Thunderstorms

"What do you think of Maximilian?"

Ben looked down at Aurelia. "I think he is a little over-eager but has good intentions with you so I like the fellow just fine."

She nodded at his response as Max pulled up in his open-air carriage. Max hopped out and gave her a gallant bow and a curt nod to her brother. He wore a light blue waistcoat with a darker blue coat and a pair of beige pantaloons and tall dark brown boots.

"Lord Brooks and Miss Brooks, a delight as always," Max greeted them.

"Mr. St. Clair." Aurelia curtsied and was led by Ben into the carriage. Her brother settled at her side and Max was across from them. The driver set course for a small grove of trees about two hours away where they would have a picnic.

The ride was beautiful and passed at a leisurely pace, the rolling hills and occasional estate dotted across the countryside. Aurelia blushed as Max stared at me with reckless abandon, and Ben cleared his throat. "St. Clair, you seem to be quite enraptured with my sister."

Max raised his brows. "I would say that's a fair assessment," he said with a gleam in his eyes. "No one holds a candle to Aurelia."

Aurelia loved the brazen way Max declared his feelings for her without a care, her heart pounded at his levity when it came to matters of the heart. Ben simply rolled his eyes and put his head back on the headrest.

They passed the time in the carriage with tales of when Ben and Aurelia were children and Max countered with his own and they laughed at the flights of fancy children came up with. The hours passed by quickly and they made it to the grove of trees. The Weeping Willows towered over them and their drooping branches swayed gently in the breeze, it was a little past noon when they settled on the blankets and cushions with a few baskets of food and wine. The trio had a small feast of various meats, cheeses, fruits, and bread along with a few bottles of wine.

"This is quite the romantic spot, Max," Aurelia said approvingly.

Maximilian was lounging on one of the cushions without his overcoat on and his waistcoat unbuttoned. "It's one of my favorite spots from when I was a child and would come here with my governess," Max explained, his eyes softened. "I would run around the trees for hours pretending to be a knight, guarding the trees against dragons and evildoers."

Aurelia scooted a bit closer to him and looked to Ben to see his reaction. He stared off in the distance and played with his glass of wine, she felt brave so she slid ever so slightly closer to Max who was closer to Aurelia as well. "Would you have guarded me as well, fair knight?"

"With my very life," Max declared. "As you should be, like the princess you are."

"So dashing of you," she giggled. "I'm happy to see you again so soon after tea." The sun was covered by the trees except for small pockets of light that escaped through the branches that lit up Max's face on one side and shaded the other.

"I can't seem to stop thinking of you, Aurie," Max whispered, his eyes smoldering, the one in the light glinted. "I wish I was already an Earl so I could do as I wish without my parent's approval. My father has been sick for a long time, I don't know how much longer he will remain one among the living."

Aurelia offered her ungloved hand to him, he accepted with his lightly tanned hand that swallowed hers in his grasp. "Losing a parent is not easy especially when you are young," Aurelia said sympathetically.

Max's eyes softened. "Aurie I'm so sorry to be talking so carelessly about the death of a parent."

The sky started to grow dark with swollen incoming clouds. "It's alright, my parents were lost at sea on a trip to the West Indies, nothing caused their deaths but the unpredictable seas."

Ben snapped out of his daydream at the mention of their parents. "Your father is not the kindest man is he, St. Clair?"

Aurelia gasped at his sudden accusation.

Max locked eyes with Ben. "No, he is not. He's a bitter old man who loved to express his disapproval physically when he was still healthy enough to." Max was confused as to why Ben asked about his bastard father.

"Oh my dear Max," Aurelia whispered as tears pricked the corners of her eyes daring to fall. "I had no idea."

"I never threatened my sisters with violence when they were not behaving and neither did my father," Ben said. "I'm sorry that yours did, and I hate to ask. Would you ever strike Aurelia if you married her?"

Aurelia stared at her brother in horror at such a loaded question, she never felt unsafe with Max in the slightest.

Max narrowed his eyes. "I would never strike my wife or any woman for that matter," Max said through clenched teeth. He could see that Benjamin Brooks was a very protective older brother, Aurelia's sister was much kinder toward him.

Aurelia couldn't help feeling butterflies in her stomach at the mention of Max's wife, she wanted that to be her.

"Let's steer the topic of conversation away from violence shall we?" Aurelia asked nervously. The men stared each other down for a few more moments, the air thick with tension. A deep rumbling echoed across the sky, and rain started to sprinkle down upon us.

Ben nodded and turned to her, "we should be getting home, Aurelia."

"It looks like the sky agrees with you," Max said tightly.

With the help of the driver and some haste Aurelia cleaned up the picnic and the men stowed the blankets and cushions in the back of the carriage.

"Why would you pick an open-air carriage, St. Clair?" Ben sneered as he got into the drenched carriage. Aurelia shot him a nasty look, why is he being so cruel to Max?

"Ben, lay off of Max, he couldn't predict the weather," she growled at him quietly.

Her brother looked surprised at her defensiveness but stopped talking.

Max beamed at her and grabbed Aurelia's hand to help her into the carriage, even in the pouring rain his hand felt warm in hers. She paused before getting into the carriage.