Eirin snuggled down closer into the warmth. She couldn't remember the last time she had woken up this warm. Was it late? Had Maria come in and left more coals to heat her room? She chanced to open her eyes and saw Lord Hawthorn on his side, his head propped up on his hand. He was staring down at her with a wide grin on his face.
Eirin furrowed her brows trying to figure out why she was in this bed. She never slept here; she always went back to her own bed. The events of the night came rushing back to her, and she felt herself blush. They had made love last night. Not just before they went to sleep, but he even woke her up in the night. I was so different than any other time they had ever lain together.
Lord Hawthorn leaned down and kissed Eirin on the lips, she was so cute when she first woke up. He realized he'd never seen her wake up before. Before she got herself under control he watched as everything rolled across her face. He saw the confusion about where she was and then the memories of last night.
Eirin's lips were soft and warm. He couldn't help himself but to take the kiss deeper. He rolled until he was lying over her, cupping her face in his hand and running his tongue across her teeth. He felt Eirin's tiny hands snake up around his neck and curved his arms under her shoulders to bring her closer.
Lord Hawthorn finally pulled away and looked down at her, her eyes were a bright golden, almost yellow color and her cheeks were flushed. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "Good morning. If I had known what I was missing these last couple of months, I would have asked you to stay a long time ago."
Lord Hawthorn chuckled as he watched her blush. Dropping a kiss on her nose he rolled away from her and got out of bed. "Up. We are going out today." He headed towards the wardrobe to begin dressing.
Eirin sat up and pulled the sheet closer to herself. Looking at him, confused, she asked, "Where are we going?" She began to look around and saw her dress across the room, on the floor. She stopped wondering how to get to it without walking naked across the room when she heard him speak again.
"We are going for a ride." Eirin couldn't believe her ears; she loved to ride, but hadn't had the courage yet to ask him for the use of a horse.
Lord Hawthorn turned in time to see Eirin's face light up with her smile and he realized what he had been missing all these months she had been here and he had held himself back from her. He was such a fool. She was the most wonderful thing to ever come into his life. He was so happy they would be able to share this time together; they needed to learn each other on a personal level. They had skipped getting to know each other, but he planned to rectify that immediately.
Eirin and Lord Hawthorn spent a wonderful day riding all over the estate and even ventured into the woods. They had a picnic by the lake again and this time they spent the entire time talking. Lord Hawthorn told Eirin of his various land holdings throughout England and explained why he preferred to stay away from London. In turn he asked Eirin countless questions about herself. She told him the types of books she liked to read and other activities she liked to do. The only sour spot in the entire day was when Lord Hawthorn had mentioned Phillip.
Lord Hawthorn had explained that while he was in London during her recovery, he had made some enquiries into who Phillip was and what he had done. He had learned that Phillip's daughter was indeed a very vain girl and that Phillip himself was no better than a gutter snipe. He tried to ask Eirin how she had managed to hold herself with such decorum and subtly find out what her childhood had been like. Unfortunately Eirin had immediately become closed mouthed and refused to speak on the topic. He tried to match the girl he had learned about with the girl who sat in front of him but he found it impossible.
Lord Hawthorn had wished to try to question her further. He had learned so much more from London since then, such as the fact that it was widely rumored that Phillip had killed his partner and that the partner had had a daughter. Lord Hawthorn wished to find the daughter and help her. His heart had gone out to her when he found out what had happened. However, try as he might, he could not find a trace of her. As it turned out Lord Hamilton had lost his wife when his daughter had been very young and since then had sheltered her from all of London, practically becoming a hermit himself.
For Eirin the afternoon had been magical. She didn't mind talking about herself, for she had learned to live within the moment. She knew that events could turn without any notice and to plan too far ahead or to look back only caused pain. For her, her life now was as Lord Hawthorn's whore, or whatever he wished to call her, and the future would take care of itself when it came. She much preferred not to think of her father or the home she had known, it only hurt.
As they arrived back at the castle Lord Hawthorn directed her to return to her room to change and meet him in the library for drinks before dinner. As Eirin entered the library Lord Hawthorn could not suppress his moment of disappointment. Eirin had indeed gone up to wash and change, however she was still dressed in the same type of drab outfit she had worn since her arrival. He wished for once he could see her in some fine clothes with jewels at her neck and ears. He wished for just a moment that she could be his lady.
Suddenly, Lord Hawthorn had a revelation. She could be anything he wanted her to be. There was no reason she could not dress in the finest clothes in all of England. He decided then to send for a seamstress to come to the castle and outfit Eirin. He even had a few requests of the seamstress himself. There were several outfits he knew would look wonderful on her small frame, he was suddenly in an even better mood than he had been and approached Eirin with a glass of sherry and a smile.
Eirin was more subdued at dinner than she had been during the day. Lord Hawthorn had originally thought it was because she was worried about being served by the maid, Lori, again, however that could not be the case. As another maid entered to serve their first course Eirin raised her eyebrows but did not make a comment.
Once the maid had taken leave of them Lord Hawthorn informed Eirin that he had arranged a marriage for Lori with the town farrier. A man, he assured her, who would be able to keep Lori under control and out of trouble. She had already been sent home to her parents to prepare for her upcoming nuptials. Eirin smirked but otherwise made no remark.
Lord Hawthorn was curious as to this turn of her mood. He tried to enquire if something was wrong, or bothering her, however she merely said that the day had been exciting and she had become tired. He offered to skip tonight's game of chess at the end of dinner, but she declined, saying that if she never played him she would never beat him. That caused Lord Hawthorn to laugh out loud. He laughed so hard that he was forced to take a drink of wine to regain his breath. He thought he loved her wit the most.
Eirin was having a hard time remaining upbeat with Lord Hawthorn. He had been wonderful to her all day; it was not his fault his staff gossiped about her. As she had been returning to the library she had heard two maids in one of the chambers talking about the whore that had caused Lori to get fired. They had continued by questioning how a whore felt it her right to be a snob to the entire castle.