“Does she?” Her tone was light and seemingly unconcerned, but her face had tightened and her eyes wouldn’t meet his. “I would expect there is any number of amateur Latin scholars about, so it isn’t so terribly uncommon.” She tried to dismiss his comments and turn the subject. “How did you come up with your children’s names?”
He didn’t appreciate her attempts in the least but couldn’t rightly object. “I had very little say in the naming of my children, to be honest. Their mother had quite strong views on what they ought to be called.”
“Well, she did a good job. They all have interesting names that aren’t outlandish in any way. I like them,” she said with a firm nod.
Suddenly, Gilbert decided to stop sidestepping his concerns. He asked the girl straight out. “So, you decided to take me up on my suggestion and learn for yourself about the wool industry in these parts?”
“Yes,” she answered with a wide smile, seemingly genuinely pleased with their excursion. “I had actually wondered if you had not meant it,” she said with a shy duck of her head. “I had the impression that you didn’t want me to know about it for some reason. My sincere apologies, Your Grace. If I truly thought that then I probably should have minded my own business. But I’m so glad that I didn’t. It was truly fascinating. I would have stayed much longer and asked at least a million more questions, but her ladyship was quickly wilting under the bleating of the poor sheep, so we had to go.”
Gil hoped he didn’t look like a sheep as he gazed at her in confusion. She was such a strange mix of shy and bold. He found her candidness highly attractive. She didn’t seem to be hiding anything from him in that moment. But he knew that was untrue. For one thing, he didn’t trust any female besides his daughter. And perhaps, the long-time servants upon his estate. Certainly, not this beautiful young woman he’d just met. He had learned at a very impressionable age that beauty was only skin deep. It certainly did not mean the lady was angelic, no matter how she looked.
It wasn’t the most appropriate time to be reminded of his harpy of a wife, but he couldn’t help but compare the two women. He had met many women of thetonsince his marriage. But marrying at twenty in order to secure the household finances and then finding it to be a highly disappointing commitment was not a lesson a man could ever forget.
Added to that the fact that he was reasonably sure this woman was hiding things from him. For example, why would she not come to the inn with Adelina? He had thought perhaps it had been because he hadn’t offered them pin money, which he meant to rectify as soon as they returned home, but she had seemed strangely reluctant even when he had reminded them that they would be his guests. Then too, there was her name. She, of course, couldn’t be the Felicity he had met, but she had appeared strangely discomfited when he had brought up where her name had come from, despite her efforts at hiding her reaction. He would have to keep his eye on her in the future, he resolved.
But that wouldn’t really be a hardship on one hand, he reminded himself with an inward grin. She was certainly pleasant to look upon. But he would have to guard his heart well. She was exactly the sort of female he would be susceptible to. Curious and eager, well spoken and articulate, full of questions and energy. He would guard his heart well. The last thing he needed was feelings.
Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to the subject they had been discussing.
“What did you enjoy most at the mill? I’ve never known a gently bred person to find it particularly fascinating.”
Felicity shrugged, looking uncomfortable by his comment. “For one thing, I was heartened to learn that there are measures put in place to protect people. I know that is a great risk with development of industry. Developing businesses help people to prosper, but lives can so easily and often be lost in the pursuit of that prosperity. It seemed to me that the villagers were valuing both profit and life. That’s a tricky balance to strike, I’m sure, but I found the safety measures truly fascinating.”
She paused as though in reflection before carrying on. “I also had never actually seen the process before. I, like most, took it rather for granted that there would be skeins of wool to purchase at the store. I did know that wool came from sheep, but as to how it got from their backs to my store never really crossed my mind. I was pleased to see that they were willing to explain it to me. I’m sure it was your name that made the difference. It’s unlikely that Miss Jones of nowhere in particular would have been shown such consideration.”
“Did you use my name for admission?” he asked, surprised.
“Well, not yours exactly,” she stammered. “But I did explain who I was, as Lady Adelina’s companion. That certainly changed the atmosphere,” she added with a wide smile.
“Well, then, I’m glad we could be of service to you.”
“I hope you don’t mind, Your Grace. I promise, if you tell me directly that you don’t want me poking my nose about, I will manage to obey.”
Gil did want to tell her that, but having heard her express quite clearly her beliefs on continuing to expand her education, he couldn’t find it in his heart to deny her. He only hoped she was truly as innocent as she was trying to portray herself.
“What else did they show you?” He didn’t bother to deny her and truly did want to know what she had enjoyed.
“Well, even when they were showing me how they did things, they also tried to explain the way things used to be done before turning it into an industry. It was fascinating to see how the wool would have been processed by hand. But I can’t even imagine how labour intensive that would have been.”
“It certainly would have been much harder to make it profitable, to be sure.” Gil agreed with her without giving away any of his own thoughts on the subject.