Rowena can hear her own heart pounding in her ears, and a lump of regret rising in her throat. She's reading too much into the subtleties of Midas' body language. His initial attempts to avoid eye contact are taken as a reluctance to accept her forward request. She asked too much too soon. Rowena should have just let him go. She'll drive him away with her desperation. It never crosses her mind that her desire to see him again could in any way be mutual.
A moment feels like an eternity before Midas responds and Rowena swallows the lump of regret with a gulp of sweet relief. "The Ridge was my home too. My father once led there." Rowena readily confesses her ties to the Ridge. Her mind contemplates the puzzle of the Ridge's long and turbulent history. But the confession of her ties to Paradise leaves her mouth with a measure of resistance. "And I once loved a stallion who led in Paradise." She phrases this in the past tense but her heart aches with the betrayal. It's been long since she's seen Ailill. She doesn't know whether he's dead or alive, but her love for him is still very much alive and present. She may never stop loving him, whether he ever steps back into her life or not, the remnants of first love linger as a complication.
When Midas confirms their plans, butterflies take wing in Rowena's stomach, and she feels suddenly giddy. All the guilty feelings about Ailill are not enough to dampen her excitement. "Yes," she agrees. "I'll see you then."
Midas leaves her as he found her, standing alone in the mud by the falls, but a smile now tugs at he corners of her lips. Her cheek will tingle with the awareness of his touch for hours.
