Time 5

Rachel watched Puck with interest behind her fan as he ran along to edge of the field and onto his horse for the Polo game, Lord Kurt standing next to her by his father's orders.

"Do you like Polo Lord Kurt?" Rachel asked politely rolling her eyes as he shrugged at her and grunted unattractively, shifting a little further away from him Rachel walked to the fence surrounding the game and lent against it her eyes trained on Puck no matter how hard she tried to drag her gaze away.

He had captured her interest in a way that shocked her, she had come to the conclusion that men were the same the world over petty small minded and had a niche for women that would not change for millennia if they had their way, but also an opinion of how they should act. But Noah, as she called him in the quiet of her mind, he had actually listened to her last night on her walk, had in fact demanded to know about her child hood and her opinions on the European countries she had lived in. But then there was his behaviour towards women, and his past 'indiscretions' painted him a bad light to pretty much everyone she had talked to, her father even having been warned to not let her get to close to the Duke.

But watching him now that all flew out of her mind his was this dominating and awe inspiring presence on the field in front of her, the horse between his legs obviously his own as it responded to his touch rather than the pull on the reins. And his light cotton shirt did nothing to hide his obviously toned and fit body that had her thinking thoughts she had only had a place in useless and vapid romance novels, with his sleeves rolled up she found herself blushing as his arms swung the Polo hammer around, his muscles rippling under his tanned smooth skin.

Fanning herself briskly she forced herself away as his team won the game and were shaking hands with their opponents, wondering how she had lost so much time in simply staring at the Duke, accepting a glass of iced tea from a steward she ignored the group of gossiping girls and looked out instead over the view of the rambling grounds.

Only to have her breath catch in her throat as the unmistakable shadow of her previous musings appeared at her elbow "good afternoon Lady Rachel" his low gravelled voice murmured.

"Good afternoon Your Grace" Rachel said in as a levelled tone as she could manage, turning to face him "congratulations on your win"

"You were watching then" he stated unnecessarily having spotted her watching him and only him minutes into the game.

"I do prefer Polo" Rachel quipped lightly "I only find tennis enjoyable when I am playing it"

"You play tennis?"

"Yes, though can I tell you a secret?" Rachel asked smiling lightly at him as he nodded "I hate playing in those silly dresses! So I never play where there is a 'society' audience and I can wear trousers"

Puck laughed at the secret and rested his hand lightly on her back as she laughed with him, before this would have shocked him but not now not after he had begun to get to know her and her opinions, and now all he wanted was to watch her play tennis is trousers and shirt.

Staying with her for the rest of the garden party the two of them were oblivious to the attention they were receiving from everyone else, Puck's attention was fixed solely on the girl next to him, he had wanted to talk to her to get her out of his system now he never wanted her to leave it. Her hand tucked into the crook of his arm they walked around the sculpted gardens constantly talking about anything and everything, moving from Rachel's childhood to his own and their family homes.

"I want to show you Belvoir Castle" Puck said his hand over Rachel's as the wind picked up a little "my family home, my mother and sister are there my mother Aviva looks after the surrounding lands while I deal with the business holdings"

"You trust your mother with that?" Rachel asked in surprise considering his original stance on her own independence.

"Yes, I think she probably does it better than me" Puck admitted "by the castle is lovely, it sits on almost 15,000 acres and there has been a castle there since the Norman age, its surrounded by a number of villages as well and the views from the castle, which is on top of a hill, are breath taking"

Smiling at the pride he felt in his family home Rachel moved closer to him and stopped his walk with a gentle tug on his arm "I would be honoured to visit your family home" she said sincerely loving how proud he was speaking of it "but only on the promise you visit Plas Newydd on Anglesey one day"

"And that would be my honour" Puck promised as they started to walk again their heads bent towards each other as they walked further.

Hiram on the balcony looked down on his daughter and smiled benignly at her obvious comfort with the duke beside her, he had been so worried about her not finding the 'right' man and knowing he wouldn't be around forever and that she wouldn't be taken seriously if she remained unmarried. But now his worries seemed unfounded as she bonded to the next Duke of Rutland, a man who actually listened to her and perhaps even respected her opinions, he had had a few words with him about business ventures they were both in but not Rachel, not yet.

"Your lordship?" a voice asked politely startling him from his reverie

"Yes" he answered turning to the tall lanky lad next to him "Lord Finn is it not? The son of the Earl of Devon"

"Uh...Yes...Yes sir" Finn stammered "I wondered if I might talk to you"

"Of course" Hiram gestured, wondering what the obviously slow boy thought they were doing already "and the subject you had in mind?"

"Your...Your daughter sir, I was hoping to be granted your permission to formally court her"

"Oh" Hiram said stunned "have...Have you even talked to my daughter, or know her name?" he added wryly

"The Lady Rachel" Finn said proudly "is a beautiful young lady"

"But have you talked to her?"

"No but I would like the opportunity to"

"You don't need my permission for that" Hiram stated confused "you can talk to my daughter without officially courting her"

"Why would I do that?" Finn asked dumbly

"Uhuh" Hiram breathed out "I of course would give you permission but I think you will find that Rachel will not be receptive to your advances"

Hearing what he needed Finn marched off quickly towards Rachel and Puck who were now sitting on a strategically placed stone bench next to a water fountain, no longer touching but still close as they talked the afternoon away.

"...it was amazing the light hit it..."

"Lady Rachel" Finn interrupted them both, making Rachel's and Puck's heads snap up in shock not having heard him approach even on the gravel path so tied up in each other as they had been.

"Yes?" she asked rudely "I'm not sure I know you"

"Lord Finn my lady" Finn said with a short bow "only son to the Earl of Devon"

"That's nice for you" Rachel said brightly before turning back to Puck who was glaring up at the tall young man with something suspiciously like hate on his face.

"Your father just gave me permission to formally court you, I think it would be good if we went for a walk"

"Excuse me?" Rachel said in disbelief looking up at her father on the balcony who shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands in confusion and apology.

"What!" Puck said a lot less elegant than Rachel

"Formally courting you, I'm sure his grace will excuse you to go for a walk with me"

"Perhaps he would, I would however not like to walk with you my lord" Rachel said huffily getting to her feet stiffly "your grace would you be so good as to escort me to my companion Miss Santana?"

"Of course" Puck said getting to his own feet and tucking Rachel's hand into the crook of his arm and leading her away from the shocked looking Finn, who had a reputation of girls falling at his feet with his goofy smile and good looks, but he knew that he also wouldn't give up on Rachel despite her scathing tone with him. She was just too alluring and amazing to give up.