Ceci sat in her little garden, contemplating. She wanted to go and visit her cousin Marguerite, but was afraid of getting in the way; Marguerite was slowly becoming accustomed to the idea of being engaged, and Ceci felt it the best thing to let that blossom on its own. Also, she didn't want to accidentally come across Marguerite and Christopher in a private moment. All this left her with a strange feeling of awkward loneliness.
Of a sudden, the sound of heavy hoof beats came to her from the lane. She hurriedly stood up to see that it was Mr. Lennox on his great gray horse traveling at a slow walk down the lane past the Moore's farm. Cecil's instinct was to bid him good morning, a she always did when a friend passed by. Still, she hesitated, that awkward feeling she was so unaccustomed to still lingering.
However, the movement as she rose caught Mr. Lennox's eye and he turned and saw her.
Standing so perfectly still in the garden, flower faces nodding around her legs and a curious look of diffidence on her fair features, Corran Lennox paused longer than he meant.
Covering up his embarrassment for staring, he raised his broad-rimmed blue hat from his head, revealing a tousled head of dark red hair. Ceci couldn't help but grin a little at his comical appearance. Hesitant, she raised a hand in greeting.
"Good morning, Miss Moore!" Corran called, waving his hat a little. His horse, Xerxes, halfheartedly consented to turn round again, towards the pale girl without a bonnet over her curly head. "How's the day?" he continued, dismounting easily from the great horse's back.
"Good morning, Mr. Lennox. It is a perfect morning! How was the ride?" Ceci stepped out of the garden, to meet him at the gate. She leaned forward to rest her arms against the hinges.
"It's been a good, though uneventful ride," Corran replied, "Until now. What a lovely garden." He wasn't looking at the garden at all, but admiring Miss Moore's unbound, windswept dark hair.
"Yes. It's my garden, though I suppose I can't take credit for the flowers; they grow and bloom with hardly a hand from me. They are quite lovely though." Ceci finished with a sigh.
Corran smiled. His horse snuffled behind him, clearly anxious to be moving again. But then, he was always restless.
"Miss Moore," Corran said, "Xerxes and I were on our--er, roundabout--way to town. Would you care for a walk? Perhaps you'd like to join us?" (Corran wondered at his boldness. He almost never appealed for a woman's company; he usually lacked the confidence.)
To his hidden delight, however, Ceci gave a little laugh and said, "Mr. Lennox, you're my savior. I'd love a walk!" She lifted the gate latch and passed through. As she looked up at him, she realized what the odd look on Corran Lennox's face referred to. She hastily continued, "Oh, I just meant... well, I'd been sitting there so long, quite without any amusement or friends to see. You've saved me from a tedious afternoon, Mr. Lennox." She smiled up at his broad, bright eyes beneath tousled red hair.
After their difficult first meeting and the painful circumstance that ended it, Ceci found, to her surprise, she could walk beside Mr. Lennox and talk easily. She wished that she could do it indifferently, as well, but found herself listening intently for his replies. She admired his carefree stride, careful answers and soft chuckle when she was lucky enough to make him laugh. She also appreciated how he wore his clothes simple and worn instead of stiff, starched and polished, as she expected of a man worth thousands. They were uncommonly bright, though, just like his hair.
They spoke mostly of literature, and Ceci fought the envy she felt as he spoke of his library. She relied almost entirely on the tiny book shops in town. Without thinking, she said so, regretting it instantly, for it sounded so pitiable spoken aloud.
"You know, you may come visit our library and borrow as many books as you wish-- at any time convenient." Corran replied.
"Oh..." Ceci bit her lip, imagining shelves upon shelves of books she could read without depleting her small fund. "That's very kind of you," she said.
He began to tell her of the books she must read.
"Do you have any books that were written by women?" Ceci asked.
Corran seemed a bit surprised. "Women authors?" he looked down a moment. "Well, I came across a novel written by a Countess, but I believe most I've found were probably penned under a male pseudonym." He turned to Ceci, who only nodded. "You can always come and peruse yourself," he offered. He was almost afraid he'd offended her-- once again.
She turned to give him a half-smile, "yes, thank you."
Coming down the lane into town, women's eyes turned suddenly in Ceci's direction, and she was reminded that she was accompanied by the richest young bachelor in the county. She dared a glance at Corran's face, to see he had shoved his blue hat so far down that the broad rim hid the better half of his face. Underneath, his expression showed his embarrassment. Ceci laughed. Loudly, in fact. She couldn't help it, after all he looked so ridiculous.
Corran, surprised, looked up from beneath the brim.
Ceci laughed again, the sound ringing down the lane, past the shops and milling people. If Mr. Lennox was embarrassed before, he was bewildered with it now.
"Do take the hat off, Mr. Lennox. Everyone knows it's you! Or are you afraid their gaze will bore holes into your skin?" She grinned, daring to reach up and lift the brim a little to see up into his face.
"Besides," she added, as he pulled off the blue hat, "We all admire your hair so much; you can't hide with hair that shade!" She laughed again.
Corran turned his gaze to her again, smiling now. "Only you would say such things," he replied.
"Why?" she smirked back, "I suppose I'm the only one brash enough to tell the truth."
She suddenly noticed the glare of half-a-dozen posh and proper young women in tight bonnets. She sobered and began to regret her laughter.
"I... I'm sorry if I was rude," she said, wishing she had a bonnet to cover her unruly head.
Corran looked surprised again. "Why? Really, you're quite right. Miss Moore," he said, bending down to speak near her ear, "if it's so absurd to hide my identity by wearing this ridiculous hat, you must stop wishing you had one to cover up your honesty." His eyes glanced up at the gazes fired at them.
Ceci smiled nervously. It was troubling how easily Mr. Lennox read her thoughts.
Abandoning Xerxes to the company of other tethered horses, they stepped into a little shop. It sat in the corner, quite modest and unadorned compared with the fancy wares displayed in the other shops' windows.
Ceci was drawn to a little porcelain figurine placed near a small display table. Corran noticed the little figurine and was instantly reminded of her; the little female figure curved into swirls and waves like water where her hair and dress fell. It was an exquisite little thing. Ceci admired it only for a moment after glancing at the price. As she continued to search the little store, Corran caught the little figurine up and bought it from the shopkeeper; as improper as it would be, he would give it to her-- it was so much like her, it practically belonged to her in the first place.
As they passed out of the shop, however, a voice called out to Ceci. She turned, slowly, anticipating the source of the sound.
Corran caught the unnerved expression on her face before she forced a smile to her lips.
"Why, Mr. Carter!" she replied, overly loud.
The man was positively beaming. He was a large man, not terribly tall but very broad. His skin was tanned the shade of a farmer. He put out his hand to shake Corran's. "Mr. Lennox," he said, nodding.
Corran shook his hand, disquieted by the way he gazed at Miss Moore. The two could not have made the situation clearer; the poor man, James Carter, was desperately in love with Ceci Moore, and she was, by degrees, intent on having nothing to do with him. Everything became suddenly and almost unbearably uncomfortable. Mr. Carter insisted on accompanying Ceci home. She glanced quickly at Corran, who saw, for just an instant, a pleading look in her eye. But she said evenly, "How kind of you, Mr. Carter." Then she turned stiffly to Corran and said, "And thank you, Mr. Lennox, for the walk. It was... very nice."
If he hadn't felt so guilty in leaving her with the man, Corran might have chuckled at the phrase. "Very nice" were words that stiff, simple, timid women used to describe things. They were not words he felt belonged to the vocabulary of Miss Moore.
Slowly and regretfully, he mounted Xerxes, setting the little porcelain present in his pocket as he set off home.
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