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until he drew up beside her.
    “You don’t care for the hunt, Lady Overton?”
Richard asked.
    “Why no, I – No. I do not,” Kate admitted
with conviction.
    Snatching the horse’s reins from the ground,
Kate drew the animal forward. The massive neck of the horse all but
hid Kate from his view, but the earl would not be thwarted. A smile
tugged at the corner of his lips as Richard dismounted to walk
beside her.
    “Tell me then, if you had your choice, where
would you prefer to be at this moment?” the earl prodded.
    “Really, my lord? I hardly think that what I
want could possibly -”
    “Indulge me,” Richard pleaded.
    Immediately, Kate stopped walking and peered
at him around the horse’s head. She thought the earl might be
mocking her, but the gentleman seemed to be in earnest.
    “In a library,” Kate softly replied.
    Richard was surprised. “Why there?”
    “Because it’s quiet and peaceful. A lifetime
of knowledge surrounds you on all sides. There are books printed
from all around the world and treasures to be found on every page,”
Kate declared, her eyes shining with wonder. “For me, it’s heaven
on earth.”
    Richard stared at her enraptured face,
utterly captivated by her passionate response.
    “Where else?” he asked.
    “Perhaps in a woods, near a small waterfall.
There, the ferns would grow so thick and green, you couldn’t see
the ground, and the sound of the water trickling over the stones
would lull you to sleep,” Kate envisioned.
    “Is there such a place?” Richard
inquired.
    Richard swore if Kate knew of such a bower
nearby, he would happily take her there just to see her face light
up with pleasure.
    “Certainly, my lord,” Kate readily
replied.
    Richard’s eyebrows rose a notch.
    “In my dreams,” Kate added, once more moving
across the field.
    Richard grinned, as he followed her lead. He
found he rather liked Kate Overton, liked her as a friend. That was
a strange revelation, indeed. The Earl of Devonshire had a few male
friends, to be sure, but the company of women had always been
reserved for more amorous pursuits.
    Indeed, he had always been attracted to the
fairer sex on some level. Like most of his kind, Richard wasn’t
above chasing a comely skirt or two to appease his baser instincts.
Friendship and honest affection for a woman, however, were an
unexpected surprise.
    “Tell me, my lady, is there a special someone
you care for?” the Earl of Devonshire inquired.
    “There are my sisters, of course, and my
parents,” Kate readily replied. “I have a few friends in the
village, too.”
    Richard frowned as he strode beside Kate
through the tall grasses. He saw no engagement ring on her left
hand, winking merrily in the sunlight. Still, he knew precious
little about Kate Overton. He’d heard no mention of an entendre of
any kind, but he supposed it might be a possibility, even for so
retiring a lass as she.
    “You misunderstand me,” Richard clarified. “I
meant a gentleman to whom you are promised or bear some
affection.”
    Surprisingly, Kate laughed. “Goodness, no! My
parents reserve such foolishness for my sisters.”
    Richard nodded thoughtfully. “Your sisters
are very pretty.”
    Kate nodded. Indeed, Kate thought, they were
quite comely. However, at times there didn’t seem to be the brain
of an ant between them.
    “Are they promised?” Richard inquired.
    Abruptly, Kate’s heart sank. So, that was the
way the wind blew. Dimly, she heard herself extolling her sisters’
virtues as though from a great distance. The earl bent his head,
obviously listening intently. However, by the time the other
members of the hunting party returned to join them, Kate was quite
miserable.
    “Bagged three, by jove!” Herbert exclaimed in
triumph, his face red with excitement.
    One of the servants held a bag aloft to prove
his claim.
    “Richard, you should have joined us,” Lionel
Marbury chided.
    Suddenly, the returning horses flushed a
pheasant from her hiding place