Nesta couldn't say for certainty. But in truth, he did have the air of someone of power and authority, someone capable of great love and compassion.
Such people she had learned over the years could also be cruel too sometimes. Some of them acted it, making you form a good initial opinion about them.
However, every man eventually, at some point in life would always reveal themselves. No one could really say they knew who they were.
Like Nesta, she too wasn't sure she knew who she was around this man. Maybe before she met him, she could say she knew herself a little. Her controllable urges were there. But now, they seemed to be amplified.
She wanted Quinn's arms on her body. She wanted him to kiss her like she had seen other lords kiss other ladies.
She wanted him to undress her and make her feel those things she had discussed with her friends.
What if he was only a gentleman and wasn't skilled in the art of passion? What if… She found her mind creating more avenues for questions, things she wanted to find answers to.
Those arms on her waist when he had lifted her unto her horse had sent a certain kind of shiver down her spine. She hoped none of the servants had seen the flush on her cheek.
"How long are you staying, lord Bramford?" Nesta asked as she swayed on her horse from side to side.
"A month," he said.
A month. That was enough time for him to get into her head and establish a stronghold. But what if he goes away and sees someone else and he forgets about her?
Forgets about me? She wasn't romantically engaged with him, yet? She was simply taking him on a ride through her father's estate.
For all she knew, he was betrothed to someone. Wait. But he had said he had no one special. Actually, the words he had used were if. Best she finds out.
"Do you have a lady back home, lord Bramford?" Nesta asked.
"No, my lady," Quinn said. "I do not. Do you have a beau?"
"I do not. Ever since my father's scandal, I've found those I used to call my friends distant. No doubt, their parents told them to stay away. Some, it could be they personally made up their mind."
Why was she talking at length about it? Surely, it was not to make him understand or try to earn his pity. Was it? Best she stops there. And she did stop talking.
"Have you ever been kissed?" Quinn asked.
For some reason, the question sent a ripple through Nesta, and she deeply inhaled and exhaled.
"No, I haven't been kissed before. You're a man. I guess you have been kissed before."
Quinn laughed. "It has nothing to do with being a man."
"You are an uncontrollable breed. Men as we know it like to explore all options."
"You might find this hard to believe, but some men have not been kissed before. Some don't even know how to kiss.
There are certain things we males go through at the hands of understanding fathers. And if you had a brother, I would have asked him."
Her curiosity led her to ask, "What do men go through at the hands of understanding fathers?"
"Well, one of the roles of a father is to make sure his son is well educated on how to please a woman," Quinn said.
Nesta looked at him. "Like there's a school?"
"Not really. Fathers sometimes find a tutor for their sons, that's hire ladies to make sure they teach their sons the art of sex and lovemaking."
"There's a difference between the two?"
"They both mean the same thing, but happen under different conditions."
"Would you engage my curious mind and fill me up?" she asked.
"Sure, my lady. Sex is when you sleep with any random lady with no feelings attached. Lovemaking is an act done between two people who loved themselves."
"Interesting."
"And to answer your initial question, yes, I have been kissed before," Quinn said.
"Once or twice?"
"Countless times."
Nesta smiled.
They rode up to a brook and dismounted from their horses. The horses drank from the brook, and Nesta watched Quinn stare at the vast space in the distance.
He really was handsome. And his physique was that of a lean muscular build.
After the horses drank to their fill, Quinn again helped Nesta up on her horse, and they raced back to the manor.
Nesta was at the lead for a major part of the race, but close to the stables, Quinn drew up next to her. He was also a good rider. What else didn't she know? All would be unveiled in time. Maybe, not all, but most of it would be. She was sure of it.
Slowly, they walked to the manor. Quinn looked at the house, and Nesta kept looking at him every now and then.
She had one question in mind among the sea of questions before her, one she didn't think it wise to ask.
Has such a man felt love before? Had he had sex and made love before? Was he skilled in the art? For someone who could talk about it, surely, he must know a thing or two.
Really, she wanted to ask, but she didn't want to sound too curious.
"I really enjoyed my afternoon with you, Lady Weaver," Quinn said.
"As did I, lord Bramford," Nesta said.
"I hope we get to do this more often."
"I hope so too."
They got into the manor.
Nesta walked up to her room with Lillian close behind. Lillian helped her out of her riding clothes, and she went to have her bath. When she came out of the bath, she put on a light blue gown and moved to the window.
"Would you need anything else, my lady?" Lillian asked.
Nesta said, "Your company. Tell someone to get some biscuits from the kitchen."
Lillian did as she was told from the doorway, then she returned into the room.
"Have you ever been in love before, Lillian?" Nesta asked her maid and spun to look at her.
Lillian briefly looked from side to side, and said, "I don't believe I have had the luxury to fall in love. Is that what you feel for lord Bramford? Love?"