Phillip glanced up. “What good does that do anyone?”
“It helps with planning things, like roads or buildings. It informs people of what the area is like. It can even help with planting certain types of crops. If you know the elevation of a hill, you know what you could plant there that might not get washed away by rain. There are many useful applications.”
Phillip started to nod, his eyes taking on a faraway look. “Should I do that to Heatherton Hall, do you think? My lord?”
It was the first time he had asked Lucas’s opinion on anything or spoken to him without suspicion or resentment. The question held weight for more than that reason. The child was thinking of his new responsibilities as baron. What six-year-old should ever carry such a burden?
Lucas’s heart softened. He’d been lost after his father’s death. It had taken some time, even with twenty-two years of training under the earl, for him to understand the running of things.
He had to answer as one landowner to another. Phillip did not trust him enough for anything more personal, though Lucas hoped he would one day. “In time, when you are ready to make improvements upon the land. If you would like, I will discuss the results of my surveyor with you to better inform your decision.”
Phillip nodded, meeting Lucas’s eyes. “Thank you, my lord.”
The boat was finished and the boy held it out.
Lucas held it up, examining it in the firelight. He turned it one way and then the other. The lines were good. “A sea-worthy vessel, I should think. As you make the spare, you must tell me exactly how you go about it.”
The tiniest of smiles twitched Phillip’s lips upward before he bent his head and went to work on the next boat.
His heart ached for the child. He would continue to study Phillip and one day, if he was lucky, they would be friends.
¤
“My lady? Oh, thank goodness I’ve found you.” Nurse Smythe, her graying curls hanging in frazzled clumps outside of her bonnet, was nearly panting as she spoke.
Virginia turned from her task in the still room, instantly alert. “Nurse Smythe? Is something wrong with the boys?”
The woman’s eyes were worried and her brows drew together. “There’s something wrong with me. I fell asleep, my lady, while they were playing quietly. When I woke up, they were gone. I have looked all over the top floor, and first, and the ground. I asked the upstairs maids to look and not a one of us has found sign of them. I was on my way to find you or his lordship. I hoped they would be with you.”
Virginia shook her head and bit back the reprimand that sprung to her tongue. It was hardly Nurse Smythe’s fault the children had gone wandering off. It was the first time anything of the sort had happened, and Nurse had been with them for years. The boys were likely somewhere inside the house, safe.
“Inform Gresham and Mrs. Hail. We will look until they are found, though it is nearly their supper time, so they ought to come looking to fill their stomachs soon. I will find his lordship to see if he has any idea where they might be.”
Perhaps they found the secret passage he told them of?
They could be playing quietly somewhere just out of sight, though if they’d heard people calling for them she thought they would come out. Her boys had never been willfully disobedient before. But Phillip had been acting less like himself of late.
Virginia went directly to Lucas’s study, kicking up her skirts as she went. Though she didn’t run, as a lady never did, Virginia moved at a rapid pace. She knocked on Lucas’s door smartly and waited. When no answer came, she knocked once more before opening the door and peeking in. She had only glimpsed his domain once, during the initial tour of the house.
His study was different from what she expected. The curtains were thrown wide, revealing tall, broad windows overlooking the front lawn and drive. The furniture was upholstered in rich red, cream, and gold patterned fabric, and his desk was dark, burnished walnut wood. He had shelves full of ledgers, and an enormous marble fireplace took up half a wall.
The room lacked one important thing, though. The earl was not within.
Virginia bit her bottom lip and stood, thinking of where else she might find her husband. She went to the bell pull in the room and gave it a tug.
Scant minutes later, a footman appeared.
“My lady?” He didn’t even appear surprised to see her there.
“Good afternoon. I am sorry, your name—?”
“Dorval, my lady.”
“Dorval. Do you happen to know if his lordship had any appointments this afternoon? I thought to find him here, but I may be mistaken in his schedule.”
“He went out a quarter of an hour ago, my lady, with Lord Heatherton and Master Edward.” His face remained straight and proper, but the man’s eyes smiled. “They took paper boats with them, my lady.”
“Paper boats? Thank you, Dorval. That will be all.” He bowed and left the room, but Virginia lingered. She went to the window, noting the world outside remained as gray in the afternoon as it had been that morning. What natural light came in was not bright. The rain had been unseasonably cold when it came, their days of sunshine were few, and none of the winter things had been entirely packed away yet. Had the boys remembered their coats before going out?
She turned her back on the window, to leave the room, when a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.
Chapter Twelve
The boys shrieked with pleasure, the cold rain pelting down on top their heads. Lucas laughed with them as they ran up the hill to the house, all getting a good soaking despite their coats. Edward toppled, halfway to the house from the stream where they’d successfully tested the boats, and landed in a muddy patch of earth.
Phillip stopped running and turned to help his brother. Lucas hurried forward too, reaching down to take Edward’s arm. The boy looked up at him, his face covered in mud, and in an instant they were all laughing again.
Edward wiped his soiled face with an equally filthy hand, managing to smear everything around even more. Phillip howled with laughter.
“Let me help.” Lucas reached his now-muddy hand into his jacket and drew out a handkerchief, but Edward bent out of reach to scoop up a handful of muck.
Before Lucas could halt the action, Edward lobbed the mud at his brother.
It took him some time to get them both moving to the house again, and they were in a considerably filthy state. No matter. He would take them in through the back. The servants could fetch towels and as soon as they all stopped dripping they could go to their rooms for baths. The boys were in good spirits, and that’s what counted the most.
Edward sneezed.
I should see to it they both take lemon and honey. Lucas had a vague recollection of his nurse giving him a steaming, sweet concoction after being out in a cold rain. He felt certain the cook, Mrs. Grady, would know precisely what was called for.
They came to the servants’ entrance at the rear of the house, the rain still falling. Lucas pushed the door open and stepped inside, immediately enveloped by the warmth of the kitchens.
“Pardon me,” he said to the maids who froze in their work. “Could we have some towels fetched?”
Two maids left the room and the cook started giving orders. Kitchen towels were brought to them, a scullery maid went to work on Edward’s face and Phillip saw to himself. Downstairs maids rushed forward with flapping skirts and the boys disappeared beneath feminine ministrations. Lucas took a step back from them, but his shoe hit a puddle.
Lucas barely registered the slip before he found himself on the kitchen floor, staring up at the ceiling, his backside and head throbbing from impact.
The room went silent. Lucas groaned and closed his eyes.
He heard a footstep coming across the floor toward him, slowly and deliberately.
“Mary,” a calm, soft soprano voice said. “Please take the boys up to the nursery. Use the servants’ stair, please.”
Perhaps his fall was not the reason for such a d
ramatic silence.
“Yes, my lady.”
Lucas opened his eyes, meeting the gray skirts of his wife before letting his gaze creep upward. Her hands were clasped before her and her chin tilted down. Her green eyes glared at him, snapping like a crackling fire.
Why was she upset? A little mud never hurt anything. Weren’t boys expected to be muddied once in a while?
“My lady,” he said, still not moving. His head had begun to throb. “Good afternoon.”
“My lord.” Her mouth stayed set in a firm line turning down at the corners. “Might I have a word with you in private?”
He supposed he ought to move, but he had the feeling the room would spin the moment he was upon his feet.
“Of course, my lady.” He pushed himself into a sitting position and the world vibrated with the throb in his head. Lucas tried not to groan as he drew his legs beneath him and pushed upward, rising to his full height. The kitchen tilted but with a deep breath he was able to right it again. “Would the greenhouse suffice? I am still dripping, I’m afraid.”
Virginia turned to a maid and held her arms out, accepting a stack of towels from the girl. “It will do, my lord.” She turned and swept down the hall. Lucas followed, eyes on his wife’s rigid shoulders.
What had he done wrong? Her displeasure with him was obvious. All the staff would soon be humming with speculation on the subject of the conversation about to take place.
They walked through one marble-floored hallway to reach the door leading out to the expansive greenhouse. Virginia pushed the door open and stood aside, waiting for him to enter before closing it behind them. The humidity of the greenhouse, though not as warm as the kitchen, kept him from shivering.
Virginia took a towel from the top of her stack and offered it to him.
“Thank you.” He started drying his hair, moving carefully around the giant bump forming on the back of his skull. He watched her, trying to decide exactly what she was thinking. “You wished to say something to me?” he prompted when she continued to stare at him, her face unreadable.
“Nurse Smythe came to me in a terrible state,” she said, her tone even, her eyebrows raised. “Half the staff had already been searching the house for the boys before she found me. Then I went looking for you after the other half was alerted.”
Lucas’s hand stilled, the towel pressed against his neck. “Searching for the—? We weren’t gone very long.”
She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Lucas had the feeling she was attempting to hold her emotions in check, but why she was so distraught—
“My lord, no one knew where the children were. They left the nursery without permission. As they are quite young, and in a new home, and the grounds are expansive, the worst was suspected.”
That explanation made a great deal of sense. He brought the towel down and held it in both hands, meeting her eyes squarely. “I didn’t know they weren’t supposed to be out of the nursery. I found them exploring the house.”
“And then you took them out of the house,” she added, turning to drop the towels on a convenient bench. “Without telling anyone.”
He usually did as he pleased without telling anyone.
As she straightened again, her eyes still spitting fire, it occurred to Lucas for the first time that having a family meant more than giving them general security. The rules had changed, even for him.
Virginia narrowed her eyes at him. He had the feeling she disapproved of every aspect of his being at the moment. Did all women have the ability to project such exasperation, or was it a trait singular to mothers?
“You ought to take off your jacket. You are going to catch your death of cold.”
He looked down at the sopping, dripping material and sighed. The coat he’d left in the servants’ hall, but the jacket had suffered as well. He began to undo its buttons as he spoke. “I did not think taking the boys down to the stream and back would cause such a panic. We truly were gone only half an hour.”
“Half an hour is more than ample time for a person to worry,” she said, a trifle waspishly. “And by the time I realized the boys must be with you, it was raining.”
“You cannot hold that against me.” He slipped the jacket from his shoulders and tossed it onto the bench next to the towels. “We were in the middle of testing our boats, and it wasn’t a very cold rain. You should’ve seen them—”
“Edward suffers from croup.” The words snapped from her like a whip. “He’s had two bouts since winter. The weather brings it on, and then he cannot sleep for the coughing.” She picked up another towel and nearly threw it at him, her movements jerky and fast, but he caught it. “His throat is nearly torn to pieces.”
Croup. That was no small thing. Severe cases turned into worse infections.
“I’m sorry. I did not know.” What more could he say? The woman before him looked torn between anger and, he finally realized, fear. “It was thoughtlessly done.” He twisted the towel in his hands, uncertain what he ought to say or do.
Virginia raised her hands to her forehead, smoothing back her hair, then came forward to take the towel. He relinquished it to her, expecting she would storm away, perhaps. But instead she raised the cloth up to his face and wiped at his cheek, her eyes not on his.
“It is difficult to talk to a grown man when he’s covered in mud,” she muttered, scrubbing at whatever splotch must be on his face.
To Lucas’s further surprise, having her stand near him, even in the midst of her upset, caused an unlooked-for reaction. Every hair on his body stood on end, his heartbeat sounded loudly in his ears, and when he drew in a breath the air held the most heavenly scent. What was it? Some sort of fruit? Oranges. She smelled like oranges, bright and fresh. It must’ve been perfume. They had no oranges at Annesbury Park.
They should consider getting some.
She stepped back and examined him with a critical eye. Hastily he composed his expression to one that would not reveal his strange awareness of her.
“Better.” Virginia tossed the towel aside. “I understand we are not used to each other,” she said at last. “But I would ask that in future you please inform myself or Nurse Smythe if you plan an excursion with the boys. It will save us a great deal of anxiety.”
“What can be done about the croup?” That seemed to him the next logical thing to address, and hopefully it would take his mind off of the alluring scent of the woman berating him. “Should I send for the apothecary?”
Virginia shook her head. “No. I know what to do. Thank you.” She didn’t sound pleased about it. “I had better see to the boys and make certain they are behaving for Nurse.”
Lucas stepped forward, not certain what to say but wanting to stop her from leaving. “How did they escape her? They were with me for some time before we went out. She never came looking.” She must be concerned about the lack of attention to them, mustn’t she?
His wife stilled and did not turn around when she answered. “Nurse Smythe fell asleep. The last several days have been taxing on her.”
He frowned. He had provided the nurse with a maid to care for the nursery and assist with the boys. Of course, most nursery maids were young girls, usually no older than sixteen. “Have they? Are the boys giving her trouble?”
She turned at that, her eyebrows raised. “Of course not. She is only a little tired—it is all the change, I think.” He didn’t miss the defensive note in her voice.
Curious, Lucas prodded further. “Change is generally considered to be difficult on older people. She is getting on in years, I believe.” The woman had to have been around fifty. It wasn’t ancient, but it was a good deal older than any nurse he had met.
Virginia drew herself up to her full height, which would’ve been impressive if he still didn’t have her bested by a head. “Nurse Smythe has been with the family since my husband—” She stopped and swallowed, lowering her eyes though her chin stayed at a stubborn tilt. “Excuse me. Since my late husband was a boy. She is a
loyal servant and adores my children.”
Her husband Charles Macon. The man for whom she still mourned. He had to remember, no matter how wonderful she smelled, how enchanting he found her, she did not truly belong to him nor did she seem to think of him as her husband. It was part of their agreement, after all.
Lucas crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at her. “I didn’t say anything against her. Only what is generally observed in people of a certain age. If she has been with the family so long, perhaps it is time to consider a pension. The boys are nearing an age for a governess, aren’t they? Or a tutor?”
Her lips parted in surprise, but then her shoulders went back and she continued in her servant’s defense. “It was one little mistake, compounded by your thoughtlessness.” Her voice was raised, but it was not quite shouting.
His ire rose to meet hers. “And I apologized for that. It will not happen again. But perhaps while we are discussing thoughtlessness, whether it is mine or the nurse’s, we should also address yours.”
Her body stiffened. “Mine? What on earth have I done?”
“Your display before the staff was not appreciated.” Indeed, and he hadn’t intended to mention it at all. But he couldn’t keep himself from drawing her attention to it. “You spoke to me as if I was one of your children, due for a scolding. While I appreciate you waited to berate me in private, I would ask that you refrain from showing such marked disdain for my actions when we are in front of the servants. The new countess need not be seen brow-beating their lord in public.” There. He felt better for saying it.
For all of half a second.
Virginia’s eyes went wide and her face turned pale. “Yes, my lord.” She gave him the slightest curtsy before turning and fleeing the room, gray skirts swishing behind her.
The Earl and His Lady: A Regency Romance (Branches of Love Book 4) Page 10