“Nay. Sad to say there is none. I just wished to get out and walk before we face hours in the saddle starting on the morrow. And look at the family seat from this point. It is a fine place.”
“It is very grand and yet, once inside, it just feels like any home. Well, any home of someone with money for some of the finer things.”
“That is Dob’s doing. She looked at what Modred’s parents had created and decided it would not do. So exact, so much about showing off one’s power and wealth, and so pristine. Modred needed a nest, she said, someplace where he could relax and not worry. The way his parents had done it, you dared not even curtsey as protocol demanded without fear of breaking something more valuable than you could ever afford to replace. He was still very young when she walked in to take care of him. Dob’s opinion was that consequence would not save his mind and made the castle far more suitable for a boy than some king.”
“She said they healed each other.”
“They did. We all only have one worry about him now and that is that Dob is not a young woman. We need Modred to find himself someone to care for who loves him for him despite the gift that makes so many uneasy, and to find her and win her before Dob’s time comes.”
“That certainly sounds like a good thing to pray for.”
“Your uncle needs some trees,” he muttered as he looked around at the barren hill, sheep grazing in every direction.
Primrose laughed. “Yes, a little copse of them here and there, ones offering people taking in the view from here a little shade and shelter, the kind you can slip into for a bit of privacy, and which everyone knows why people would go there and what you are doing if you stay within the shelter of them for very long.”
“Unfortunately, that would be the truth of it. I suspect even the villagers would see them being made and say to themselves, ‘Why is George putting in so many trysting spots?’”
“I should probably go and check on Smudge, make certain he is ready for a long journey.”
He followed her as she headed for the stables. The horses were content in their stalls but Bened looked Mercury over anyway. He appeared to have taken no harm from the long ride to Uncle George’s and Bened was confident the animal would not suffer for the ride back to Willow Hill, either. It was why he had chosen the animal. Even when Mercury had been a colt he had seen the promise of stamina and strength. The speed the animal had revealed had been a beautiful added blessing.
He crossed his arms on the wall of Mercury’s stall and looked over it to watch as Primrose brushed down her horse. She was very good to any animals under her care and he respected that. In truth there was a great deal about Primrose that he respected.
As soon as she started to leave the stables he fell into step beside her. He could see Simeon standing on the steps in front of the house with Lilybet obviously giving him her opinion on something. The look on his face told Bened that the man was hearing something he did not like if only because his clever mind told him it was reasonable and he should agree.
Bened leaned over to whisper in Primrose’s ear. “Be sure to leave your bedchamber doors unlocked tonight.”
“You cannot come creeping into my room at night.”
“I can actually and I intend to.”
“If you get caught . . .”
“Nay, I will not be caught.”
She watched him stride away and thought he was a little too confident in himself. The only ones who thought it acceptable that he was her lover were her and him. That left six other adults, all sleeping on the same floor, who could catch him and suffer shock, outrage, or—she glanced at Simeon—anger. Shaking her head, she decided to go find her uncle George and talk to him about gardening.
Primrose settled into bed with a book on gardening her uncle had given her to read. She glanced at her bedchamber door and sighed. She had left it unlocked but if Bened was actually going to be cautious, she doubted she would see him. That gave her such a sense of disappointment she cursed and went back to her reading.
Just as she was about to doze off over a particularly dry treatise on the good and bad of planting flowering vines, a soft sound caught her attention. She looked at the door and saw the latch slowly lifting. Then, so abruptly it startled her into nearly dropping her book, the door opened, Bened slid inside, and then he silently closed and latched the door. He turned and grinned at her like a naughty boy. It was a look that should have been ridiculous on a man of his size but she found it charming.
“Are you certain you were not seen?” she asked quietly as he walked toward the bed shedding his clothing with each step.