Page 55 of A Marquess to Save Her

"He told you that again?" Callum asked. Louise nodded. "I believe it is high time I had a talk with my grandfather on the kind of conversations he is allowed to have with you."

"It is nothing," Louise shrugged, "I know we can never be together."

"I..." Callum started, staring at Louise and for a moment, Louise could have sworn that she saw just the tiniest sign of vulnerability in him. However, when she blinked, it was all gone.

"Uh...I just wanted to apologize for my grandfather's words," he said simply and looked away.

"Thank you for the fruits, Callum," Louise said, "no one has ever done a gesture as grand as this for me before."

"Not even Felington?" Callum asked.

"Not even Felington," Louise replied.

"I suppose he is not versed in the art of romance then," Callum joked.

"Or in the art of seduction," Louise said in a low tone, as she put a berry in her mouth.

Callum looked up at her and his eyes darkened with passion before his eyes roamed over her body. "Is that what you think this is, seduction?" Callum asked, his voice dropping just a little above a whisper.

The air was suddenly tense and Louise could not take her eyes off Callum's as the events of the previous day came crashing down upon her again. Her body tingled.

"Ahem!" Someone coughed nearby and Louise jolted, startled at the sudden noise. It was a stocky man with a bag in his hand.

"My name is Mr. Leather and I shall be taking you on the sculpting class for today, my lady, my lord," he said.

Louise smiled, quickly springing to her feet. "Tell me, what shall we be sculpting today?" she asked the man, "Is it a fancy statue or a large figurine?"

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, my lady," the sculptor replied, "but we shall not be sculpting anything so…dramatic."

"Oh!" Louise was a little disappointed.

"But you shall enjoy the experience nonetheless," the sculptor continued.

With that, they sat by the big table that contained most of the sculpting pieces of equipment like clay and brushes.

"For today, I shall create a sculpture and then, you will both have the opportunity to create your own sculpture from scratch," he said.

"Can I make a figurine?" Louise asked.

"A small one, yes," the sculptor replied.

"And I shall sculpt a flower vase for you to keep the flowers that I have given you," Callum also said. Louise smiled.

"The most important part of sculpting is finding the armature," the sculptor continued.

"What is an armature?" Louise asked.

"It is a structure around which the sculpture would be built. For now, we would be using little sticks as an armature," he said, pulling a wad of stick from the bunch on the table, "since I shall be sculpting a plate, my armature shall also be made in the form of the plate."

Louise watched keenly as the sculptor tied the sticks together and created a rough sketch of what a plate should look like.

"This looks easy," Callum said, "I could probably do it in my sleep."

"That is not true," Louise contested, "sculpting takes a lot of practice."

"And what if I perfect it on my first try?" He asked.

Louise ruminated over it for a moment as she thought of an appropriate punishment for Callum if he failed. "If you do not get it right on the first try, you must do whatever I tell you to do," she said.