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He skillfully pulled up a chair and sat across her, thinking that the clumsy smile he hastily put on his face might have caught her attention.
“I was on my way out and decided to stop by. I wondered if we could go horse riding together around the neighborhood.”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted it.
I was on my way out and decided to stop by…?
Wasn’t that a lie that could be easily refuted if she simply decided to ask a servant? What’s more, Atkins had already seen him by the stable.
If Deatrice accepts and they go to the stable together, the stable keeper will surely look at him strangely and, quite possibly, expose the lie he had concocted with a cheery remark.
“M’lord, I thought you had already gone. It seems like you came to fetch your wife!”
However, he didn’t take back his invitation despite the probability of being embarrassed.
“I heard you wanted to try horseback riding as a hobby. I have nothing to do until after tomorrow’s lunch and there are quite a few beautiful sceneries nearby. Wouldn’t it be nice to see them together?”
Deatrice looked at him dubiously, wondering what his intentions were. Her suspicions heightened when she realized she had yet to hear from Atkins who left for the stables.
Before Lucius came here, his mind was like a torrential downpour. But also like someone who has just returned to his home’s hearth after being out on a cold day, he felt peace.
The soft color of the pale yellow clothes worn by Deatrice as she sat with her back to the window, her loosely tied hair resting against the small of her back, and the warmth emanating from her cup…
Lucius smiled, thinking that Deatrice couldn’t look more beautiful than this.
He had just been jealous moments ago, but now that he was admiring her beauty again, Lucius knew his heart was already out of his control.
Deatrice looked at him for a moment and glanced at the newspaper to see if his thoughts could be seen on his face. “Didn’t Raymond say that we would have lunch together?”
“Yes. But I don’t think you will like it any better than before. Dixie and her husband will be uncomfortable.”
“But Philip is kind of cute.”
Lucius slightly leaned forward and looked at Deatrice. In his eyes, there were traces of love and affection that he couldn’t hide. “Well, you’ve always liked kids.”
Deatrice saw it and looked away. Whether it was true or another one of his schemes, his affection already meant nothing to her.
“What about you?” she suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Do you feel like you’ve been liberated once a child leaves your sight?”
“Do I feel liberated?”
She hummed in reply, “You looked uncomfortable. Back when Raymond held Phillip and translated his words to you.”
“Ah, that.” He replied in understanding, then his tone shifted rather coldly. “Well, it wasn’t that enjoyable.”
With his shoulders lightly raised, Deatrice thought that maybe he just sounded cold to her. But looking at him again, Lucius seemed completely indifferent to the topic.
Deatrice clenched a fist hidden from his view. Even if she had already expected something like this, it was different to actually see his attitude like that about children.
The reason he could talk so casually about such sensitive matters is that he, no matter how much he looked at her affectionately, still regards her as nothing more than a fleeting affair.
But in the past, he didn’t show any objection to children at all.
When she foolishly fell into his arms one day and told him the future she dreamed of and how happy she would be to raise a child who looked like them, Lucius quietly kissed her forehead and agreed.
Deatrice hated the thought that he might’ve faked his agreement back then too. After she became silent and stared at the newspaper in her hand, Lucius reached out and lightly touched her finger holding the teacup. When she raised her head, he smiled.
“So, will you go out with me?”
Of course, his face filled with conviction that she would agree to it.
Deatrice wanted to shatter his expectations, but she also knew that she would eventually grant his request. She was feeling rather lonely, so his offer was rather tempting, and also because she wasn’t completely immune to his charisma.
As she was about to accept, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Deatrice answered, looking down at the newspaper again.
Rosalynn, who expected her mistress to be alone, paused for a moment when she caught sight of Lucius in the room, surprised. Then she straightened her posture even more and greeted, “M’lady, a letter has come for you.”
“From whom?”
“That…” Rosalynn looked at Lucius for a moment, refusing to speak a word.
Lucius looked amused at Rosalynn’s attempt to hide the identity of the sender in front of him, her other master. Furthermore, the maidservant was signaling him to get lost.
However, Deatrice took her servant’s side as if she had been waiting for this moment. “Let’s ride the horse next time. Please leave, m’lord?” she said as she folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.
It was fortunate that he didn’t press the matter any longer. Lucius smiled, but it felt stiff and awkward.
“Sure, next time then.” He put on a relaxed attitude as if to show that he wasn’t so desperate with his request.
Lucius got up, leaned over the table and kissed Deatrice’s forehead, and then escaped the room.
That brief kiss contained the last vestiges of Lucius’ pride before it disappeared into nothingness. Deatrice, who was well aware of that fact, smiled so brightly that she couldn’t contain the glint in her eyes.
But when she saw Rosalynn’s gaze, she struggled to interpret her expression.