Page 54 of The Rules of Courtship
“It is true.” Samuel leaned back, watching Harewood come into view. They would be home soon, and he would immediately search out the kissing gate.
“Thank you, Sam.” Oliver let out a sigh. “I can only hope my conversation with Wycliffe will go as smoothly.”
“It will. The man adores you.”
“Adores?” Oliver laughed. “I am not a horse.”
“No, but you are perfectly aware how much he approves of you. He would not have spent the last few years assisting you with your land and holdings if he did not.”
Oliver rubbed his chin. “He is a good neighbor.”
Samuel gave him a look.
“Very well,” Oliver muttered, conceding. “We have developed a friendship. I think when I approach him and request his daughter’s hand, though, he might very well alter how he feels about me. It is one thing to be a good neighbor and friend, but another thing entirely to ask if I can take his favorite child away.”
Amusement sparked in Samuel’s chest. “You think she is the favorite?”
“They have a special relationship. She is the only piece of his first wife he has left and his only daughter. He is protective, with good reason.”
“Do not fret, Oliver. Wycliffe will be overjoyed at the prospect of gaining you for a son-in-law. Besides, if you marry his beloved Ruth, she will forever live at the estate neighboring his. I suspect that will be a point in your favor as well.”
It was clear Oliver did not believe him, but Samuel let him stew in his concern. It was better for him to worry over this than the state of his father’s health, surely. Besides, they would be home shortly.
“This is all your fault, you know,” Oliver said.
“How is that?”
“You told me I would leave the house party an engaged man. Do you recall? I had not realized you were cursing me.”
“Or was it a blessing?” Samuel asked, shooting him a grin.
Oliver’s answering smile was proof enough about how he truly felt. “What will Ryland say?”
“He will be happy for you.”
Oliver nodded. It seemed the most likely answer.
Samuel looked at the shops on the High Street as they passed, looking for women he knew who might be out this afternoon.
Could a man love two women simultaneously? Samuel had hoped Ruth was his letter-writer, but since it was not her, that meant he had been developing feelings for his writer as he had been pursuing Ruth.
Furthermore, could a man love a woman he had not met? Samuel was certain his feelings for his writing friend were growing real, that she was someone he could see himself sitting in front of the fire with on long, cold nights, or chatting amiably with over dinner. Their conversation was invigorating and interesting. Surely it would be no different were they to speak in person.
He would not know until he tried. Whoever this woman was, Samuel needed to find her.
Samuel did not enterhis house when Oliver let him out. He saw to it his trunk was carried inside, then followed the paththat led along his father’s land. A cloud of dust was still settling in Oliver’s wake as his carriage left, but Samuel skirted the remnants and made his way toward the trees. The path to his letter was not short by any means—it was a miracle he had found it to begin with.
Twenty minutes later, he reached the kissing gate and let himself through. There, tucked in the loose rock halfway down the stone wall, was a small, folded rectangle. His smile stretched when he turned it over to see it was not the letter he had left behind, and he tucked it into his pocket. Had he needed further proof Ruth was not penning these letters, the timing of this was it. He had left his last letter just before leaving for Lord Rocklin’s house, and he had returned to Harewood before Ruth—they had driven away before she had even finished packing.
Breathing in a deep lungful of air, Samuel found himself smiling the whole of his walk back home.
When he let himself inside, however, the flurry of motion made him take pause. “What is it, Howe?” he asked his family’s butler as he shrugged from his overcoat.
“Your father has returned home earlier than planned.”
Samuel froze. “And my uncle?”
“Mr. Charles Rose is with Captain Rose at Boone Park. Mr. Harding returned here to eat and change, but he intends to join them again shortly.”
