I woke up before the sun rose the next morning, and I quietly dressed in a ruby red dress, and of course, it had roses and jewels sewn into them. I quickly grabbed my blanket knitted by my Nana, and crept as quietly as I could down the stairs and towards the stables located here on Hereford estate. As I walked through the entrance, I spotted the Duke in all black standing near a cream colored horse with an assortment of black and brown spots. In a way she sort of resembled a strawberry. Her name fit her well. I went to Shadow’s stable to collect him, and prep him for our morning ride. Elijah peered around to watch as he adjusted Strawberry’s saddle. I stroked Shadow’s nose softly before hugging his neck.

I had missed him dearly. “I am sorry for not coming for a ride sooner. What do you say? Shall we make this an exciting outing?” Shadow responds with a resounding snort and nod.

I quickly fetch his saddle, and make quick work with securing it to him. Once I am finished I finally turn to Elijah who is waiting expectantly. We walk towards the entrance together in silence. I turn to greet him first. 

“Good morning Elijah. Did you sleep well?” I uttered, unsure what to say.

“I had a pleasant rest, and how about you Sabine?” He stops walking and lets go of Strawberry’s reigns.

“I slept quite well myself.” I gasp as he takes my hand in his, turning it over and placing an enticing kiss on the inside of my wrist.

“Wonderful. Come, make haste, or we shall miss the sun.” He takes my hand and helps me mount Shadow.

He mounts Strawberry, and sets off the ride in a gallop. Still in shock, I scramble to grasp Shadow’s reigns and follow them quickly. As we gallop across the field towards the lining of trees, the wind whips my hair around my face and a smile forms on my lips. I urged Shadow to move faster, and once we reached them, we sped through the lining of trees towards an opening on the edge of a hill. The sky began to lighten as we slowed down to a trot once we had reached the entrance to the huge open space covered with trees. 

We dismount to tie our horses on a tree near the bottom of the hill and Elijah grasps my hand, and pulls me along with him to the top of the hill. We keep our hands intertwined the entire trek up the hill, and there are butterflies in my stomach the whole way. When we reach the top there is a blanket set out on the grass for us to sit, wine glasses and a bottle of the wine we had the night we met, and a basket I assume is filled with food. I take in a sharp breath and turn to him with an amazed smile. He smiles brightly at me, and pulls me to sit on the plush blanket.

“How did you do all of this? You must have been up all night.” I smile as I look around at the spread.

“Not at all. I prepared everything this morning. I only had to be up a few hours early. Is it too much?” Finally letting my hand go he hands me a glass and opens the wine.

“Elijah, It is perfect. I do not know what I imagined this would be like, but I certainly did not imagine this.” I beam as he pours wine into my glass.

“I wanted to make this memorable, and to make up for my disappearance.” We sit close and look out over the edge of the hill at the still dark sky.

I take a sip from the glass, careful not to over indulge like I did at the bed and breakfast. “I will not forget this.” Our eyes lock for a few moments before I look back towards the sky.

“So, tell me, besides strawberry ice cream, roses, horses, and books. What are your other interests?” He pulls his eyes away from my face and looks out at the sky.

I eye him suspiciously. “How did you know I liked roses?”

His eyes trailed down to my chest, and he smiled. “The dresses. All of your dresses are embroidered with roses.”

My body warms from the heat of his gaze, and I smile. “I did not think you noticed.”

His eyes find mine, and we stare unabashedly into each other's eyes. “I’ve always noticed.”

I clear my throat and look away. “Well that is refreshing.”

“So, tell me more about you.” he says as he pulls out an assortment of breads, meats, fruit and cheeses from the basket.

“Well I had dreamed of being a writer, but society and such. Now it is only a hobby. I also enjoy drawing and traveling. My favorite color is green. I loathe the piano forte, but I am rather good at playing. I am a fairly good singer and dancer. And I love to drink fancy wines and brandy. Now your turn.” I smile and take a drink after I am done.

He nods and smiles thoughtfully. “Hmm, let's see. I am an excellent dancer and a horrible singer. I enjoy a good read myself, but I rarely have the time now. My favorite color is…blue I suppose. I love strawberries and anything made with them. Cakes, tarts, ice cream. You name it. And although brandy is quite good, I am partial to a good scotch.” He winks at me and I can not help smiling back as we begin to eat from the spread. 

We drink and laugh and share stories from our childhood until the sky begins to turn orange and we see the sun peaking out from beyond the buildings of the city. His hand finds mine in the grass and I turn to look him in the eyes again. We smile at each other, and the butterflies in my stomach are cartwheels. 

He leans in and my mind flashes to the first kiss we shared in the garden at Hereford. I lean it to him ready for a repeat performance. His lips brushes against mine slightly, and his breath on my lips turns me into a ball of nerves, anticipating his next move. His hand slides lightly from my hand up along the length of my arm grazing my skin softly. My skin tingles and heats under his touch, his hands move higher grazing my shoulder, then to my collarbone where his fingers draw light circles, and finally they move to my neck. Taking my neck in his hands delicately, he tilts it back slightly and kisses me softly on the lips. I sink into him as his lips caress in a slow passionate kiss. He pulls me closer into his arms, and I grab hold of his jacket to ground myself. We begin to lose ourselves in the kiss until we suddenly hear laughter. 

We move apart quickly, and begin to put away our romantic picnic. He stands and holds his hand out to help me from the ground. I smile, still dazed from the enticing kiss, before taking his hand and joining him. I giggle and wipe away the red tint of rouge left on his lips from our kiss before we set off down the hill back to our horses. The laughter grows louder once we reach our horses, and a couple comes into view. Sebastian and Aileen. They were in the center of the opening. Luckily they were too lost in each other and still far away enough for us to go unnoticed. 

I untied Shadow from the tree, but before I mounted him again I stopped to watch them. She was laying in the grass and he was hovering over her planting her face with kisses over and over. He then laces a passionate kiss to her lips and her fit of laughter turns into something else. Something primal and animal-like. His hands roam her body and reach under her dress sliding it above her waist, and he moves his hands down to his trousers. I turn away abruptly, and hurry after Elijah as he takes Strawberry's reins and walks her out through the entrance as quietly as possible. I pull shadow along and we walk in silence. I look towards Elijah and sigh deeply. Willing myself to have courage.

“Did you see them? Bash and Aileen I mean.” I turn my eyes away from him and pick imaginary thread from my dress.

“I did.” He continues to look forward.

“What they are doing… is it pleasurable? I had heard things, but I have yet to actually see or experience it.” Courage finds me and I glance in his direction.

He studies my face carefully. “It can be pleasurable. If done correctly. You should experience it when you marry soon enough.”

I nod. “Is it always so romantic looking?”

He shakes his head. “No, not always. I think you really enjoy it with someone you care about.”

“Have you cared about any of the ladies you bedded?” I ask, growing curious.

“One. Her name is Catherine Worthington. We grew up together. I cared for her to some extent and when her husband died we…things happened, but that is in the past. I am ready to move forward…with you.” He turns to me and smiles slightly.

My heart raced as I returned his smile, and in that moment I had to admit to myself that I had developed feelings for him. And in that same moment I declared that Catherine Worthington was my sworn enemy. We mounted our horses and trotted the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. We both seemed to be deep in thought as we reached the stables. He helped me dismount, and we turned over our horses to the stable hands. He turned to me and held out his hand to join him. I quickly grasped his hand and we walked back to the Hereford mansion quietly.

“Thank you for this. I really enjoyed myself.” I break the silence as we pass the Golly tree.

“It was my pleasure. Perhaps we could do it again sometime.” He smiles.

“I would love that.” I smile back as we stop just outside the mansion doors.

“Well, I am afraid we must part. I have business in the city. Do not worry, I will see you at dinner.” His hand strokes my cheek softly before taking hold of my hands again.

I sigh and close my eyes briefly. “Alright. See you at dinner.”

He turns my hands over palms face up and plants a soft sweet kiss on each of my wrists before leaving me outside the doors by myself. I take a seat on the steps and replay the events of this morning trying to gauge how I really felt. I only came to one conclusion. I had feelings for the Duke of Hamilton, and they were strong feelings. In fact, I had begun to miss him already. A smile crept on my face as I remembered our kiss, and I thought about what it would feel like if he asked for my hand in marriage. If things continue as they did now, I had no objections to marrying him at the end of the season. 

I sighed and stood from my seat on the steps. I needed to head to the seamstress. There was a ball coming up in three days, and I would need a new dress. Perhaps green or blue. I would ask Eliza and Diane for help once I met them there in an hour. I decided to head back to my room to devise a plan to capture the Duke's heart, as he is capturing mine. I may need help deciding the color of my dress, but I needed no help deciding that I needed to win over the Duke and become the Duchess of Hamilton by the end of the season.