Page 48 of Her Sinful Duke

His brows furrowed. “You didn’t go with them?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Not very often. Mother and Father always took Vanessa everywhere they went. I suppose that is because she is the eldest. As for Adeline, she was too little to go, so she would stay with the governess. And I was allowed to roam free.”

“A small child roaming free?” he wondered.

She shrugged again. “The governess only told me to stay on the property and not get into any trouble which I didn’t do that well, seeing I was sent off to a nunnery.”

He laughed. “I see.”

She laughed as well. “But I did learn how to ride pretty well.”

“Who taught you?” he inquired.

“The old gardener,” she said with melancholy in her voice. “He saw me the first time I was there. He asked me what I was trying to do, and I explained. He also knew that Father would never allow it. Yet, he still helped me. He taught me everything he knew about horses.”

James smiled. He could sense the underlying burden that her family had always been to her and she to them. He knew that feeling well. He knew when a family didn’t function as it was supposed to, when one part of the unity was in dangerously ill repair. It left devastating consequences on those who remained behind.

“I love this place,” she said, reminding them both where they were.

The air was filled with the soothing sound of babbling water, a tranquil melody that calmed the spirit and invigorated the senses. Birds were flitting and chirping among the branches overhead, their joyful songs adding to the natural symphony of the brook’s surroundings.

“Me, too,” he said stepping closer to the brook.

Penelope did the same, dipping her hand into the cool, refreshing water.

“So peaceful and serene,” she murmured, her voice soft with appreciation.

“This is where I used to come with my mother and sister,” he revealed. “We didn’t ride our horses, though. We walked. It took us… well, two hours,” he said with a smile. “But it never felt like two hours. Angelica… my sister, she would always amuse us with her flower picking and singing. She had the most beautiful voice, just like my mother. And they would always sing to me and to each other. I don’t know how, but time with them always seemed to pass so quickly, too quickly almost.”

“You must miss them a lot,” she said tenderly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He wondered if this was the moment to tell her the truth about what happened that fateful night. He locked eyes with her, but he couldn’t do it. Instead, he smiled.

“Let’s race back,” he said. “I will beat you this time.”

“You can try,” she replied, already running towards her horse and jumping on it with the skill of a veteran rider.

As it turned out, he didn’t win that time either.

* * *

It was late that same afternoon when James found himself in his study, trying to focus on some work. He was sitting at his desk, sifting through a stack of papers, but the truth was, he could barely remember what he had already read when he would move onto the next document.

He sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. The truth was, all he could think about was Penelope. Was she happy here with him? Was there more he could do for her?

At that moment, a quiet knock on the door interrupted him.

“Yes?” he called out.

The door opened, and the cheerful face of his grandfather appeared in the doorway. “Am I interrupting you?”

“Of course not,” James replied. “I’m trying to do something, but it’s amounting to nothing, so I might as well leave it.”

His grandfather walked inside, closing the door behind him. “Does that lack of focus have anything to do with your lovely wife?” he asked, with a knowing smile. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he observed his grandson, a silent understanding of the situation that had been occupying him.

“I don’t know,” James said, at first not wishing to admit anything. But he quickly realized that there was no point in trying to hide anything from his grandfather when everything was painfully obvious. “Yes,” he finally confessed with a single word.

“I’ve noticed,” Grandfather remarked, his tone gentle yet probing. “You seem different lately, James. Happier somehow.”

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