by Alexia Praks
Christine nodded her head in understanding. But then there was no way Betty was going to win since she, as well as everyone else, knew that Merrick was in love with Lady Anne and would soon ask her to marry him. There was simply nothing Betty could do to win.
Betty took a deep breath and said, “I want you to help me get rid of Lady Anne.”
Christine’s eyes widened. “What? You can’t do that, Betty. ’Tis truly out of the question. You just can’t kill someone, especially if that person is Lady Anne.” Christine shrieked, thinking that Betty was truly mad. However, Lady Anne truly deserved some punishment for hurting Merrick.
“Wait, Master Chris, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is play tricks on her. Show his lordship what she truly is like. Do you get what I mean now?”
“What do you mean, play tricks on her?” Christine asked, still confused but relieved at the same time for it was not murder Betty was thinking about.
“What I mean is we make the earl see that Lady Anne is a spoiled brat. If we play tricks on her, she would probably show her spoiled behavior, and then perhaps the earl wouldn’t love her anymore. Do you see what I mean now? Please, Master Chris, you have got to help me,” Betty begged.
Christine stared at Betty. Then she smiled and nodded her head, her eyes glinting.
Betty breathed a sight of relief. “Thank you, Master Chris, you are a lifesaver. Now that we are agreed, our plan must start immediately.”
* * *
“Merrick, you are back,” his cousin called out.
Mr. McNaught jumped up from his seat and advanced toward Merrick.
“Ah, my lord, been to see your tenants, have you? How good of you. I hardly ever go to see mine. I suppose that’s why they don’t like me,” he chuckled.
“Paying attention to your tenants’ problems and solving them creates a kind of trust, Mr. McNaught. How was your journey, by the way?” Merrick asked.
“Hot and very uncomfortable,” the older man grumbled.
“Traveling is always uncomfortable for you, dear, when you don’t have your damn brandy with you,” Mrs. McNaught snapped. “I assure you, my lord, this man is going to die early, and I won’t pity him one bit.” She laughed, her croaky voice rumbling along as her large bosoms bounced up and down.
“How are you, Mrs. McNaught?” Merrick greeted, extending his hand. She slowed her laugh and placed her plump hand on his palm. He bowed his head and brought her hand to his lips.
“Your Hall, if I may compliment, is very fetching, my lord. I must say, your way of fashioning the Hall is completely different from your father in style, though, such beautiful taste, very modern indeed,” she said, nodding her head.
Merrick smiled. “It was not me who fashioned the Hall, Mrs. McNaught. ’Twas my ward, Chris Smith.”
“Really?” The woman raised her brows. “Well, I must tell him of his good taste when I see him.”
Merrick saw Mrs. Vander and her daughter heading toward them. He bowed and extended his hands toward her. “Welcome, Mrs. Vander.”
The woman curtsied to him and placed her hand into his palm. He lifted it to his lips, kissed it, and turned to Amelia. “Ah, Amelia, how are you, my dear?”
The girl gazed up at him shyly. She placed her hand into his, and he kissed it. “I’m very well, my lord,” she said.
“Very good. I do hope you will enjoy staying in my home.”
“I am sure I will,” she commented. He nodded in agreement and advanced toward Alex and Mr. Vander sitting on the sofa near the window.
“My lord, it has been a long time,” Mr. Vander said, standing up and slapping the younger man on the back.
“Yes, it has,” Merrick replied.
“My lord.” Alex stood up and nodded his head in acknowledgement.
“Alex, how are you? Oxford going all right?” Merrick asked.
“Yes, my lord, it is going very well,” Alex replied, smiling at the man he so admired in both intelligence and looks.
Merrick turned toward Mrs. Anderson and her niece, Miss Green, sitting on the sofa. “And how are you both?” he asked, extending his hand first to Mrs. Anderson. She placed her hand into his, and he kissed it. He then turned toward Miss Green. He stared into her pale blue eyes and smiled.
She smiled back at him, feeling breathless. It wasn’t everyday that a handsome earl smiled at her. This was once in a lifetime, and she took full advantage of it. Her smile was radiant. She slowly placed her hand into his, and he kissed it. “I hope you too will enjoy staying here,” he said.
“Why, indeed we shall, my lord,” she told him, finding it difficult even to breathe, let alone think of what to say.
Anne, who was sitting on the other side of the room, didn’t like the way Merrick was paying too much attention to a mere Miss Green. She was jealous. She walked to them, intending to cut off their greetings, which in her mind were going on far too long already. Once she was beside Merrick, she hooked her arm under his.
Merrick turned from Miss Green to see Anne beside him. He raised a brow. “Did you have a good time picnicking today?”
“Oh yes, very much.” She stared down at Miss Green, and her eye and expression clearly warned Miss Green to leave Merrick alone. Miss Green saw that look and understood as clear as crystal. Anne smiled. Victory was on her side.
“But,” she continued sweetly, “it wasn’t that much fun. Nothing much was happening. It was rather boring, really. Oh, if only you had been there, my lord, it would’ve been much more fun,” she moaned.
“Yes, Merrick, you’ve made the ladies quite disappointed,” Maximilian said.
“I must say, my lord, your garden is very beautiful indeed,” Mrs. Anderson said, looking out the window from where she sat.
“I do agree there,” Mrs. McNaught put in. “Perhaps we could have a picnic tomorrow in your garden. I’m sure that will satisfy everybody.” She looked pointedly at Anne.
“Ah, a picnic tomorrow. That would be wonderful,” Allan commented, clapping his hands together.
“Picnic tomorrow it is, then.” Merrick nodded in agreement, eyeing Maximilian, who raised his eyebrows at him. “Perhaps the ladies would like to freshen up before dinner?”
They all agreed, and once the room was quiet, Merrick took a seat opposite his friend. He was sipping his wine when Maximilian said, “Honestly, Merrick, are you testing your future bride’s love?”
Merrick nearly choked on his wine. He wiped his lips and said, “What are you on about?”
“Why are there so many young misses in your house? Merrick, you’ll make your future bride jealous,” Maximilian warned.
“That’s a load of nonsense. I haven’t proposed to Anne yet.”
“Not nonsense, my friend. They’ll kill each other for your attention. Believe me, I’m the top rakehell in all England. I know how women behave when they are together and trying to win an earl—a very rich one at that. You are the grand prize, Merrick. Trust me. Why do you think Maria is here in the first place? I’m sure she is in the competition, too.”
“How do you know of all this?” Merrick asked, eyeing his friend.
Maximilian stretched his back. “I know,” he said. “Just wait until tomorrow, Merrick. That’s when the real competition begins.”
“What’s this about a competition? The race, was it?” Allan asked as he came to sit with them.
“Yes, a mare competing for a stallion,” Maximilian said.
Allan chuckled. “You mean a horse-racing competition?”
“And you, Allan,” Maximilian said, looking at Allan pouring himself a glass of whisky. “Which one of those girls is to be your bride?”
Allan shook his head. “No, Your Grace. None of them, I believe, is going to be my future bride.” He turned to Merrick. “Not until I get my fortune first with the new factory I’m planning to build.”
“What factory is this?” Maximilian asked.
“No factory just yet,” Merrick said, got up, and strolled out the door.
TEN
They were spending a very long time talking, Anne thought angrily. She chanced another look at them. Lord, they were standing outrageously close to each other for her taste. She didn’t like the way Maria was hovering around Merrick. She had better do something quickly before this went any further, or her chance of marriage to the earl would be in jeopardy. Purposefully, she got up and strolled toward them.
She said, “Oh dear, I do hope I’m not interrupting your very earnest discussion, my lord, Lady Ferguson?” She smiled innocently and stole Merrick’s arm from Maria.
“No, indeed not,” Merrick replied. “Shall we, then?” he said and turned to Maria. “Later, Maria.”
She smiled and winked at him.
“What was the topic of your discussion, my lord?” Anne asked as they made their way back toward the others.
“Nothing important,” he replied, leading her to one of the empty seats.
“Such a lovely day, is it not?” Anne said.
“Yes, it is,” Merrick replied, reaching for the pie.
“How very fascinating. What are they doing, do you suppose?” Miss Green said, looking at five men carrying dead branches and buckets of dirt out of the muddy pond.
Merrick turned his attention to Miss Green. He saw her looking toward the east side of the estate. He looked in that direction, and indeed he saw five men, or rather, four big men and a slender youth, working. Merrick frowned when he saw Christine jumping into the pond and dragging a branch out that was far too heavy and far too big for her to carry.
The guests were at first very interested in what the men were doing. Merrick explained to them that they were cleaning the pond. They all agreed that it was going to look splendid. After a while they lost their interest, though Merrick, on the other hand, found himself glancing in that direction searching for Christine just to see what she was doing next.
“It is that Chris?” Max asked, his sharp eyes on his friend.
“Hmm.”
“How old is he?” Max leaned back and rested his weight on his elbow. He watched Christine wiping her forehead with her dirty sleeve.
“Fifteen or thereabout,” Merrick said, watching her as she grabbed a bunch of weeds and threw them beside her.
Max turned to look at his friend. He narrowed his eyes and said, “A bit small, don’t you think?”
Merrick did not drop his gaze as he said, “He’s malnourished, Max. Lady Luck is looking after him. I found his boss whipping him the day I came to Huntingdon Hall.”
“Ah, so the noble Merrick saved the day,” Max said, raising his brows. “Rather cute. That backside, too.”
Merrick turned to his friend. “Hell, Max! What in heaven are you on about now?” he growled.
The guests turned to look at him.
He smiled in their direction to assure them that nothing was out of the ordinary, and they returned to their conversations.
“Nothing. I just like your ward. Speaking of him, why is he helping them? Shouldn’t he be here with us?”
Merrick raked his hands through his dark hair. “Hell, I don’t know.”
But then how could he when he had been avoiding his ward ever since yesterday noon?
Max saw the distress in his friend’s eyes. He said, “Interesting,” and turned to watch Christine chat animatedly with a male worker.
“What’s so interesting there?” Anne asked.
Max stood up.
“Where are you going?” Merrick said. Max shrugged and walked off.
Jane said, “I think His Grace is talking about the servants working in that pond. I think he’s going to observe them.”
Anne said, “There is nothing interesting about—”
“Oh, I do think that it is very interesting indeed.” Jane turned to Merrick and said, “Will you accompany me to see what they are doing?”
“My pleasure,” Merrick responded and stood up.
Anne frowned. “Wait, umm, I shall accompany you, too, dear cousin.”
“If you will all excuse us for just a few moments,” Merrick said to his guests. They nodded back at him.
The three people ambled toward the east estate, where an enormous commotion was happening. Merrick was in the middle with the two beautiful women on either side of him. They made a very beautiful picture. The guests wondered which woman would win the earl’s affection in this round.
On the other side of the garden, Christine was busy dragging out dead branches from within the muddy pond. It was hard work, and her hands were now sore. Sweat ran down the side of her face, down her neck, and about her chest, which worsened her discomfort due to the binding.
She had found that she couldn’t bear just standing there and ordering them about without doing the work herself, as Mr. Sam had suggested she should do. Nay, she was a hands-on type of person, and so against Mr. Sam’s protest, she had jumped into the pond with her Hessian boots, wool breeches, and starched white shirt and started working alongside the men. Now she was dirty everywhere.
“You all right there, Chris?” Max asked, smiling with amusement as he watched her work.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she puffed out without looking round.
“I think you need some help,” he said. He came to stand right behind her and put both of his hands on top of hers.
Christine stiffened. “Oh, I think I’m all right,” she said and tried to push him away.
“Don’t worry. You look like you need some help. Now on three, and we’ll pull together,” Max suggested.
“All right then,” Christine said and nodded at the same time. She shifted herself from side to side to get ready.
Max said, “All right, here we go. One, two, three—”
“Chris! What are you doing?” Merrick barked. His shouting took both Max and Christine by surprise so that the force of their energy was more than they expected. The branch flew out of the dirt. The impact threw them backward. Max hit the dirty ground on his back with Christine on top of him, her back laying intimately on his chest.
“Hell, Max!” Merrick shouted again, and his cold voice caused the two women standing beside him to stiffen.
Christine looked up. She saw the bright blue sky above her. She blinked and tried to take it all in for the situation was very confusing to her. She had heard Merrick shouting at her. His deep voice had surprised her so much that she fell. And now she was lying on top of a man in this very unladylike fashion. Not that it mattered, of course, since she was, after all, supposed to be a male.
She pushed herself up and sat on top of Max’s hard belly. She looked up at Merrick. He looked like he wanted to murder somebody, and that somebody was most likely her. Then she saw Lady Anne standing beside him. The woman was staring down at her with distaste.
“Really, my lord, I see nothing of interest here,” Anne announced. She did not want to get her creamy pink gown, so new and so very expensive, dirty from these lowlife people—like the duke was doing.
“Explain what is going on here,” Merrick asked, ignoring Anne’s plea.
Max sat up. The action caused Christine’s bottom to slide into the crook of his thigh.
Merrick wanted to kill his friend. “I demand an explanation!” he boomed again, striding toward them.
Christine was confused about what they were supposed to be explaining. Max lifted her like a wee girl from his thigh and placed her in the dirt. Merrick fisted his hands. He wanted to punch his friend.
Max stood up then and stretched his back. “Merrick, I didn’t know you didn’t want the ladies to see us working like this. We were just trying to clean up the pond.”
“We?” Merrick snapped. “Where the hell do you come into this, Max? Since when did you become so helpful?”
“Hey, calm down, friend. I was just getting to know your ward a little better,” Max said.
“You’re dirty, Max. Get yourself cleaned up,” Merrick said. “Chris! Come here!” he commanded.
Slowly, Christine lifted herself u
p. By now, all her clothing was filthy. Her face was covered with dirt. She doubted that she looked anything like a human being—more like a monster from the dirty pond.
She came to him. “My lord?” she asked innocently. She did not look up at him. She would not dare do that. He would probably kill her with his stare.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I’m here to help clean up the pond,” she told him with her head bowed as she stared at her muddy Hessian boots.
“I don’t remember this being one of your duties,” he said sarcastically.
“It’s Mr. Sam. He came yesterday and wanted me to help if I was free. Well, I am.” She looked up then, and her eyes widened when she saw Max. “Oh, God, it’s you that helped me? I’m sorry, Your Grace. I didn’t mean to make you get all dirty. Honestly I didn’t.” She bit her lip.
“It’s all right, Chris,” Max said and laughed.
Merrick said, “This is no place for you, Chris. Go and clean up now.”
Christine just stared at him. Then she said, “But, my lord, Mr. Sam needs help.”
“No, Mr. Sam has enough help.”
“But, my lord—”
“’Tis not done, my lord,” Anne butted in, disgusted at the way Merrick was treated by his ward.
“Chris, I ordered you to go,” Merrick said.
“But,” Christine began and then shut her mouth when she saw the murderous look he gave her. What could she do? She did not want to go disobeying him, though it looked like she was doing just that. She had promised to help Mr. Sam. She was not going to go back on her word.
She glanced at Lady Anne, who was watching like she was already Merrick’s wife and the mistress of the house and she, Christine, was one of her servants who she really disliked. The woman looked beautiful with that creamy pink gown. Her golden blond hair was coiffured with curls high on her head, and her skin was flawless and clean. She glanced at Jane. She too was charming with her hair falling delicately about her shoulders. Her blue gown molded around her body snugly and beautifully. She was smiling at Christine, but at that moment Christine did not welcome it. In fact, she hated it. These women were beautiful and clean, not dirty like her. Suddenly, her chest felt very tight. Then she remembered what Mr. Sam had said about revenge. And then there was Betty.