Time 9

"Good Morning Rachel" Noah said gently pressing a hand to the small of her back as he met her in the gardens the next morning, she was dressed in a simple white dress and was carrying a cup of tea as she explored the garden.

"Oh!" she jumped a little laughing as her tea spilt "you scared me!" she laughed as she righted her cup and turned to him with a beaming smile in the warm summer weather.

"Sorry" he smiled taking the mostly empty cup out of her hand and guiding her further into the gardens towards a raised gazebo in a wooded area "how did you sleep?" he asked courteously passing the cup onto a manservant who passed them.

"I was a little cold" Rachel admitted accepting his hand as they walked up the stone stairs to the gazebo "I think the weather is changing"

"There is a breeze in the air, it could bring in colder weather" Puck said squinting at the sky and the moving cloud bank in the distance "as will those clouds" he added wryly "let's enjoy our breakfast then while the weather holds" he swept her into the gazebo smiling as she gasped at the breakfast he had had laid out for them.

A wrought iron table was laid out in perfect china with fresh fruit and rolls waiting for them and orange juice, it was set in the perfect wooded area that was blooming in the summer months in an explosion of colours was shaded both by the gazebo roof and the leafy roof of the woods above which danced in the light breeze.

"Oh Noah it is lovely" Rachel said circling the table and taking a seat as Puck leant over and poured her a fresh cup of tea with a small splash of milk before taking his own seat.

"I thought it would be nice for the both of us" he smiled gently at her pouring his own tea and then the orange juice before they tucked into the food "so what do you think so far?"

Rachel looked up at him as she took a bite of her sausage and laughed at how nervous he looked inwardly before gracing him with her own bright smile once again "of the breakfast?" she asked teasingly "it is lovely Noah, most important meal of the day after all"

"Not exactly what I meant, but I am glad you are not having breakfast in your bed as the others have ordered, it is nice that we get some time just the two of us"

"I think that the castle is amazing" Rachel said honestly "and I too am happy that it is just the two of us for breakfast, I find your presence very soothing and stimulating at the same time"

"Those are strange descriptions" Puck said with an arch to his eyebrow "personally I think you are beautiful amazing women who has both the mental wit and intelligence to outsmart the king if she wanted, and hold her own in any business dealings. I think that I am lucky to have you in my life and I never want you to leave it, I think you have already guessed my intentions but I want to make sure that you know them and agree with them, possibly like them hopefully"

"Noah" Rachel smiled "of course I..."

"Good morning!" Jesse and Finn interrupted them quickly before they Rachel could finish her sentence.

"Morning" Puck bit off angrily as Santana came hurrying up to the group looking at the couple sitting down apologetically having tried to head off the two young men before they had left the castle.

"Lady Rachel..." Both Jesse and Finn started at the same time before gesturing to each other to continue both trying to be the gentlemen.

"Noah" Rachel finally said over the both of them "I would love to see more of the grounds you have told me so much about, would you be so good as to take me on a walk?"

"It would be my pleasure" he smiled standing next to her and offering his arm which she slipped her hand into to let him lead her away from her unwanted suitors.

"I would like to be blunt with the two of you" Santana said falling into a seat with exhaustion of her fast walk from the castle to the wood "she isn't interested!"

"Excuse me Miss I do not believe I asked" Finn said stiffly before walking away

"I guessed" Jesse admitted with a smile taking the seat opposite the exotic looking women "it's just funny to play with Duke Puckerman's head, and I must admit to some pleasure in annoying Lord Finn as well"

"Oh yes?"

"Lord Finn is an extremely pompous young man who has never not gotten what he has wanted and it would tickle me for him to lose the war for Rachel's hand in marriage, especially to Finn"

"Why do you say that?"

"Finn has made it a quest in life to make Puckerman look bad, or rather to take the deals and contacts that he has spent months sometimes years cultivating. By both the spreading of rumours about his behaviour and somewhat un-gentlemen like behaviour"

"I have never heard of these rumours" Santana said in surprise sitting back comfortably to listen to Jesse talk "I have always heard that the Lord Finn is a highly respectable young man"

"I'm not saying he isn't, he is just not a fan of Puckerman with good cause if it was decades ago, many decades ago Puckerman's great grandfather decided not to marry Finn's great grandmother as his second wife after the death of his first. As such Finn is not part of the Puckerman family, he feels that he should have been and that the Duke is at fault for him only being a mere Earl apparent"

"Wow!" Santana sat back slightly stunned "that is a particularly crazy story if you can forgive the common parlance"

"Oh I know! No one particularly understands the continuing of something that happened almost one hundred and fifty years ago, but Hudson has a charm that always seems to work for himself and his business dealings"

Santana laughed and lent forward to take Rachel's still full glass of orange juice and tuck into her left breakfast, thinking there was no point in wasting it, Jesse on the other side doing the same thing to Puck's lightly talking away the morning both of them watching Finn as he stomped around the gardens.

"And there are the woods again" Puck trailed off miserably "you know I swear that this place is not this boring" he promised with a grin "maybe we need to see it by horseback"

"Well there is our plan for tomorrow" Rachel laughed leaning against him as they rounded the east wing of the large castle "though you have shown me a lot today, and it is just as beautiful and amazing as you said it was"

"You like it?"

"The castle is stunning Noah" Rachel assured him, smiling at him as he looked so worried at her answer, though knowing his intentions towards her it was a little obvious as to why he was so anxious for her to like his family home.

"Well obviously I also spend a lot of time in London as well so I have a house in Chelsea there that is shall we said well used due to all the business I do there as well. It's a nice home, a standard home for nobles in business but you would like it as well"

"I'm sure I would" Rachel agreed, slightly dreaming of the time when she could call these places home as well

"I only have the two houses though; I don't feel the need to have dozens like so many other people I know"

"Well that is something I appreciate" Rachel said showing her opinions once again "you know I never really got to answer your implied question earlier"

"The one where I poured my heart out and the Jesse and Lord Finn interrupted us before you could put me out of my misery" Puck smirked

"Yes that one" Rachel laughed moving ahead of him and sitting down on a bench overlooking the valley down towards the village at the bottom of the hill.

"And...?" Puck prompted her coming to join her on the bench and taking her hands

"And it's all I have wanted since we started to get to know each other" she said lifting one of her hands free to stroke down the side of his face, smiling as he lent into her hand "now the only question is how long do we need to wait for 'propriety's' sake"

"Before I can claim you as mine?" Puck mused "as short a time as bloody possible. Especially with Hudson still sniffing around"