Thirty

**They** took a short ride later in the day as he showed her around. And when they arrived back in the chateau, there were a lot more people on the grounds.
She instantly noticed the curious looks of those who had seen them on the grounds.
Fabian helped her get down her mount and behind him, she saw ladies whispering, their headdresses almost entangling as their heads gossiped.
It did not help that Fabian’s right hand held her waist familiarly while he instructed his men about, then they went back to their rooms with his hand firmly remaining at the small of her back. By then, several more pairs of eyes had been added to the first few.
“Try not to be drawn into any conversation with the ladies. They can be quite... notorious when they’re bored. I don’t want you getting into situations you don’t need to get into.”
“*Oui*, my Lord,” she replied obediently. “Is there anything else?”
“I know my great aunt will arrive tomorrow. I have things to discuss with her.”
Her eyes lit up as she smiled. “Really?” She was excited at the possibility of meeting the woman who had been a great part of her mother’s life, and indirectly, hers.
It was this relative of Fabian who’d taught her mother how to read and gave her books she could bring with her when she had to come back home to the farm to care for Adalene’s ailing grandmother.
Adalene loved those books. The baron’s great-aunt affected her life, too.
He smiled. “I know you’ll be interested in that bit of news.”
“I’m not sure she even remembers my mother,” she said. She dared not ask him what he would tell her great aunt about her.
“You’ll be surprised at how strong her memory is. She remembers every naughty thing I did as a child.”
She sighed. “Can I do anything to help? What should I do while I wait for you?”
“Think of me,” he teased again, the heat coming back to his eyes.
“You know I will, Fabian,” she said softly. But surely, that couldn’t only be the only thing she could do? It was like torturing herself. She would only miss him more.
The past few days before their departure from his manor had been wonderful.
They rode in his carriage, and no one had to ask why the curtains were always tightly drawn. The memories inside that carriage on the two-day journey were delicious to contemplate while he was away.
He had become quite obsessive in a way that she couldn’t quite believe. He always made her breathless.
His touch could make her quiver in places she did not even know were sensitive and alive.
He gently pressed the hand he was holding. “Just try to stay out of the way of the gossiping headdresses.”
She smiled. She told him about that, and he was teasing her about it. “I will do that. But is there anything else?” and then, it came out like a flood. “Can I see that all your clothes have sturdy stitches? Or would you like me to check things out for you? Balance your simple books. Or go through letters that you think I can handle? I don’t think Odette will let me cook. Perhaps I can read books? Is there anything like that in the castle?” At his surprised look, she apologetically whispered. “There is nothing to do here. I feel very useless without you.”
He was staring at her, thinking. “I guess you can do those if you choose. But I can also accompany you to the library before I leave. We can borrow books you can read.”
She sighed in relief. “Thank you! That will be wonderful!”
He looked out the window.
It was still light. He looked back at her again and there was a speculative look in his eyes.
“I have a thought on how we can make the next few hours... useful.”
She smiled. “And what is that, my Lord?” she asked, already knowing.
“Chasing freckles.”
“Freckles?” she replied in surprise, self-consciously scrunching her nose because he was looking at it. She had freckles dotting her nose and cheeks.
“I love your freckles, here and here, and here,” he intimately whispered, following the direction of the freckles from her face to her body. She certainly had them inside her gown. “I would like to kiss them all, but I’m afraid it will disrupt your time for resting.”
“Will you have time to rest with me?” she asked, breathless, already anticipating his mouth on her skin, making her tingle before the moment.
“They are going to require my presence for the next few days. But I have time right now,” he murmured.
Smiling, she started to undress
in front of him, but he was already starting on the freckles on one shoulder before she could finish!
She helped him with his clothes as she got impatient.
They were both in the middle of the bed frolicking as he kissed all the freckles he could find on her body, and she all the scars.
But that finally distracted her, as she asked him about the story behind all of them, especially the ones she found in delicate or weak areas.
She looked up at him after he told her the story behind the scar on the side of his body.
It was caused by a knife stabbing he took while scouting for the duke before he became a knight.
“But you were alone. How did you get rescued?” she asked. It was a fairly big scar, which meant it had been a big wound.
“I fainted and when I woke up, an old woman had cleaned up the wound and stitched me, and then pressed some cloths with potions of healing herbs onto it. She let me stay with her for days until I can be safely brought back to the duke’s castle.”
She smiled. “She’s an angel,” she whispered.
“She is.” He took a deep breath. “I would always come back to her small cabin in the woods to help out when I was here. Theresa liked the meat I brought, but she couldn’t talk. She... when she was younger some people had cut her tongue. They accused her of cursing the village for bad weather. But in her old age, it was to her they went when they needed ailments healed, even as they distrusted her. When she got too old, I convinced her to live near me so she would be closer.”
“Is she alright?”
He smiled. “She’s a happy old crow when I met her and a happy old crow when she died, ma bichette. She’s been gone for three years. It was peaceful, she died in her sleep.”
“I wish I had met her.” If not for the old woman, she would never have met the Baron.
She would never have been rescued from the dire existence of being the wife to a man she detested on sight if he hadn’t been rescued.
“She would have liked you,” he said. “Remember the cabin near the river?”
“Oh...” she exclaimed. “Yes. It’s where she moved?”
“Yes. I had it built when I took her home with me, so she had somewhere to live. She wanted to be near the woods, you see. There was no other relative. I sometimes stay there when I hunt, and I give her some of the meat.”
“It was sad that she had no other relatives.”
“Odette stayed with her when she was younger. She liked Theresa very much.”
She smiled. “Odette is kind. She would have taken care of Theresa.”
“She did.”
“I can live there, too, someday.”
He frowned. “Why would you want to? We have the Manor.”
She lowered her eyes as he stared at her. “I’m not your wife. When you marry-”
“*Ma bichette*, why do you think I’ll let you go when I marry?” he teased.
“But your wife will not want a mistress in the Manor with her,” she protested.
“My wife... will stay wherever I want her to stay,” he replied. “Make no mistake about that, Adalene.”
And then he kissed her.
Playtime was over.