“However,” he continued, “in what must have been a fit of madness, I agreed to your stipulation that you be allowed to get to know me better before we are intimate.”

By now she was beyond beet red.

“Therefore, I have decided to give you every opportunity to get to know me better, every last damned chance to grow comfortable in my presence.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Pick something on the list. We'll do it tomorrow.”

Ellie's lips parted in delighted surprise. Her husband was actually courting her. She was going to be a wooed woman. She'd never dreamed he'd do something so perfectly romantic. Not that he would ever admit to a romantic bone in his body. Seductive, perhaps. Even rakish, devilish, or amorous. But not romantic.

But she knew better. And that was all that mattered. She smiled and looked back down at the list.

“I suggest number six or seven,” he said.

She looked back up. He was grinning in that urbane, devil-may-care fashion of his that must have broken hearts from here to London and back. “I'm not sure I understand the difference,” she said, “between kissing me until I'm senseless and kissing me until you're senseless.”

His voice dropped to a husky murmur. “I could show you.”

“I have no doubt you could,” she returned, trying very hard to sound pert even though her heart was racing and her legs felt as steady as marmalade. “But I choose items one and two. It will be very easy for us to picnic and visit the tenants on the same day.”

“Items one and two it is, then,” he said with a smart bow. “But don't be surprised if I sneak up on you with number six.”

“Really, Charles.”

He leveled a long, hot stare in her direction. “And seven.”

Their outing was scheduled for the very next day. Ellie wasn't particularly surprised by Charles's haste; he had seemed quite determined to do whatever it took to get her into bed. And she was particularly surprised at her own lack of resistance to his plan; she was well aware that she was softening toward him.

“I thought we might ride,” Charles said when he met her at noon. “The weather is splendid, and it seems a shame to confine ourselves in a carriage.”

“An excellent idea, my lord,” Ellie replied. “Or it would be, if I knew how to ride.”

“You don't ride?”

“Vicars rarely earn enough to afford mounts,” she said with an amused smile.

“Then I shall have to teach you.”

“Not today, I hope,” she laughed. “I need time to mentally prepare myself for all of the aches and pains I am sure to acquire.”

“My curricle is still not repaired from our earlier mishap. Are you up for a constitutional walk?”

“Only if you promise to walk fast,” Ellie said with a mischievous grin. “I have never been terribly good at sedate strolls.”

“Now why does that not surprise me?”

She looked at him through her lashes. It was a flirtatious expression that was new to her, yet it felt entirely natural in her husband's company. “You're not surprised?” she asked in mock astonishment.