by Anne Herries
‘A likely tale!’ Mr Grant pulled a face and turned away as someone came into the room. ‘Thank God, dinner is ready!’ he remarked in a voice of doom.
‘I am sorry, my lady,’ the butler said. ‘Cook is not quite ready for you just yet—but there is a visitor…’
‘A visitor—at this hour?’ Lady Sheldon was surprised. ‘Who can that be?’
‘I hope I am not putting you out,’ a man said from the doorway. The butler stood aside and he walked in. ‘Lady Sheldon, Miss Sheldon…I sent you a letter to tell you that I was on my way, but it appears that you have not received it. I am so sorry to appear unannounced, as it were.’
‘Mr Knighton—Richard!’ Lady Sheldon went forward to meet her cousin, hands outstretched. She smiled at him as he kissed her on both cheeks. ‘How delightful to see you, my dear cousin. Please come and meet someone. I do not think you have met the duke’s heir—Viscount Sheldon, this is my cousin Mr Richard Knighton.’
‘Delighted to meet you, sir,’ Mr Knighton said, extending his hand. ‘Hester mentioned you to me, but to meet you is a great honour. May I welcome you to your new home. I hope that you are finding your feet, sir. It must have come as something of a shock to see this place.’
‘I was pleasantly surprised. It is large, but I had expected a much older house. This is not so very old as country houses go, I believe.’ Jared took his hand and shook it. The newcomer seemed a pleasant, well-spoken gentleman and his appearance could not have been more timely.
‘The main building is perhaps something over a hundred years, though the wings were added later,’ Mr Knighton replied. ‘As you say, it might have been worse—those Elizabethan mansions can be impossible to heat, so they tell me. My own house in Hampshire is very much smaller, but also more modern. If I were you, I should pull this place down when you have the opportunity and build something more modern.’ He saw Hester’s expression and smiled. ‘Yes, I know you love it, Hester, but you cannot expect the viscount to feel as you do.’
‘As a matter of fact, I believe it could—and shall—be beautiful,’ Jared said. ‘Most of the neglect is superficial and a master builder will soon rectify it. With some finer furniture and new curtains, it would be much improved.’ He saw Hester’s eyes widen and smiled. ‘It will take time, Miss Sheldon, but I think I can see the way to make it a much nicer place for all of us to live in.’
‘It will be yours to do as you wish one day.’
‘I mean to refurbish my own apartments first,’ Jared told her. ‘I intend to have my personal things shipped over from America.’
‘Then you do intend to stay?’ Mr Knighton said, his gaze narrowing. ‘I had thought it unlikely, but I am delighted for Hester’s sake—and my cousin’s.’ His gaze moved across the room, discovering, as if for the first time, that another gentleman was present. ‘Sir—I believe it is Mr Grant, is it not? We met once before in London, I think.’
‘Sir.’ Mr Grant inclined his head stiffly. ‘Miss Sheldon introduced us, if you remember. It was here, not London.’
‘Of course. How foolish of me to have forgotten. It is pleasant to see you again, sir.’ He crossed the room to shake hands just as the housekeeper came in to announce that dinner was served.
‘Ma’am, will you take my arm?’ Jared offered it to Lady Sheldon, who took it willingly, giving him a warm smile. ‘Shall we lead the way?’
‘Yes, certainly,’ she said. ‘I think you should take the chair at the head of the table, sir. Indeed, I have asked that it be set for you. Yesterday we left it empty as it is rightly your grandfather’s place, but he does not dine with us these days.’
‘If it is your wish,’ Jared acceded. He glanced at Hester, seeing that she had accepted Mr Knighton’s offer to take her in. Mr Grant was looking decidedly annoyed over it. He was certainly sulking about something and would bear watching. ‘I hope you are satisfied with the arrangements I am making, ma’am?’
‘I shall defer to you in all matters of business,’ she said. ‘I have never had a head for it, sir. Poor Hester has had to do it all since her father died and the duke became ill—but you will take the burden from her shoulders.’
‘I am hoping that she will continue to advise me,’ Jared replied in a voice that he knew would carry to Hester. ‘I have much to learn and your daughter knows everyone. In household matters she will continue as usual, I hope?’
‘Oh, you may rely on her good will,’ Lady Sheldon replied. ‘She has the good of the estate at heart, sir—as I am sure you know?’
‘Yes, of course, I never doubted it.’
Hester cast him a suspicious glance as she waited for her chair to be adjusted by her escort. Jared was doing the same for her mother, and he smiled at her as he made his way to the head of the table and took his seat.
The servants had begun to serve, starting with Lady Sheldon. However, they took the wine to Jared to approve, which he did after asking what vintage it was. Hester was fascinated to see his expression when he tasted it, because she could see that he did not particularly approve, though he did not dismiss it out of hand. She signalled to the butler.
‘Yes, Miss Sheldon?’ he inquired, bending his head to listen to her softly spoken words.
‘The better wines please, Mr Harris. We have guests…’
The butler nodded and went away. She knew that he had been reserving what few good bottles they still had for the duke’s use, but there was no longer the need. She had no doubt that the new viscount would make his own arrangements about stocking the cellars.
A few moments later, the glass at Jared’s side was replaced with another and a different wine offered in its place. He looked across the table at Hester, raising his brows. She gave him a cool nod, but felt a secret satisfaction as he tasted it and smiled his approval. He lifted his glass to toast her as the wine was served to everyone. Hester met his gaze, but gave nothing away. She was torn between conflicting emotions.
His decision to stay was both amazing and satisfying, because she knew that now he had made up his mind to invest in the estate he would do it well. The new cottages were a sign that he meant to leave nothing to chance. It was a stroke of fortune that she could not regret—and yet there was a small hurt inside her still. If he really liked her, thought anything of her, he would surely not have accused her of being uncaring.
His attack had brought her close to tears, something that happened very rarely these days. She was not sure why this should be and found that he occupied her thoughts throughout dinner.
She had begun to like him more than was sensible, and his outburst had been a sharp reminder. She knew nothing about this man. He might be anyone—anything, for a matter of birth was nothing. Jared had admitted to having had a gambling club—what else was there in his past that she did not know?
She had assumed that the attempt on his life must be something to do with his having become the duke’s heir, but why should it be? It could quite easily have something to do with another part of his life. Besides, she was almost seven and twenty, well past the first flush of youth. Now that he had accepted what he was, he would be inundated by invitations—and there would be endless match-making mamas with beautiful young daughters in tow. He was an attractive man and he clearly had a fortune at his fingertips, despite his early attempts to hide it. Once news of that got out, he would be able to take his pick of all the eligible ladies in London.
It was hardly likely that he would look at Hester for his wife. He had once said laughingly that they would suit, but he had been mocking her—pretending to go along with the need for a rich wife. Yes, he had been laughing at her all the time. Perhaps she had deserved it for attempting to judge him from the lawyer’s reports, but how could she have guessed the truth?
He had punished her for thinking him an uneducated hillbilly and she suspected that he had not intended to rescue the estate when he first came down to Shelbourne. Something had convinced him that it was his duty to restore the family pride, but she could not fool h
erself into thinking it was because of her. He had shown compassion for the poor and needy, and she respected his integrity. If she had liked him before he had shown his compassion, she liked him all the more now—but he had also demonstrated that he had a temper and could be harsh. On consideration, she decided that she did not like him the less for it, but she was not certain that she could bear to live in this house once he found himself a bride.
Lifting her head once more, she glanced towards Jared and found his eyes on her. His expression was so intent that she blushed and turned away to talk to Mr Knighton, who was sitting next to her.
‘Lady Ireland tells me she shall come down at the weekend,’ he told her. ‘I dare say you will be busy now that you have decided on the date for your ball.’
‘How did you know that?’ Hester asked. ‘I only wrote the invitations this morning.’
‘I did not know. I assumed it,’ he replied easily. ‘Did you not tell me that you were intending to have a ball quite soon?’
‘Yes, of course I did,’ Hester said. ‘I have an invitation for you. You will come, I hope?’
‘I was rather hoping I might stay until after the ball?’
‘Oh…yes, of course. I see no reason why not,’ Hester said, a little surprised that he should ask. ‘I know Mama will be pleased to have you.’
‘And you, I hope?’ he asked, smiling at her.
Hester recalled that she had felt he meant to propose to her in London and her heart sank. It was bad enough that Mr Grant should be determined on making her a proposal. To have to turn down two suitors would be so much worse.
For Hester, the remainder of the evening was something between a source of irritation and a source of mirth. It seemed that Mr Knighton had taken a dislike to Mr Grant, and the feeling was reciprocated. They both paid a great deal of attention to Hester, which she found unwelcome, but the expression in their eyes as they looked at each other was mildly amusing. She could not help suspecting that she was the reason behind their dislike of one another, and while she found the idea amusing that the two of them were behaving like dogs guarding a bone, she did not like to think that either of them was serious about courting her. Indeed, she could not understand it, because she was not an heiress and, now that the viscount had decided to accept his duties to the estate, there was no possibility of it ever being hers.
It was years since she had thought of marriage. She had received one proposal as a young girl, but had not liked her suitor, who was much older. Since then things had changed and she had put any girlish dreams she might have had behind her. To have not one, but two gentleman displaying their feelings was astonishing. She did wonder if she were making too much of their hints, but the signs were there and kept her restless for part of the night, though in the end she slept soundly.
The following morning when she went out for her usual ride, she found that Jared was still in the stable yard. She wasn’t sure that he was waiting for her, but at a signal from him one of the grooms brought out her horse already saddled.
‘I thought we might ride together—if neither of your beaux has made a prior arrangement?’
He had noticed it too, which meant she had not imagined the rather foolish posturing of her suitors the previous evening.
‘I would have refused them had they asked,’ Hester told him at once. ‘I enjoy my morning ride and I do not wish it to be spoiled.’
‘Shall you think it spoiled if I accompany you?’
‘No, as I do not imagine you are looking for the chance to make me an offer, Cousin Jared, and that is what I particularly wish to avoid.’
‘You do not find pleasure in being courted by two eligible gentlemen?’ Jared asked, apparently innocent, but with a gleam of mockery in his eyes.
‘No, I do not,’ Hester replied. ‘I cannot imagine what has got into their heads! I have no fortune and I am not a beauty. I cannot see why they suddenly wish to marry me.’
‘You may not be what society calls a “beauty”—if that is the correct term? But you must know that you are attractive, intelligent and lovely.’
Hester felt herself blushing under his scrutiny. ‘Well, I do not think I have improved greatly in the last eight years and no one has asked me to marry them in all that time—so why should they now?’
‘Has no one asked? What fools these English gentlemen must be,’ Jared said, but still with that mocking look that she distrusted. ‘Perhaps it is my arrival that has made them realise what they might lose?’
Hester accepted his help to mount, but refused to be drawn by his teasing. She glanced at him as he mounted his own horse. ‘What made you decide that you wished to stay?’
‘Do you wish for the truth?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘I do not like being shot at, for one thing. If it was meant to frighten me away, to perhaps make me give up my claims to this place, it was miscalculated. My second reason is more complicated. I find that I have some attachment to this place—these people. I suppose it was realising that if I did nothing a lot of people besides the family would suffer.’
Hester glanced at him as they walked their horses from the yard. She was a little offended by his plain speaking for clearly he had planned to leave the family to sink or swim alone, but the plight of the people who depended on the estate for their living had swayed him.
‘You are compassionate, sir. I cannot fault that, though I would hope you also have loyalty to the family. You are, after all, one of us, whether you like it or not.’
‘Perhaps…’ His eyes seemed to dwell on her face in a manner that made her look away. ‘I have little sympathy for a family who threw away all the advantages that birth and wealth had given them—but you have not had the advantage of wealth, I think?’
‘I have never been denied anything I wished for,’ Hester assured him swiftly. ‘I may not be an heiress, but I consider myself fortunate.’
‘Yes, I thought so,’ Jared said. ‘Shall we let these horses have their fun? I’ll race you as far as the lake, but we shall not go beyond—though I doubt another attempt will be made on my life while you are with me.’
Hester acquiesced and they both gave their horses free rein, galloping side by side over the turf. It had been dry and bright of late and the ground was hard beneath their horses’ hooves. She was a little anxious as they came near the lake, but nothing happened and they gradually slowed their horses, ambling back towards the house by another route. Apart from that first conversation they had hardly spoken until just before they returned to the stables.
‘Do you want me to send the pair of them packing?’ Jared asked, giving her a penetrating look. ‘I shall do it if they are annoying you too much, Hester,’
‘Oh, no, you must not,’ she said quickly. ‘Mr Knighton is Mama’s cousin by marriage—her only relative outside the Shelbourne family really. And Mr Grant…if Grandfather is prepared to accept his visits, then I must.’
‘I thought you would say that,’ Jared said, dismounting and coming to lift her down. His hands encircled her waist and he lifted her easily. She was aware of the power and strength of him as they stood close together for a few moments. Something in his look made her swallow hard, her heart seeming to pound against her ribs. He was so very masculine, so powerful! She had never met another man who made her feel this way. ‘But if you change your mind, just tell me.’
‘I am more worried about your safety,’ Hester confessed. ‘If that shot was a deliberate attempt on your life, it must mean someone wants you out of the way.’
‘I am aware of the problem, therefore the element of surprise has gone,’ Jared replied, his mouth thinning to a hard line. ‘I assure you that I am not as careless about this as you might think. I have set matters in hand, and I may have to go off to meet someone another day. Perhaps after I have my meeting we may know a little more about the situation.’
‘Oh…’ Hester’s heart caught. ‘Will you be away long?’
‘Perhaps only a few hours, perhaps
a day or so. Not long. I shall be here for the ball, and I have builders to see before that. Why do you ask?’
‘No reason in particular. I suppose I am getting used to having you around, cousin.’ Ridiculously, she was thinking that she would miss him!
‘Well, that is nice to know,’ he drawled. ‘I appreciate that, ma’am. It’s right nice to be appreciated.’
‘Oh, you…insufferable man!’ Hester retorted and walked away. He was impossible. He delighted in teasing her and she never knew whether to take what he said seriously or not! She was fermenting inside as she went up to the house. Her life had been so ordered, so sensible before he arrived, and now she hardly knew whether she was coming or going. It was all his fault for arousing feelings, sensations that she had never experienced or expected to experience. Before that kiss she had been willing to settle for what she had but since then…impossible, foolish thoughts kept coming into her mind. One of them was that she would rather like to be kissed that way again.
‘Ah, there you are, Hester,’ Mr Knighton said, coming to greet her as she entered the hall. ‘You have been riding. Had I known, I should have come with you—you never know who might be about. I have heard tales of a highwayman working in this area. I understand he is ruthless and will shoot anyone who dares to defy him.’
‘Oh, I doubt such a rogue would be on our land,’ Hester replied, giving him a sharp look. ‘He must know that the duke’s keepers would shoot or capture him if he was seen doing something he ought not on our estate.’
‘If they are not in league with him,’ Mr Knighton said. ‘I dare say he has friends who tell him about the routes wealthy visitors are taking—inside knowledge is always helpful to a man of that nature.’
