A palpable silence followed Edward's last comment. A symphony of crickets. The compliment, that she looked 'radiant' dressed down in her working clothes (men's clothes! which would, of course, be illegal to wear out of the house), might have just rolled away if it'd come from a different man. Someone who habitually deploys their charm in their everyday mannerisms. But coming from Edward, who was so boyishly earnest in all of Dahlia's interactions with him, it stuck. Especially paired with that look on his face!
Dahlia blinked, perhaps staring at Edward in response to his comment while her brain tried to churn up an appropriate response.. "Well, that's sweet of you to say," she finally responded, a bit slowly, "but I'm afraid the rest of society is a little less liberal than your good horse."
That was enough of that as far as Lilly was concerned! The girl leapt to her feet, announcing decisively, "We should get going! It won't be light outside forever and think of the damage we'll do to my poor grandmother's nerves if we're out after dark!"
Lilly got a look from both Dahlia and Helen for that comment, but by that time the girl had already shot out of the room to hurriedly get ready - the sooner she could get this man out of her house, the better!
It was a lovely, green day in the rolling hills outside of Uthlyn. However much Lilly might not like her company, she could never stay unhappy when she was out here. The hedgerows, the streams and ponds, the dark shaded borders into the forest. So, at the moment, Lilly sat perched upright on Abigail, surveying the country. Dressed in her riding clothes and with her naturally-wild hair forced into a braid, she actually even looked a bit like a young lady rather than the will-o-the-wisp that had first greeted Edward.
But she couldn't let her love of the outdoors distract her from her goal: Getting Edward Draven to leave their family alone! How, though? Maybe she should learn some more about his motives....
"Doesn't your daughter like to ride, Lord Draven?" Lilly asked as sweetly as she could manage. "I guess she must not if you have to come all this way to take someone else's children riding. Oh, I mean, I like Abigail a lot and I'm very happy to be out here," she added quickly to make the comment seem less barbed. "It just seems unfortunate for you to have to travel so far."