He was distracting her. While she wanted to indulge in what he was beginning to press buttons for, she wanted to tell him of her deeds before she forgot to. "I've made a list of..." she paused and was hard pressed to hide a shiver, her eyes drifting half closed like a cat doing a slow blink. She bit the side of her bottom lip and tried very hard to keep her eyes rooted to his. "I've made a list of necessary repairs to this home. I don't see why we couldn't have those repairs made while we were away. I've seen to having others hired to tend to that, a gardener to add to the garden for our kitchen so our people can eat well, and I've seen to getting new blankets for the staff who stay on. I'd say your time is more freed up than you thought," she grinned. "A happy staff is a productive staff," she recited and then chuckled, "At least that's what my mother told me. Is there anything else I could do to free more of your time up? It's been some time since you and I did something... outside of the house."

And then she paused and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "What if we went to one of the caves and take advantage of the tide..?" she slipped a hand inside of his shirt and pressed her hand to his chest. "Or perhaps the forest. Perhaps we can take a basket of food somewhere with a fine bottle of wine? Away from all this planning and a small adventure." Her eyes danced with mischeif.

"I am not sure what I find more impressive, that you handled all of that or did it without my knowing. Do I want to know how you ensured that none of the staff came to me about any of this?" Not that he thought she had overstepped, but he wouldn't have been surprised if one of his heads of staff had decided to double-check her orders with him. She may have been the Lady North, but it was a new title and his staff were used to serving old blood.

"As for if we can take a trip outside of the house, considering how much of my time you've just freed up I see no reason why I can't free some on my own to do so. I've never shied from delayed gratification." Quentin said with a grin, he'd certainly been considering simply ravishing her on the table but since she wanted to go somewhere he was more than happy to indulge her instead.

"Oh, trust me... they will come to you, I just asked to keep a lot of things a surprise for now so I could plan something for us to do while we wait for the day we can get on the ship. I wanted to be the one to bring it to your attention and," she paused and pulled out several pieces of paper, "I've written everything down for you to read at your convenience. I would never keep things from you, but it helps to be nice to the servants." She gave a grin. "Nothing is set in stone, only arranged, you still have the final say. I just wanted it to be organized, that's all." She leaned in and took advantage of their nearness, kissing him softly, giving him silent promises for a good time later. Then she pulled away from him, her eyes dancing as she gazed at him.

"So what kind of adventure would you like to go on? Hmm?" Her finger trailed over his chest idly, soon to swirl around underneath his shirt into his chest hair. She reluctantly stood from his lap before she changed her mind and let him have her right then and there. "Perhaps I can leave you to thinking about where to go that would tickle your fancy, if only so I can make arrangements for some food and drink for us." She chuckled.

"I see, well, in that case, yes go arrange a basket. I'll put your plans in motion and then we can take a jaunt down to the beach. I wouldn't mind getting a swim in and we can find some cove to have our lunch in."

With that, he stood and went to talk to the various heads of staff that needed to be given permission to proceed with various plans. From there, he went to the coachman and got them to prepare the carriage to take them out to the shore, let the governess know that she would need to take care of Max for the afternoon, and then went to go get changed into some attire more suited for time spent in sand and surf.

About an hour after they separated Quentin was in the courtyard dressed in a pair of shorts and a white silk short-sleeve shirt waiting for Claire to arrive. The two would be off as soon as she arrived so they could get to enjoying their afternoon alone together, something they'd not had nearly as much of since Max had been born. But such was the way of things and that would hopefully improve as the lad grew older.

She emerged from the house, dressed in a blouse and trousers, not a surprise at all to the staff since they knew she was a practical woman. And she did not care about scandal or she would not have chosen pants to wear. Her hair was in a bun at her nape, there was a straw hat on her head, etc. Oh, and what corset?

Claire smiled at Quentin and she moved to his side, gazing up at him with her adoring eyes. "I am ready when you are..." A servant came out and offered the basket as she finished speaking. She took it with a nod, "Thank you."

Quentin was ready to go, so once Claire and the basket were loaded they took off down the road. They enjoyed idle conversation during the short ride to the beach, or well, just short of the beach since the road didn't quite get to the shore. The couple unloaded and the driver was given permission to go enjoy himself at the nearby town for a couple of hours until he had to be back to wait for his lord and lady.

With that out of the way, Quentin slid the basket onto one arm and offered Claire the other. "Shall we?" He said before they made their way down the dirt path that turned to sand as they reached the shoreline. They could enjoy a pleasant walk as they searched for a good private place to enjoy their meal and each other.

It seemed like it was a perfect day, not too chill and not hot either. She gladly walked while holdin onto her husband's arm as they picked their way down to the ocean. She was happy to smell that brine in the air as soon as they made it down. She doffed her shoes immediately and dug her toes into the sand with the pleasure even a child would get at doing so. Then she let her hair down, for it would be loosened anyway once they sampled each other.

In the meantime, she would enjoy the day. Eventually, she moved to help set up the area they would dine at.

Quentin joined her on the beach and followed her example. The feel of the sand between his toes was welcome as he took her hand and they started to walk. It wasn't long before they found a small sheltered cove that was about as nice as the British coast line could hope to be. Setting out a blanket and the meal the brought as they reclined in the sand. It was a good summer day, one thankfully without rain or fog, which were hard to avoid in the isles.

She reclined with him and offered to feed him some grapes off the bunch she held up, her eyes sparkling. While they had grown fond of each other, their marriage and relationship still needed things like that, she knew, to help it nurture and grow. Her smile was soft regardless if he took the offering or not. And if he did, she would alternate between feeding him and herself. She was personally in no hurry for them to get to that fun stuff.

Accepting the offered grape he chewed on it before he grinned at his wife. "I'll say this much, you couldn't have picked a finer day to free up my afternoon." It was rare for the weather to be so pleasant and he was immensely pleased she'd gotten him out of the house to enjoy it. "I might have wasted the rest of it in preparations for plans to get somewhere I could enjoy the outdoors, ignoring what was nearby and that would have been a shame."