Amelia followed her gaze and saw two people coming from the manor house direction. It didn’t take long for her to realise it was Anthony and his friend. Anthony waved at them, clearly happy to see them.

“Ladies, what a coincidence,” he greeted them with a bow.

“Coincidence indeed,” George muttered. Amelia pretended she didn’t hear him. She was not sure what he was talking about. In her opinion, it was quite likely to meet someone in their own park. It was such a lovely weather and so beautiful spot, everyone had to love it.

“We are just on our walk to town,” Amelia explained.

“Isn’t it that way?” George pointed out his gaze following roughly the direction where the town was located.

“About that way, yes, but the most beautiful path is this one…” Anthony smiled. “My dearest cousins, would you like a company on your walk? It would be highly ungentlemanly to let you wander alone,” he added and not waiting for a response, he offered his arm to Jane. The couple just led the way.

“I would be honoured if you accepted my company, Miss Amelia,” George offered theatrically to Amelia who just nodded watching him quizzically. But upon reflection she decided not to take up on his arm. Instead they just walked side by side.

“You must be enjoying the countryside, Master George ,” Amelia said after a few moments of silence.

“Yes, indeed. Though we do have some countryside in Norfolk too,” George said immediately regretting his harsh words. His companion was just an innocent chit who didn’t mean harm. “It just looks a bit different from here…”

“Indeed, Norfolk looks different.”

“Have you ever been?” He was clutching at straws, unsure about what they should be talking about. He could see that Anthony and Jane had no such problem.

“No, I never left the county. But every place looks different, no?”

“They do, indeed,” he smiled politely.

“I like it here, though. And it is so nice to have Jane back,” Amelia stopped herself before saying anything more. After all, she didn’t know this young man.

George was thinking what to talk about next. What would this young girl knew? He was bracing himself for her polite chatter, except she stayed quiet. Suddenly, it occurred to him, she was not at all interested in him. She was not even paying attention to him, she just watched her sister and her cousin walking hand in hand. She smiled. One big genuine smile brightened her face. He was not sure if it was the winter sun that created golden crown on top her hair from all the loose strands or the light frost that coloured her cheeks red but he knew he was lost forever. All he wanted to do was watching Amelia and to make her smile. And so he tripped and lost balance completely.

“Are you all right, Master George?” Amelia was trying hard not to giggle but looking at a city gentleman lying on the frozen crowd was very entertaining indeed. He just shook head but refused her help when she offered her hand.

“I forgot to look where I was walking,” he admitted as he stood up. He patted himself to remove any dust.

“The roads in the countryside can be very treacherous,” Amelia said seriously. George looked into her eyes and they both bursted out laughing.

“I clearly lack the awareness of the natives. You should warn me of any danger that could befall me, Miss Amelia.”

“With pleasure, it would be an honour to warn you and defend you against any dangers that we can come across here. After all, have you seen the treacherous bridge we are about to cross soon?”

“I am afraid Anthony was not adventurous enough to show me that way, we just took the coach to the town, understandably.” He answered and pointed towards the place where he lied just a few moments ago.

“Indeed, well, then let me show you,” Amelia smiled and they both started to laugh again. Suddenly neither of them were shy anymore. Amelia pointed out the occasional plant that would be of interest were he interested in plants, which he wasn’t, and he would talk about his favourite horses. Amelia listened as if she had never heard a young man talking about his true love but when George talked about horses they were suddenly the most fascinating creatures in the world.

It ended up being the most entertaining day in her life, or so Amelia thought. It had to be. In the evening when she was lying in her bed, she went through all entertaining moments in her life but nothing quite compared. Not even when Anthony showed them puppies couple years ago though their father didn’t quite let them keep any. Or a cat for that matter.

She relived every moment in her head many times. The beautiful winter weather. The sun dancing above the frozen grounds. The meeting of Anthony and his friend by the lake. The way the sun danced in Master George hair. The way his eyes lit when he talked about his horses. She reminded herself how he listened attentively to everything she said, even when they arrived to the town. She could see his face watching her through the shop window when she and Jane entered local shop to buy more ribbons. Yes, he stayed outside with Anthony, pretending to have a chat but she knew his eyes never left her. And his eyes stayed with her even during the night.