Nicholas tilted his head thoughtfully. He wasn’t sure if he should mention the boxing he’d been doing all morning, though his hand still ached from it. “Walking,” he began. “I like the quieter parks,” he added.
“Me too!” Miss Rowland’s tone was enthusiastic.
“Not Hyde Park, then?” he asked smiling.
Her gaze held his. They shared a chuckle. He tensed, the strangest feeling filling him--as though they had known each other a long time and understood each other better than anyone else.
“No. Not Hyde Park. Not usually,” she agreed.
He smiled. “Well, we’re both about to have an adventure, then.”
He looked out of the window. The coach was slowing. They were at the corner and would soon be in Hyde Park.
“Here,” he said gently, helping her down from the coach.
“Thank you.” She looked up at him, those hazel eyes wide. Nicholas swallowed hard. He knew it was customary to offer a lady one’s arm to support her while walking, but he had almost never walked with a woman and so was out of practice. He cleared his throat.
“You may lean on my arm, Miss Rowland,” he murmured. He thought he’d spoken too quietly, but he had also crooked his elbow so she could rest her arm on his forearm, and he tensed, almost forgetting how to breathe as she slipped her arm through his.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
They walked slowly forward. Nicholas breathed deeply, trying to ignore the strange, but pleasant, sensation of Miss Rowland holding his arm, and the familiar, but altogether unpleasant, sensation of people staring. There was a group of people by the gate, and he could feel eyes boring into their backs as they walked on down the path towards the fountains.
They’ll be gossiping about us. They’ll mention my scar and her obscurity and it’s not kind to either one of us.
He gazed down at Miss Rowland. She was staring ahead alittle dreamily, his heart filled with a sudden intense protective feeling.
“Come,” he said gently. “Let’s go that way.”
“Less crowded?” Bernadette murmured.
“Less watched,” he agreed.
The park itself was not particularly crowded—a few couples took strolls there after luncheon, and one or two nannies with their young charges walked or sat by the pond, but the paths were mostly free and unencumbered, the greens and lawns wide and expansive. The benches were occupied, mostly, and it was those watchers that Nicholas wished to avoid. That was where people would sit and gossip.
“Indeed.”
They turned towards a vast green space ornamented with a fountain and walked past it towards a shady path below spreading leafy trees. Miss Rowland’s chaperone followed them, trailing a few steps behind to give them the sense of not being watched.
The trees were already in leaf, the soft golden-green of the new leaves beautiful against the pale gray of the sky. He glanced at Miss Rowland. She was staring at a stand of irises.
“How beautiful,” she murmured.
Her eyes were wide and round, her lips parted in a delighted grin. He felt his heart stop. He hadn’t seen such simple delighton many faces before, and it struck him as beautiful. He drew a slow, appreciative breath.
“I love irises,” she continued softly. “Blue is one of my favourite colors. And purple,” she added. She paused, glancing sideways at a bush of white roses, the first buds still furled. “But roses are a particular favourite.”
“Oh?” Nicholas felt a smile spread across his face. “But not blue, I take it?”
She chuckled. “No. But I love the yellow ones. I think they’re my favourites, when it comes to roses. Yellow or pink.”
“I see,” Nicholas said, nodding his head. He grinned inwardly. “You seem quite aware of colour,” he commented.
“I am!” She sounded intense. “Colour is so moving, is it not? I think it stirs our emotions like nothing else, apart from music.”
“Quite so,” Nicholas agreed. He recalled the first day they met. She’d been playing a sonata then. He hadn’t even mentioned how deeply it affected him. “I think you have a special interaction with music.”
“Oh? No,” she murmured, looking at her toes, shy. “I think everyone has a special relationship with music. Music is pure emotion. One cannot listen to it and not be affected.”
