Page 10 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
Paranoia was setting in; did she know that he was the man writing the novels she adored so much? Did she know he was the inspiration behind the character she had inadvertently developed feelings for?
So many questions, and yet he had no intention of asking such frank things to her during their walk. He was going to have to play out things carefully, and that meant going on as though nothing had happened.
Part of him simply wanted to share with her who he was. But that would mean admitting a part of himself that was entirely a secret to the rest of the world around them. James thought about how it would alter his reputation. The son of a duke was also the novelist of penny adventure novels. The two things just were not meant to go together. However, it could be the one thing that could win over Andrea.
“All right,” he said to himself after pulling on a pair of already dirty boots. He was nervous in the same way he became before a ball or event where people would be looking at him. It was the kind of nervousness that he dealt with internally; it was pushed back to the edge of his being so that nobody would ever guess he was feeling such a way.
The spring sun was just beginning to reach its peak in the sky as they set off across the lawn south of the main castle building.
“I thought you would be much more talkative today.”
James was not sure what to do or how to act around her, and so he suddenly felt rather awkward.
“My apologies, I am just rather tired.” He shrugged.
“I was glad you were available today to walk with me,” Andrea began.“I was going to have to have brunch with some other suitor whom I do not have much interest in.”
“And you have interest in me?” James asked, flashing a premature smile of triumph.
“I realised that I know little about you, and yet you have lived here for a few years,” Andrea said in a clever way that did not make her sound as though she was agreeing with his question.
“Well, what do you want to know?”
“What do you do all day?” she asked plainly.“I was wondering if you would be able to join me for a walk, but in doing so, it made me question what else you would be doing instead.”
James was rather caught off guard by her abrupt question. It was clear Andrea did not care for formalities anymore, but she was speaking so plainly that it was almost jarring.
“I fill my time with reading and writing. I like going on walks too, and sometimes, as marquess, I have to attend events.” James tried to sound natural as he spoke about his day-to-day life.
“I read a lot too.” Andrea smiled, turning to him.“Though it is not quite the literature that my mother would have me read. She wants me to be acquainted with works of the great poets and the kinds of tales that are considered epics’,but I am much happier reading about other adventures.”
“I do love tales of adventure,” James said, smiling to himself. He was already finding it difficult to keep his secret, but he did not have a choice. He could not risk such a secret getting out, even if it was the key to winning her over.
“You said that you write,” Andrea said with narrowing eyes.“What exactly do you write about?”
“I keep a journal,” James said nonchalantly. This was a lie that came easy to him, it was worn from years of use.“I write letters to my parents and old friends of mine too, but mainly I write in my journal.”
The lie that normally did not inspire much curiosity had done just that. James was not sure why he had thought Andrea might press him a little harder to uncover the truth, but that was the paranoid part of him that was anticipating the worst.
“Do you write at all?”
“I prefer to read,” Andrea said.“I suppose I have written to you in the past, if you think that counts.”
“Of course, it counts.”
“You must write a lot,” she continued.“I remember how good you were with your words in the letters you sent me.”
“Ah, yes, it must be the years of practice,” James said, though he was smiling to himself knowingly.
“Do you not get a bored living out your days on this estate?”
He got the feeling that Andrea now did not care for decorum in her questions; she was being plain, and he quite liked it.
“No, it is been a lovely change in pace.” James chuckled.“I am not sure if your mother told you, but I was in the military, and then I went journeying around areas of Europe and Asia. You would be surprised by how seeing so much of the world actually just makes you crave a quiet corner of England for a time. I have seen enough, and I like the ease of the countryside.”
“It is impressive that you have done so much and yet you are still young.”
“I am getting old, though.” James laughed off the comment, though he knew it was true.“But I am sure you do not want to hear old tales of war, it can be rather unpleasant to hear for a woman like yourself.”
