said.

"Of course," Patrick grinned. "That is why I'm here, isn't it?"

William scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Rebecca was starting to worry something was wrong, but when she caught his eyes, he just shook his head and smiled.

Patrick waited until after they had been served their meals to speak once more.

"So, I hear the pair of you have been spending quite a bit of time together lately. What have you been doing?"

"I would rather discuss how you heard what I am doing in my personal time," William interjected.

"That is hardly the point! I just want to know if you are up to anything exciting!"

"We went for a picnic earlier today," Rebecca said after a moments hesitation. "And while we were out, he showed me the grounds."

"That must have been nice, but why did it take you so long for you to see the grounds? Shouldn't he have done that when you first arrived?"

"I had a tour of the manor, just not the grounds outside," she said a bit too quickly.

"I suppose I can understand that, but it still seems like a major over sight."

"She needed some time to settle in and adjust," William said, shooting her a reassuring smile. "I rather think we both did."

Rebecca found herself smiling back, relife flooding over her. It looked like she hadn't said anything too foolish after all.

"Regardless, did the two of you enjoy your picnic?"

"We did," William said. "It was a nice change of pace. In fact I would go as far as to sa we should go for walks more often."

"I would be free if you wanted to," Rebecca hesitantly volunteered. "Mrs. Anderson said I didn't need to spend as long studying if I had something else I wanted to do as long as I kept trying hard and come to her if I have any questions."

"I'mglad to hear you have already made so much progress. Perhaps we could start doing morning walks together."

"I think that sounds lovely, but do you have that much time?"

Patrick chuckled. "You don't need to worry so much. He has far more time then he lets on."

"Careful, if you tell her all my secrets sh may start using them for her own."

From there the meal continued in a pleasant buzz. When the evening was coming to an end, Patrick managed to get a moment alone with Rebecca when William had to step away for a moment.

"How are the two of you doing?" he asked.

"William said-"

"I know, but I am asking you. He's- well he is hardly one to talk about what's going on or how he's feeling. I don't actually need to know any details, whatever jokes I might make. I only want to know that the two of you are getting on well."

Rebecca smiled. "I won't lie, we got off to a rather rocky start. It took us some time to come to understand one another, but yes, I think that it is more than fair to say that the pair of us are getting on rather well. I won't speak for William as to how he feels about me, but I know I have grown rather happy about the life we could build together."

"And the pair of you have began that? Building a life?"

"I would like to think so."

"Very well," he got to his feet. "That is all I needed to know. Please tell William I will see him in a few days for our next meeting."

"I'm sure he will be back any moment if you would rather tell him yourself."

"I'm sure he will be, but that is quite all right. You were the one I wanted to speak with when I agreed to dinner. I see him often enough. I will have plenty of time to talk to him again then."

She hesitated a moment more. "Very well, if you're sure."

"I am. As I said, I would appreciate it if you would let him know I wish you both a pleasant evening, and that I am happy for you both."

"Thank you. That is kind of you to say. I hope you have a pleasant evening as well."

Then they went their separate ways.

Rebecca was only alone for a moment or two before William came back in.

He frowned. "Where did Patrick run off to?"

She looked away. "He said he needed to go but that he would talk to you at your next scheduled meeting."

"Is that right," he rolled his eyes. "I supposed I shouldn't be surprised." Then for a moment, William hesitated for a moment. "He didn't say anything to you, did he?"

"Like what?" she frowned.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Forget I said anything."

She studied him for a moment, but when it became clear he asn't going to say any more, she let it go.

"It's getting rather late. Perhaps we can talk more on another walk tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, I would like that. I hope you sleep well."

The next two weeks were spent in each other's company almost exclusively. They went on walks, enjoyed meals together and slowly became better acquainted.

But they hadn't left the estate. Either together or on their own. Still it was something neither of them could avoid forever.

William couldn't help but worry.

It was rather typical for him to stay home unless there was a good reason for it, but Rebecca was a young woman with friends who must want to be out living her life.

It was hard to help the guilt from creeping in the longer he thought about it.

The more time they spent together, the more it consumed him. He knew he needed to say something or it would only continue to fester. Still, it took the better part of another week before he found the ability to grant a voice to them. So one day as they were on what had become their daily walk, William carefully broached the subject.

"Does it bother you, bein trapped in this house all day, Rebecca?" he asked. "You know you are free to go out whenever you like."

"I know, but we have been spending so much time together. It has been lovely, and I didn;t want to pause it just so I could do something as simple as go into town."

"You didn't ask me to come with you either though."

"Because I know you dislike going out."

That is true," he sighed.

"Then there was no point in asking."

"But just because I don't like going out doesn't mean I would say no."

"But you hate it."

He sighed. "I'm trying to say," he cut himself off shaking his head. "Forget it."

"No, please tell me."

"I was simply saying that if you were set on going out, I wouldn't mind. I would be willing to do it for you."

"I appreciate that, but how can I ask that of you?"

"If you want to go out, we can always do something small. Perhaps go on a promenade."

"That sounds lovely! Only," she hesitated. "Would you mind terribly if Penelope joined us?"

"Do you want her to join us?"

"I would like for her to, but I understand if it's too much."

William hesitated then took a deep breath. "If you want her there then I don't see the harm in it."

She lit up. "Oh! Thank you so much. I'll send word over to her when we get home to see when she is available."

"I am glad to make you happy, Rebecca."

And so, just like that arrangements were made for them to promenade with Penelope the very next day.