"How do you all feel about a ride and picnic today?" Emily suggested a few days later at breakfast, as she spread strawberry jam over a scone that was already oozing clotted cream, instantly making Nate look up at her. It was definitely a fine idea, but he didn't want to appear too eager, so he waited for someone else to agree.
"That would be fantastic, don't you think, Allie?" Cassandra said, prodding her younger sister in the side so she'd pay attention. Alexandra had been floating on air ever since the ball, and Nate suspected that the young Mr. Bennett was to be blamed for it. Emily had confided in him about the man after the ball, but had made him promise that he would allow Allie to learn herself and not push her into a decision that she would only resent him for.
"Huh?" Allie asked, looking up from her eggs with a silly grin. "Oh, yes, whatever." She agreed, giggling to herself.
"Should I be worried?" Nate asked jokingly, his eyes narrowing at Allie, who either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him. It was probably a little bit of both, really.
"I'll go tell the cook to pack a picnic lunch for all of us, then." Cassandra said, rising from the table, and Nate snickered as the sleeve of her dress fell into the dish of jam by her plate. She glared at him, immediately picking up her napkin to dab at her sleeve.
"Where's Kit, by the way?" Allie questioned, suddenly rising from her blissful state of ignorance. "I haven't seen him at all this morning."
"Oh, he rose early as always today." Cassie answered, setting the napkin down again. "He dressed only an hour or two after dawn and decided to take Juliette on a walk. Even she couldn't stay awake at such an hour. I can't imagine how he wakes up so terribly early." She shuddered dramatically, making Allie giggle loudly.
"And what is this I hear?" Kit asked amusedly from the doorway, his daughter nestled in his arms. "My own dear wife condemning me? How am I to stand this sacrilege?"
"You'll survive." Cassandra rolled her eyes, and walked over to him to take Juliette. "And you, little Lady Juliette Weston, how did you enjoy your walk with Papa?"
Juliette gurgled happily, and Cassandra pressed a kiss to her head. "Come, we shall go see if Mrs. Wyatt will scavenge something for a picnic for us later." She said to the baby, who was entirely unaware of what her mother was saying, yet still babbled. "Kit, why don't you eat now, love? You must be hungry. I must say, the scones are delicious today."
Seeing his sister married and maternal was incredibly odd and Nate still wasn't used to it, so he resisted the urge to gag. Hopefully, Allie wouldn't feel the need to find a husband or procreate any time soon, for that would be even stranger as Allie was his little sister, a baby as far as Nate was concerned.
"How was your walk?" Emily asked, popping the last bit of her scone into her mouth. As Kit mumbled something about the beauty of the countryside, he cracked a hard-boiled egg open, his attention focused entirely on that. If he'd been up for hours, he was probably starving.
"Really, though, how on Earth do you awaken so early?" Allie demanded, still buttering the piece of toast that had been in her plate for the last fifteen minutes. She really was preoccupied.
"I find I simply can't sleep after a certain time. I just have to get out of bed." He confessed, hungrily biting into his food.
The conversation continued for a little while longer. After Kit finished eating, all of them retired to the sitting room, where they were joined by Cassie and Juliette not long after. They spent the rest of their morning in leisure and, at about noon, decided to depart to a nearby cliff for their picnic.
Nate's horse was a newly tamed roan stallion named Musket. He had been purchased only two months ago, when his old horse, Midnight, had sadly passed away. Musket had taken some getting used to because his temperament was rather wild, but Nate eventually grew to like him quite a lot. He didn't allow anyone but Nate and the stable boy, Stanley, to touch him and he enjoyed that greatly.
Cassandra's old horse, Starlight, had been sent to London when she married so she made use of a mare named Lady, while Kit chose one named Merryweather and Emily one called Cannon. Both Cannon and Musket had been bought at the same time from the same man, but Cannon had a significantly calmer temperament. Allie had her own horse whom she had named Sally when she was twelve and whom she insisted on saddling and exercising herself everyday. She adored horses.
Finally, they set off, Juliette strapped to Kit's chest. It was only a short ride of not more than three miles, and they soon arrived to their destination, which was atop a cliff that made the countryside appear as beautiful as Derbyshire did with its rolling hills. Miles upon miles of greenery and expansive farmland lay before them, the scenery appearing as tiny and insignificant as toys from the height at which they were, watching on in awe. No matter how many times he had been here, Nate had never been able to get used to the pure beauty of the county he called his home.
They set their things down, and got everything ready for the picnic. The cook, Mrs. Wilfred, had provided them with quite the spread. Fresh bread and cheese, fruit, pies, meats and even little fruit tarts. She really was a marvel. Nate's stomach rumbled in anticipation at the mere sight of the spread laid out in front of him, and could not wait to begin digging in. The cheese especially looked very fine.
They ate hungrily and, soon, all of the food had been polished off. Allie, who hadn't eaten much for breakfast, ate the most by far. Once they'd finished, they sat around chatting about miscellaneous things and Nate couldn't pay attention at all as he had eyes and ears for no one but Emily, who didn't seem to notice as she laughed, watching Allie doze off with a grape still in her mouth.
"Shall we go for a walk?" Cassandra suggested, already standing up and dusting off her skirt. "I simply can't sit still for too long without getting restless." She had Juliette in her arms, and the baby stirred fussily as if she was about to wake.
"Alright." Kit agreed, following his wife's example and rising to his feet. "I could certainly do with one."
"I think I shall stay here." Emily said, leaning backwards onto her elbows. "I ate far too much and I am feeling quite lazy. Besides, someone had better stay with Allie while she sleeps."
"I shall stay too, then." Nate proposed immediately. He'd been looking forward to a walk, but it had only been because he thought it would be romantic. If she wasn't going to go, then there was no point whatsoever. "To keep you company."
Emily nodded, smiling widely. Cassandra appraised him, a brow raised quizzically while Kit was simply too preoccupied with his waking daughter to pay attention to much else. Finally, Cassie nodded, her eyes brightening with realisation. Nate hoped he wasn't being too obvious. "Alright, then."
Nate waited for them to disappear into the distance before saying anything else. He stood up, and stretched his arms above his head, a little yawn slipping past his lips. He picked up the extra blanket they had brought and covered Allie with it, smiling softly as she breathed evenly in her sleep. She looked so much younger and so peaceful when she was asleep.
When he sat down again, he noticed that Emily was looking at him curiously, her eyes filled with an unidentifiable emotion.
"You're more like a father to her than a brother." Emily observed softly, and Nate's ears reddened at the tips. He opened his mouth to say something about it but she quickly added, "That isn't a bad thing at all. I think it's sweet. What makes it sweeter is the fact that you don't have parents of your own."
Nate sat there, stunned, for a moment. No one had spoken to him so frankly before. Mistaking his pensiveness for anger, Emily hurriedly apologised, "Forgive me if I spoke more than I ought to have. To offend you was the furthest from my mind."
"No, not at all." He brushed it off calmly, yet still eager to change the subject and talk of something else. "What exactly are your parents like?" He knew it was a sensitive subject, and one he shouldn't prod at, but curiosity had taken charge over common courtesy and he felt he had to know.
"My parents are difficult to describe." Emily replied thoughtfully, her eyes glazing over as it became clear she was thinking of them. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to be forced from her family as Emily was simply for wanting to be free, as was her right. "Both of them are traditional and rather old-fashioned. My father is domineering and makes all the decisions while my mother goes along with them happily enough. If it were up to her, she'd still make the same choices as he. They have disapproved of me from the time I was a child, and that disapproval hasn't faded. They've never sought to protect me from others and their judgement. In fact, they have been the ones judging me most often, and proclaiming that I shall burn in hellfire for my headstrong ways."
"I have all too much experience with difficult parents." Nate mused aloud, once it became clear that Emily wouldn't say anything further. He himself was beginning to be lost in his memories, and his next words slipped out of their own accord. "My mother and father, before they passed, were one of a kind. Mama used to be lovely, before Father turned her into the bitter creature she became."
He sighed, and rubbed his eyes before casting a glance over at Allie to make sure she was still soundly asleep and not listening. Fortunately, to his satisfaction, he found that she was even lightly snowing. "My parents were happy together for quite a few years. I don't know what happened but, eventually everything fell apart. She became cynical and misanthropic while he turned into the worst of the worst— a disgruntled, unfaithful whoremonger who spent all his days wasting away and his nights steeped the drink. I don't think even Cassie knows this but, eventually, he even became an opium addict."
He didn't want her to say anything after this and it appeared she understood him for, instead of attempting to fill the silence between them with meaningless words of comfort, she leaned over and closed the gap between them and placed her hand over his, the warmth and simplicity of the gesture doing so much more for his weighted heart than a few words ever could have.
He spoke again, "I feel as if I'm discussing things I should not be discussing with a lady, but there is something about you that puts me at ease. It makes me feel that it is alright to say whatever's on my mind and that I will face no judgement. So, would you mind if I made one last confession?"
Her hair caught in the light as she nodded, smiling reassuringly. Her dark locks appeared to be a lighter shade and, to his surprise, he noted that there were tones of honey to her hair. He'd never seen that before. "You can say anything you wish and it shall be safe with me. I would never tell a soul anything you told me."
"Once, when I was perhaps sixteen or seventeen, my father, who was as intoxicated as always, offered me the chance to join in on his......meeting with the woman he had hired for the night. It was horrific and the night has since been burned into my memory. That was exactly how shameless he was about his actions."
"Dear God." Emily exclaimed softly, sliding her hand up his arm until it settled on his shoulder, close to the base of his neck. It sent tingles running straight down his arms and his spine but he ignored them, wanting to focus only on the moment and on the feel of her against him, the heat from her body reassuring him that he was alright.
She stroked his shoulder, and leaned forward again, perhaps to say something else, when a sound in the near distance startled them both and caused Emily to jump back ever so slightly, her small hand slipping from his shoulder blade. An upwards glance showed Kit, Cassandra and Juliette returning from their walk. Nate loved them, but he hated the fact that they sometimes arrived at the most inconvenient of moments, just when he felt as if he was progressing.
As they got closer and closer, the three of them wearing equally bright smiles, Emily whispered so quietly that he wondered whether he actually heard her correctly. "I'm sorry that you had to experience something so terrible. You didn't deserve that at all, but you emerged from that a wonderful person whom I would trust with my life."
For the first time in his life, he felt she was right.