An Independent Woman

by Candace Camp

  “I am surprised to find you here with the Season in full swing,” Juliana commented.

  Seraphina jabbed a piece of ham with her fork and said without looking up, “Sir Herbert desired a bit of peace and quiet in the country.”

  Juliana decided that this was a topic best dropped, so she cast about for something else to say.

  “What do you have planned for the morning?” Nicholas asked helpfully, and Juliana cast him a grateful smile.

  “Why, nothing, really,” Juliana told him. “I scarcely know where to begin, I’m afraid. I must meet the vicar, of course, and speak to him about the ceremony. And then, of course, there is much to be done about the celebration after the wedding.” She turned toward Lilith. “I do hope that you will guide me in what should be done, Aunt Lilith.”

  “Of course.” The other woman looked as if nothing could please her less.

  But apparently there was something that could do so, for the next moment, her expression grew even more sour when Nicholas said, “No doubt Aunt Lilith will want to show you about the place, Juliana. Teach you all the ins and outs…since you will soon be taking over the reins of the household.”

  “Naturally,” Lilith murmured, turning toward Juliana. “No doubt it will take a little time for Juliana to learn what to do, since she was scarcely brought up to manage a grand house.”

  “I will do my best,” Juliana replied stiffly.

  “I am quite sure that Juliana is up to the task,” Nicholas told his aunt, his face cold.

  “You will be much better than I, I am sure,” Seraphina remarked with a little laugh, somewhat dispelling the palpable tension in the air. “I am quite in awe of my housekeeper and hardly dare change anything she does. And when she drones on and on about the books, and the cost of this and the price of that, I vow, ’tis all I can do to keep from nodding off.”

  Juliana smiled at her cousin. Seraphina was still something of a fluffbrain, but at least she seemed to be trying to be friendly. “But perhaps you will help me with the wedding, Seraphina? It will be small, but I expect the celebration afterwards will be rather large. We will, after all, want to have something for the tenants and villagers, as well as the supper for family and friends.”

  Seraphina’s face brightened at the prospect of any sort of party. “Oh, yes. There must be a ball, don’t you think? And, of course, the meal before that. Perhaps some tables of cards, as well—for those who don’t like to dance.”

  The idea of gaming tables at a wedding celebration sounded a trifle odd to Juliana, but, then, she was not up to date on the fashionable ton wedding.

  “Don’t be any sillier than you have to be,” Lilith said bluntly, casting a disapproving look at her daughter. “One does not have card games at a wedding supper. I suppose we must have something for the tenants, of course. And a ball would be in order.”

  On that grudging note, another silence fell over the table. After a moment, Juliana tried to start a conversation again. “What shall you be doing this morning, Nicholas, while Aunt Lilith shows me around the house?”

  “Going over the accounts with the estate manager and Crandall,” he replied.

  Juliana suspected that Crandall would feel little like going over any books this morning, but she said nothing. She wondered what Nicholas would find. It frankly would not surprise her to learn that Crandall had been cheating the estate during the years since his father’s death—nor would it be remarkable to find that he had in fact done next to nothing at all concerning the place, leaving it all in the manager’s hands. Crandall had never struck her as someone who was particularly industrious. Certainly he had made little effort in their school lessons.

  As if sensing her thoughts, Lilith said, “Crandall has done an excellent job managing the estate. He has always been quite fond of the land.”

  There was a pinched look to her face, and Juliana suspected that she was thinking along the lines that Crandall had been last night—that the land should have gone to her son, not the interloper, Nicholas.

  “I am sure I will find everything in order,” Nicholas replied carefully. Juliana felt sure that he had the same sort of doubts as she did about Crandall’s competence.

  The meal continued in this joyless, stilted way, and it was a relief to Juliana when it was over and they were able to leave. Lilith turned to her as she rose.

  “I shall take you to the housekeeper now, if you wish,” she said with icy politeness.

  Juliana suspected that Lilith hoped to intimidate her with her tone and manner, a reminder that Juliana was an orphan and a poor relation, whereas Lilith was the lady of the manor. Possibly she even hoped that Juliana would cave in and allow her to continue to run the house. Frankly, Juliana would not have minded letting the woman continue; keeping a house in order was not something she looked forward to with great joy. However, she was going to be Nicholas’s wife now. It would be her duty and her responsibility. Besides, if she left the house in Lilith’s hands, it would be a part of the estate that was being kept from Nicholas, and Juliana had no intention of allowing that to happen.

  “Thank you,” she replied with equal courtesy.

  Lilith’s lips thinned, but she said nothing further, just walked from the room and down the hall toward the kitchens. Juliana followed, determined not to let the older woman annoy her into rudeness.

  When they reached the kitchen, the servants all turned toward them, bobbing curtseys as they watched them curiously. Juliana suspected that Lilith was not a common visitor in this area.

  Rundell came out of the butler’s pantry and hurried toward them. “Mrs. Barre. Miss Holcott. May I assist you?”

  Lilith turned toward him. “I was showing Miss Holcott about, Rundell. Is Mrs. Pettibone here?”

  “Of course.” He turned as if to fetch the woman, but the housekeeper was already bustling into the kitchen to join them, all smiles, greeting them even as she turned a fierce glare on the other servants, impelling them to return to work.

  “Perhaps you would like to come into my sitting area,” she suggested brightly. “Dorrie, bring us some tea.”

  Juliana would have liked to refuse, having just come from breakfast, but she knew that it would be taken badly if she refused to sit down to tea with the housekeeper, so she smiled and resigned herself to another cup.

  Once they were all three seated in the housekeeper’s small sitting room, waiting for Dorrie to bring their refreshment, Lilith turned to the housekeeper, saying, “Miss Holcott will be assuming control of the household when she marries Lord Barre, as you know. No doubt she will want to change the menu for the week and go over your schedule.”

  The housekeeper looked alarmed at this pronouncement, but quickly hid her reaction, saying, “Of course, ma’am. Just allow me to get the menu.”

  “Oh, no, Mrs. Pettibone. I shan’t be changing the menu or your schedule. I am sure that you have laid out both quite well. No doubt Mrs. Barre misunderstood me.” She shot a sharp look at Lilith. “I would merely like to look at your menu. And perhaps sometime in the future we might add a dish or two that are Lord Barre’s favorites.”

  “Oh, of course, ma’am,” Mrs. Pettibone agreed readily.

  “I would not wish to disturb your work. However, sometime soon, I would appreciate it if you would show me about the house and familiarize me with the workings of your staff. If you would let me know when would be a convenient time for you…”

  “Of course. Whenever you wish, ma’am. A little later this morning would suit me, if it pleases you. Give me time to make sure everyone is going about their business, if you know what I mean. Then I can get together the menu and such, and take you all about.”

  “That sounds fine. Shall we say…around eleven?”

  “Lovely, ma’am. Lovely.”

  They endured a polite cup of tea and some more stilted conversation with the housekeeper, then left the kitchen. Juliana kept pace with Lilith, and when the woman would have started up the stairs, she moved in front of her,
sweeping her arm toward the drawing room.

  “I would like to speak to you, Aunt Lilith, if you please.”

  For an instant Juliana thought the older woman was going to refuse, but then, with a twitch of her lips, she turned and walked past Juliana into the drawing room. She sat down on a chair and turned to face Juliana, her brows lifted inquiringly.

  “I presume you will wish Rundell and Mrs. Pettibone to come to you with their questions from now on?” Lilith said.

  “Aunt Lilith, I have no desire to wrest your authority away from you,” Juliana told her calmly. “I am sure that right now, with the wedding approaching, there will be plenty to occupy us both. It would be nice if we could work together, instead of opposing each other. You know the house, the servants, everything, far better than I do. I am simply asking for your help. I would like you to teach me the ropes, to show me how you run the household and help prepare me to run the house myself. You are the expert here, and I would appreciate it if you could teach me.”

  “So that you may take over my authority?” A half smile played at Lilith’s lips.

  “Neither of us can do anything to change the fact that Nicholas is Lord Barre. However much you think fate has dealt you a poor hand in that regard, it is simply the way things are. And I am going to marry him. I will be Lady Barre. However, I have no desire to push you out of the way.”

  “Yet you are doing it nonetheless,” Lilith responded sourly. “Do you think I don’t know how much pleasure it will give you to displace me?” The older woman’s eyes flashed. “I am sure it would be most gratifying to your mother to know that you are taking my place.”

  Juliana gaped at the other woman, taken aback by the venom that permeated Lilith’s voice. She knew Lilith had never liked her or her mother, but she had never realized the depths of the other woman’s dislike. Nor could she imagine the reason for it.

  Lilith took advantage of Juliana’s stunned state to rise. “If you are quite done humiliating me now, I am going up to my room.”

  She swept past Juliana and out the door, her back ramrod straight, her head high. Juliana followed her to the door, puzzled. There she found Crandall, leaning against the opposite wall of the corridor. He grinned when he saw her.

  “Not so easy taking over, is it?” he asked.

  “Do you make it a habit of lurking about listening to other people’s conversations?” Juliana snapped, her exasperation heightened by the sight of Crandall.

  “One hears such interesting things that way,” he replied, still smirking.

  “Your idea of interesting and mine must differ, then,” Juliana told him coldly, adding, “Aren’t you supposed to be going over the books with Nicholas?”

  “I’m sure that Nicholas can take over just fine without my presence.” He scowled. “I’m sure he’s happy to reap the benefits of my years of work. I was a damned fool to slave away all these years just so that bloody bastard could take over.”

  Juliana stiffened. “I will thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I offend your ladylike sensibilities? You can’t have too much pride if you’re willing to marry that snake just to get a title.”

  “You know as well as I that the snake in this situation was not Nicholas.”

  “I’ve been here working while he was out trotting all over the globe, haven’t I? I know all the tenants, all their children’s names. I know what every crop has been like every year and what profit we’ve made on them, what profit we can expect this year. But none of it’s mine. He’ll snatch it away from me like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

  Juliana could see the real pain on Crandall’s face. She could almost feel sorry for him…except for the fact that he was so filled with unreasonable hatred for Nicholas.

  “You have known all these years that Nicholas would inherit,” Juliana pointed out. “Yet you stayed on. Why?”

  “What else was I to do?” he asked, thrusting his chin forward pugnaciously. “This is my land! It’s all I know. Where else would I go? What else would I do?” He levered himself away from the wall. “The truth is, I hoped he would never come back. There are lots of opportunities for death out there in the world. With any luck, Nicholas would have met one of them.”

  He looked at her, his eyes so cold that they made Juliana shiver. She thought about what Nicholas had said to her last night about his uncle trying to kill him. She could not help but wonder if Crandall might not decide to follow his father’s example. Even though Nicholas had already come into the estate, if he were to die, the land and title would go to the next male in line, which was Crandall. What if Crandall intended to make sure he got what he had worked for all this time?

  CHAPTER TEN

  JULIANA SPENT the rest of the morning touring the house with Mrs. Pettibone. The housekeeper seemed intent on showing her every nook and cranny, from the cellars below the house to each and every room in the servants’ quarters. She also brought along her planned menu for the week and went over it in great detail. Juliana was not sure if such meticulous attention to detail was because Lilith had convinced Mrs. Pettibone that Juliana would be a strict taskmaster or because Lilith herself had maintained such a tight rein on household matters. Whatever the reason, by luncheon Juliana’s head was crammed with more information than she could possibly assimilate.

  “I fear it will be some time before I have everything straight, Mrs. Pettibone,” she told the housekeeper, smiling. “But until that day, I know I can rely on you to keep everything running smoothly. The house is obviously very well cared for.”

  Mrs. Pettibone beamed with pride. “Thank you, miss. You can count on me.”

  “Don’t worry about the menu. I am sure it is just the thing, and I certainly don’t want to disrupt anything. Especially with all the extra work the wedding will create.”

  “Don’t you fret about that, miss,” the housekeeper told her, with a decisive nod of her head. “The whole house is looking forward to that. If I may just say…welcome home, miss. We’re that glad to have you here again.”

  Juliana smiled. The kitchen staff had always been kind to her when she lived here, often sneaking her bits of food to take up to Nicholas when he had been locked in his room without supper, or sending her home with a cake for her mother.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Pettibone. I am glad to be here, as well.”

  Juliana decided that a good walk would be the thing to clear her head after all the information she had received this morning, so after luncheon, she set off for a walk to the village. She had just stepped off the front steps when she heard herself hailed, and she turned toward the voice, shading her eyes against the sun. Nicholas was striding across the stableyard, and she realized that he must have come from the estate manager’s house.

  “Nicholas!” She felt the now-familiar tug in her chest as she watched him striding toward her, his long, lean legs eating up the distance between them. His black hair glinted in the sunlight.

  “Escaping already?” he asked with a smile as he drew close enough to speak.

  “I was tempted,” Juliana responded. “Mrs. Pettibone has been showing me the house today, and I fear she must have found me a poor pupil.”

  “I feel sure that is not true,” he told her, coming to a halt in front of her. “Where are you off to?”

  “I thought I would visit Mrs. Cooper. She was our housekeeper, you remember, when I was young. She would be quite hurt if I did not call on her soon after we came back. She was most devoted to my mother.”

  He nodded. “I’ll come with you, shall I?”

  Juliana smiled. “I should like that very much. But do you not have to work?”

  He made a careless gesture. “I am through for the day. Blandings wants to take me around to introduce me to the tenants, but that will take the entire day, so we put it off until tomorrow. Perhaps Crandall will even deign to join us for it.”

  “He did not join you today?”

  Nicholas shook h
is head. “No. He was noticeably absent. Poor Blandings was most distressed, as though he thought I would blame him for Crandall’s poor manners.”

  “I saw him this morning.”

  “Who? Crandall?”

  Juliana nodded. “Yes. He was lurking about in the hallway while I was talking to Aunt Lilith. He is a very bitter man.”

  “I know.” He shrugged. “He has reason to be. He’s overseen the estate all these years—and as best I could tell from the state of the books and from talking to Blandings, he hasn’t done a bad job of it.”

  “I have to admit that that surprises me.”

  “It surprised me, as well,” Nicholas agreed. “I think he has a true love for the place…much more so than I, certainly. Still, there is nothing that either one of us can do about the inheritance. I can’t change the fact that it’s entailed or that I am heir to the title. I don’t want to displace him. I would not rip him from his home.” He paused, then added in an exasperated tone, “If only the damn fellow were not so disagreeable.”

  “Crandall makes it difficult to like him.”

  “I know. I thought that I would lay aside our past differences when I came back. He was, after all, only a boy then, and he had the poor example of his father to follow. Perhaps, as an adult, I thought, he might have changed, and if I ignored our past, then he might, also.” Nicholas shrugged. “But I can barely stand to be in the same room with him. And obviously he feels the same.”

  “I think he feels more than that.”

  Nicholas glanced at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

  Juliana hesitated, then went on. “Crandall worries me.”

  “Worries you?” He frowned, puzzled. “Why?”

  “I fear what he might do to you,” Juliana continued in a rush.

  Nicholas let out a short laugh. “Crandall? What could Crandall do to me? If you think that I could be bested by that drunken lout, I hate to imagine what you think of my fighting skills.”

  “It isn’t fighting I’m worried about,” Juliana retorted tartly. “I don’t doubt that you would win in a fair fight. But I see no reason to believe that Crandall would ever worry about fairness. He isn’t going to challenge you to a fight. But he could very easily shoot at you from a distance. He could arrange for an ‘accident’ to happen to you when you are out riding. Or—”