by Claudy Conn
She had taken offense at the things he had said, and she had been right to do so. What had moved him to be rude to her, he could not fathom, but he had been—very.
She wasn’t a twelve-year-old to be spoken to the way he had spoken to her. What devil had prompted him to behave in that manner?
They had gotten off to a rocky start, but perhaps he could repair that so they could move forward more comfortably?
* * *
Riding in silence beside one another was taking its toll on Kitty. Thus, when the earl finally spoke, she was ready to fall into conversation if only to relieve the odious tension she had been feeling.
“We must see about getting you a better sidesaddle before we leave for London, so that you may break it in and be comfortable during your rides in the park.”
“The park?”
“Hyde Park,” he said, smiling at her. “I think you will enjoy that as it serves two purposes. It will allow you to be seen and to see the beau monde during the fashionable hour. During the …” He paused to grin wickedly. “… unfashionable hour, you may give way to a little spirit and enjoy a controlled canter.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “A controlled canter.”
He laughed. “Indeed, and you will have to get a riding habit more suited for the sidesaddle, as well—I see this one doesn’t have a loop you can hook up.”
“Oh, it does. I forgot to do it,” Kitty said innocently.
He laughed again. “Well, we don’t have too far to go, your skirt shouldn’t wrinkle too much.”
“May I never ride astride in the park and is that the only place there is to ride?” she asked mournfully.
He laughed again. In truth, now that she had curtailed her temper, he found her … intriguing. Absurd, but there it was. She seemed totally without guile, and he rather liked that, for he had never met a woman who did not speak without an ulterior motive behind the words.
“We’ll see what we can do,” he said quietly. He had broken any number of society’s hard rules during his lifetime. Who was he to say what she couldn’t do? Yet, he wanted her, he discovered in that moment, to be comfortable in London, and in order to do that she would have to ‘fit in’.
She sighed and said, “I understand.” She then shot him a smile, and he thought his heart had stopped beating. Her smile was absolutely devastating. “But we are not in London, and this isn’t Hyde Park. So, what do you say to something a bit faster, now?”
He laughed outright. “Right you are, Miss Kingsley, for I, too, am sporting for a run.”
She eyed him, alive with anticipation, and said, “You know, I do think you should call me Kitty. After all, it appears this truce we have struck up should allow us a certain measure of friendship. What say you?”
“Agreed … now how about a good run, Kitty?”
“Done!” she said on a laugh as she urged her horse forward.
~ Fourteen ~
WHILE KITTY SAT with his lordship and her friend’s father, Henrietta found herself flanked on her ride home by both Harry and Clayton, who had both grumbled that nothing was more important to either of them than seeing Henrietta home.
Harry’s eyes had narrowed, and he made up his mind to cut Clayton out with Henrietta if it was the last thing he did. He was certain Clayton was only after her inheritance. After all, he had watched him make up to Kitty for weeks. No, no, he wasn’t allowing the rascal to hurt Miss Henrietta. She was too dear, too beautiful, too kind … too generous of heart to see through Clayton.
Thus, it was that Clay’s plans to flirt with Henrietta were greatly foiled by Harry’s manipulation of the situation.
When the ride found them side by side and Clayton bringing up the rear, Henrietta touched Harry’s arm and said quietly, “Thank you. I’m so glad you are here.”
He felt a wave of pleasure and smiled warmly at her. “I can’t think of any other place I would rather be.”
Henrietta was normally painfully shy when in the company of gentlemen, and Harry was pleased to find that she appeared to feel at ease with him. They fell into an easy banter, which Clayton was not able to penetrate.
Harry laughed over Henrietta’s description of Kitty’s antics while she had been fitted for her new riding ensemble, and he smiled ruefully to say, “Ree … you are a wonder. I don’t know how you made her stand still.”
She pursed her lips, and he thought her hazel eyes were made of amber glitter as she giggled and said, “It was, in fact, not easy, though she isn’t so very difficult if you don’t ruffle her sense of self. The earl is a stranger, and he walked in and began taking control. I daresay anyone, even I, would have found my feathers ruffled. Wouldn’t you be out of temper, given her circumstances?”
“Egad, yes,” Harry agreed.
“Aye, poor Kitty.” Clayton finally found the bend in the road had allowed him to ride up and flank Henrietta’s on her left. “The whole thing is dashed unfair.”
Henrietta did not reply to this but kept her face averted, and Harry wondered at it. Didn’t she like Clayton? He hoped she didn’t like him. Could she be shy of him because she did like him? That was too disturbing to contemplate.
“As to all of that, Kit’s guardian didn’t leave her penniless,” Harry stuck in. “No, no. Quite a respectable dowry and living.”
Clayton seemed pensive, just as Harry had hoped. Perhaps Clayton would return his unwanted attentions back to Kitty, who had no interest in him at all. He could see that the man was giving it all some thought.
“Is that right?” Clayton said, his eyes shaded now by his lashes. He seemed momentarily taken aback. “Even so, it isn’t what she was due.”
“Oh, please,” Henrietta objected. “We should not be discussing Kitty’s affairs like this.”
Harry immediately added his voice. “Quite right, Ree … no doubt Kit would have our heads if she heard us.”
Clayton laughed this off, though it was clear his mind was elsewhere, and Harry was pleased with the results of his efforts. He hadn’t realized just what a rum touch Clayton actually was before this—before the man chose to make Henrietta the object of his attentions.
Still, would Clayton chase after Kit when the beautiful and wealthy Henrietta was available? This worried him. He couldn’t imagine anyone choosing not to chase after his exquisite Henrietta.
Clayton wasn’t one to live a quiet, comfortable life. He wanted all that London had to offer—gaming, wine, and women—and Harry wasn’t going to allow his Henrietta to fall under the man’s spell. My Henrietta? When had he begun to think of her as his?
They reached the end of the road and were turning off Henrietta’s drive when she turned and surprised Clay out of his cogitations. “Thank you, sir.”
“No, no, thank you, Henrietta.”
“For what, Clayton?”
“For the treasured joy of your company. May I call on you tomorrow morning?”
When she blushed and hesitated, Harry jumped in. “You won’t find her at home, as she has already consented to take a drive with me tomorrow morning.”
Clayton inclined his head. “The next morning then.”
She said nothing but nodded and gave him a tentative smile. He started off but turned to say, “Are you coming Harry?”
“No, not just yet. I recalled that I must speak with Mrs. Harkins up at the house.”
He then moved to ride alongside Henrietta, and they made their way to the stables. There, he jumped down before turning to take her waist as she slipped out of her sidesaddle. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground, reveling in the pink of her cheeks. “I look forward to our drive tomorrow.”
She lowered her gaze. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I know you were trying to save me from Clay’s advances, and I am ever so thankful.
“Yes, I was trying to save you from him … but for myself.”
Their eyes met, and Harry was aware that his entire body heated up. When had this happened? For he knew something had happened. Just what it was, he didn’t
quite understand … but he knew it was something.
He took his leave, and it wasn’t long before he came across Bickwerth in the road, bending over his horse’s left fore leg. He was cleaning out the shoe with a gloved finger and looked up to say, “Ah, Harry. A stone … glad of it. I thought he was off, and it worried me.”
“Right then, glad you found the problem,” Harry said, but he saw that Clayton was about to speak his mind and prepared for it.
Clay remounted and looked intently at Harry for a moment before saying, “What is your game, Harry?”
“What the devil do you mean?”
“You are a wealthy man. You have no need of Henrietta’s fortune, but I do. Why are you putting a spoke in my wheel?”
“Not doing that, and not after her fortune,” Harry said on a hard note.
“Then what? You can’t be dazzled by her beauty—I mean, she isn’t a beauty, is she!” Clayton snapped.
“You’re blind,” Harry almost spluttered. “She is the loveliest woman I have ever clapped eyes on.”
“Dammit. Since when did you start looking in her direction?”
“Unlike you, who only glanced her way when you found out Kitty was no longer the recipient of Wharton Place, I have always found Henrietta Harkins a handsome and beautiful woman, inside and out.”
“I will cut you out with her,” Clay warned.
“Will you? We shall see.”
Clay laughed suddenly and said, “What we need is a run. Are you game?”
“Am I game?” Harry repeated, getting into position. “To the next milepost then!”
* * *
Kitty was the first to bring in her horse as they reached the crossroads. She could see Clay and Harry galloping at them in a steady cloud of dust.
She laughed and raised a hand, at the same time steadying her horse under her, for her mare pranced and fidgeted all too excitedly at the arrival of new horses.
The earl too, was bringing his big gray under him as the gelding danced in place, looking like a Lipizzaner horse in training. His voice soothed his nervous animal. “Ho there, lad … ho …”
Kitty couldn’t help but stare. He sat his horse so well, and there was no doubt whatsoever to any onlooker, and certainly not to her, that though the young gelding was spirited, the earl was having no trouble keeping him under control. He had the seat, the legs, the hands …
Oh, she thought as their eyes met, oh, but he was ever so handsome. She felt a blush flow into her cheeks and said to cover her momentary confusion, “Your Prancer is certainly a fine animal.”
As though in response to her compliment, Prancer arched his neck, snorted, and stood calmly in place. The earl and Kitty exchanged glances and laughed.
The young men careening towards them had already slowed to a stop, and Kitty quickly made the introductions. Kitty and Harry’s horses sniffed one another in amiable greeting, and the two fell into a comfortable pace with the earl and Clayton bringing up the rear.
Harry arched a brow at Kitty and said in a low voice, “Well, m’girl, how did your meeting go? All settled, right and tight? You two appear as though all went well … getting on better with the earl, aye?”
“Well, I wouldn’t quite say we are getting along, but we have decided to call a truce. The will is too ambiguous regarding the question of guardianship. Mr. Harkins called it a dilemma. It seems the earl, you know, is as trapped by the terms of my Uncle Edwin’s will as I am. So, I suppose we must find a way to go on … politely at the very least.”
“Ah,” Harry said.
“Ah? What does ah mean?”
He laughed. “Don’t trot it out too hard with me, Kit. I know you. So, ah, it is … for now.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and then sighed. “Well, apparently, the dowager Minerva will be hostess and take me about and such, and she is his grandmother, you see … so, as I will be a guest in their London town house, I suppose I must remember my manners and put up with it as best as I can.”
“Egad, Kit … it is a great deal thrust on you out of nowhere, and I must say, you are taking it quite well. Better than I would have thought,” Harry said. “However, I do think you will do. I am told the earl is a nice enough chap, though m’father says this whole affair is bizarre.”
Kitty laughed and agreed. “Bizarre is a very good word for it. But tell me, why does your father say that?”
“Well, apparently he knows a great deal about the earl, and says he is too young and too much a rogue to take on the care of a gently bred young woman, especially you.”
“A rogue? That was what I thought before I met him. I know about such things …”
Harry laughed. “You know too many things.”
“Well, women talk, but never mind that, I tell you what, Harry—I don’t think him a rogue at all now. In fact, his notion about how one should behave borders on prudish.” Then as another thought entered her brain she asked, “What did your father mean, especially me?”
Harry’s expression made Kitty laugh, and she wagged a finger. “Out with it.”
“Well, Kit … you ain’t quite the normal young maid, now are you?” Harry answered carefully.
As an answer to this, Kitty hauled off and rapped his shoulder, though she giggled all the while, secretly pleased with this dictum. She didn’t want to be a run-of-the-mill young woman. She wanted to walk her own road and make her own decisions.
The earl turned to Clayton and said, “Young Harry there, a suitor for Miss Kingsley’s hand?”
Clayton snorted, and Kitty looked back over her shoulder. She had heard him and decided not to respond.
~ Fifteen ~
THEY PARTED COMPANY, and Kitty was once again alone with the earl as they turned onto the country road that would lead them to the long, winding drive to Wharton Place.
The earl smiled and said, “You and young Harry seem very … close?”
“Harry and I have been friends forever. His father is the local squire, and they own the property adjacent to Wharton. You will like the squire.”
“Ah,” said the earl thoughtfully.
“Ah? Why does everyone answer me with ‘ah’?” Kitty grumbled.
The earl laughed, but as they had reached the stables, he dismounted, took the reins of his horse, and came round to help Kitty as she dismounted from her sidesaddle.
He had her waist in his large hands, and she felt a rush of sensation as he lifted her. Her horse moved and pushed her into him, and she let out a small sound as she held onto his arms for support and realized he had not yet set her down.
Their eyes met, and she became lost in his pools of blue for a moment. Then he was slowly lowering her to the ground and setting her on her feet. She had the oddest notion when she had been pressed up against him: she had wondered what it would be like to have his lips press against hers.
She shooed this away and said breathlessly, “Thank you … dismounting from a sidesaddle is something I am still trying to get the hang of.”
“The sidesaddle was made for a woman to look to a man to help her alight,” the earl said, and Kitty stared, for his voice sounded husky and …
“Come,” he said and took her gloved hand as the groom arrived and took their horses to be watered and pastured. “We have a few things we must do before we make ready to depart.”
“When do we depart?”
“As soon as we may,” he answered and smiled at her.
When, Kitty wondered, had he become so charming? Where had all his censure of her gone? Why was her heart beating so fast?
* * *
It was early evening when Kitty was once again clothed in britches and boots. Her old suede short coat kept the chill off her back as she sat along the edge of the wide, rushing stream and watched the water bubble over the rocks. She loved it here. She loved this creek that ran through Wharton land.
She cast her fishing line, but the truth was she wasn’t concentrating on the sport, one that had given her so much pleasure in the past.
Life was changing. No more peaceful fishing, no more wild gallops. No more britches. No more sitting with Cook in the kitchen and sampling delicious foods as she bubbled away telling Cook about her adventures.
She had come to see, however, that unlike her first impression, the earl was really a good man. She had broached the subject of the servants to him earlier, saying that they were all wonderful at their jobs and … she hoped he would see his way to keeping them all on when he took over at Wharton.
“Of course,” he had answered, his face displaying surprise and then softening in such a way that she thought she saw … compassion. “Kitty, I mean to keep everyone on and, in fact, increase their wages. Harkins advised me that they have not been paid well in years. The wonder is that they remained, for even from my short visit I find each and every one of my late uncle’s employees quite skilled at their jobs.” He eyed her and added, “And I know you must have formed … attachments. You will always be welcome here at Wharton, you know, always.”
She had been momentarily stunned. She had believed she might never again see the people she loved so dearly. Relief flooded her mind and eased her body, and before she knew what she was doing, she had flung her arms around the earl and told him, “Thank you, thank you, my lord, how very good of you … I … you … I … oh …” and then she had run from the room to have herself a good and happy cry.
After that, she had changed and rushed about telling everyone that their jobs were secure and that the earl meant to increase their wages.
Now, sitting by the stream, she was filled with a series of mixed emotions.
A sound brought her head up and around to find a familiar, tall, and lithe young woman picking her way towards her. She smiled a warm welcome. “Ree, what a wonderful surprise. Whatever brings you here at this time of day?” Even as she asked the question, it occurred to Kitty that her friend was looking blushingly radiant. She moved over some and said, “Here, sit beside me—it’s dry.”
“Oh Kitty, I need to talk to you,” Henrietta said as she dropped down beside her and adjusted her riding skirt.
