Chase felt as if he was ten feet tall.

Derrick laughed and then stood, hands on hips. “You know, you may have a talent for this after all.”

It was faint praise, but coming from one of the Wards, for some reason, it was great praise indeed. Chase just grinned in return and brought out the shears.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, and Chase got better and better at the process. Except for having to put up with Ophelia and Derrick, who seemed to be in extraordinarily good spirits, things went fairly smoothly. In fact, things went so smoothly that they finished shearing the sheep in their pen just as lunch was ready.

Half an hour later, Chase found himself standing beside Harriet at a table under a tree where Mrs. Ward was overseeing a feast fit for an army.

Harriet was hot and tired, her gown muddied, her hair falling from beneath the edges of her bonnet, hanging in loose tendrils down her back. But the wide grin she tossed him when she saw him was worth every bit of effort he’d expended this morning. “We’re ahead of schedule already!”

He smiled down at her, noting that the sun had decorated her nose with a faint spray of freckles. Strange how he’d never considered freckles appealing, but on Harriet they were charming as could be.

Under his close scrutiny, her smile wavered. “What…what is it?” She rubbed her nose. “Do I have mud on my nose—”

“No. Not at all.” He looked around at the sun-drenched fields and neat barn. The faint sound of laughter came from the others as they talked and teased one another. The sweet scent of cut hay filled the air, as did the faint baaing of the sheep. It was an idyllic, wonderful moment. One destined to be etched in his mind forever.

Chase looked back at Harriet. “You belong here.”

That appeared to surprise her. She glanced around for a moment before saying softly. “Yes, I do. This is home.”

“Do you ever see yourself going anywhere else?”

She hesitated and he could see her weighing her words. After a moment, she shook her head. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I love this place. My parents moved here when I was six. And I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else. But…one never knows how one will feel in a year or more.”

Chase tried to picture Harriet in town, dressed for dinner, or on her way to a ball. But somehow, he knew she’d be miserable. And London, with its penchant for the wealthy and the beautiful, would never stop long enough to see the true beauty in the woman before him. “I can’t imagine you in London.”

Her smile seemed pained, though she said lightly enough, “And I can’t imagine you living in the country.”

For some reason, the words caught at him. What was this? Maudlin nonsense at the thought of…of what? Of leaving Garrett Park? What foolishness.

To be honest, he had to admit that what he truly enjoyed was the time he’d spent with the Wards. They reminded him of his own family before everyone had grown up and left home. And perhaps he felt a fondness for Harriet that was more intense than his usual flirts, but that was to be expected. After all, they’d spent untold hours together, talking and working, things he rarely did with his flirts in London.