Julian walked as slowly as he could back to the castle, wanting to spend every precious second with Caroline.
As soon as they stepped inside the front door, he caught the scent of hot food and freshly baked bread wafting from the breakfast room. “Breakfast is ready, everyone,” he said.
“Food! I am famished,” cried Harry. He and James wasted no time in racing for it. Francis ambled after them.
As the rest of his guests disappeared, Julian seized the opportunity to steal a private moment with Caroline. “Would you like to come with me while I take these birds down to the kitchens? Cook will have them baked up for supper with bacon and a red wine sauce.”
“Of course, I love the kitchens. Our cook at home is always making secret meals for Francis and I. Mama thinks I am being suitably ladylike at supper, but the truth is it’s because I am already stuffed,” she replied.
The trip to the kitchens took only a few minutes. Julian introduced her to the head cook, who appeared to be at pains to thank Caroline enough for coming to visit. She politely pressed Caroline into promising she would return before her stay was over.
Once back upstairs from the kitchens, Caroline started for the breakfast room. Julian, to her surprise, had other ideas.
“Would you care for a pre-breakfast stroll? I am sure the others will be too busy with bacon and coffee to be bothered much about our absence,” he said.
She considered his offer for a moment, then nodded. The walk back from the woods had ended too soon for her liking.
They made for the lower part of the castle grounds. The elegant gardens slowly gave way to what, she assumed in summer, would be lush green grassy slopes. At the bottom of the small rise on which the castle stood was a lake. The pale mid-morning sun glistened off its flat surface.
Julien pointed toward the lake. “I checked this morning and there is a thin layer of ice across most of it. A few more weeks and the ice will be thick enough to skate upon. Your evil plan to drop me into the water will have to wait until the spring.”
Caroline turned to him and smiled. “Do you skate? I love to skate.”
If there was one thing above all that she loved about winter, it was being able to ice-skate. Every year, she and her family skated on the River Thames when it was frozen. Twirling around on the ice gave her a freedom of activity rarely afforded to a young woman of London society.
“Yes, I do. I skated a lot while I was at university in Scotland. The winters up there are magnificent for racing on the ice,” he replied.
“I would love to see you skate. Perhaps when you are next in London, we might put together a small group and head down to the Thames. It is a pity that they don’t hold the ice festival anymore, but still, it could be fun,” she said.
Julian caught her gaze, and Caroline could have sworn that his eyes sparkled as he smiled back at her. “Come. I have something to show you,” he said.
He led her up a small rise which ran to the west of the castle grounds. At the top, he pointed toward what appeared to be a round stone stage. When they reached it, she was surprised to discover it was a small man-made pond. She guessed that it was probably somewhere in the range of twenty-five feet from edge to edge.
The stones ran all the way around the pond. At the end, a small gap had been left, which allowed the two of them to walk to the edge of the water. Caroline looked down. The water was frozen solid.
“What is it?” she asked.
Julian dipped into a low bow. “Your skating pond, your royal highness,’ he announced. He cursed under his breath. “I am sorry. I should not have called you that. I know you don’t like it.”
Caroline waved his apology away. “No. I was a tyrant and rightly deserved the name of the Ice Queen. I was cold and at times, cruel. But I promise I am trying to find myself again.” She pointed to the skating pond, and Julian took his cue.
“My father had it built for my mother when I was small. In those days, he was still trying to find favor with her. I think she may have skated on it once, and then abandoned it, like all his other gifts,” he said.
Caroline had tried not to judge Julian’s mother for how she had treated her late husband. She did not know the countess’s life story well enough to have an appreciation of what her marriage had been like. Instead, she reserved her anger for the way she treated her son. There was a distinct sadness in Julian’s voice every time he made mention of his mother.
He put the toe of his boot onto the ice, then lifted his foot and brought it down hard. The ice gave a deep moan, but remained perfectly intact.
Caroline looked out toward the middle of the pond. The water was a satisfying deep-blue. “It’s frozen. Perfect.”
Julian stepped out onto the ice and walked confidently across to the center of the pond. He held out his hand to her. “Care to join me?”
She sucked in a deep breath, unsure as to whether it was from the trepidation of stepping onto the ice, or the fact that she was well away from the castle and quite alone with him. She hesitated for a moment. Her heart told her that this was more than a simple step forward.
“It’s quite safe. It was designed so that the water would settle at different depths and so the middle actually freezes first. My father was a personal friend of Humphry Repton, the landscape designer. He is responsible for most of the castle gardens and the land which runs down to the lake. He built the pond as a special favor to my father.”
Caroline stepped out onto the ice and, taking tentative steps, walked to Julian. She shyly took his offered hand. They stood silently in the middle of the pond for a time, listening to the odd sounds that the ice made as it shifted deep under them.
“This is marvelous. I would spend every day in winter out here if I lived at Newhall Castle,” she said. She looked away, down toward the lake. The air was still chilly, but heat prickled on her cheeks.
Julian drew close. “I have ice skates which you could use. I would love to see you spinning on the pond. I watched you dance in the snow the other day, and I thought it was magical.”
He was so close now that she could feel the heat of his breath on the back of her neck. Caroline shivered. “That would be nice.”
Her heart raced. Never before had a man had this sort of effect on her. Her sense of control was slipping away. When he brushed his fingers softly on her cheek, she let the air slowly leave her lips before taking in a shuddering breath.
He drew back. She dared not look at him. What was she to say? That while men paid constant attention to her, she was afraid to open her heart to any of them?
From all the many men in her life, she knew Julian was different. His open honesty told her that he was not one for playing games when it came to love. He was the first man who’d made her feel as if she could lower her guard and he would keep her safe. The champion of her heart.
She walked toward the edge of the pond, only turning to face him when she had put some distance between them. He was still standing in the middle of the frozen pond, his eyes cast downward. There was a vulnerability about him she had never noticed before. When he finally looked up and began to walk toward her, his posture was stiff. “As I said, you could come and skate here if you like. I shall ask the castle housekeeper to find a pair of ice skates for you.”
She nodded, allowing him to change the mood between them back to one of host and guest. “Thank you. I would like that very much. I suppose we had better head back to the others.”
For the first time in her life, Caroline found herself afraid of what else she might say. Her mind usually dictated her words, but now it was her heart which cried out to be heard. She knew enough to know that once she had declared her love for him, there would be no going back.
Doubt filled her mind. What if she was not reading the signs from Julian right? Could she take the risk, knowing that if she had it all wrong, the bitter taste of rejection would soon follow?