A sudden, loud tapping noise on the top of the carriage drew Diana’s attention to the ceiling of the vehicle. “Finchely Common, my lord,” the driver yelled down.
The earl came instantly awake. He threw his hat into the corner of the coach and slid his hand into his cloak. Diana gasped loudly as he drew out a silver-cased pistol and checked the barrel.
“Expecting someone, my lord?” she asked.
“Never hurts to be prepared,” he answered cheerfully. “This particular stretch of road, while not actually very far from London, is a special favorite of several notorious highwaymen. They tend to be attracted to open, lonely places like this when deciding upon a vehicle to stop and rob.”
They waited for several tense miles; then the driver sounded the all clear. Derek poked his head out the open carriage window to assess the situation for himself and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, put the pistol beneath his cloak.
He gave Diana a roguish smile and asked, “Shall we open your hamper and see what wonderful delights Tristan’s cook has prepared for us?”
Diana shook her head in wonder, amazed at his ease with potential danger, his total lack of fear. She knew she would never come to any harm while he was protecting her. The only real danger she faced was of her own doing. If she wasn’t very, very careful, she would fall in love with the earl. And that would have been, by far, the most dangerous thing she could possibly have done.
Chapter Nine
The aroma of fresh-baked bread instantly assaulted Diana’s senses when she opened the wicker basket. “My goodness,” she exclaimed with delight. “There is enough food in here to feed Wellington’s army.”
The earl gave a small chuckle as he bit into the thick ham sandwich she handed him. “I spent several years with the good duke,” he remarked. “And believe me, we did not always dine on such excellent fare.”
“It was very kind of Cook to prepare all of this,” Diana said, daintily chewing on a chicken leg. “I shall be sure to mention it to Caroline and Tristan when I write to them.”
“Will you miss Caroline and Tris?”
“Yes,” Diana said. “They were very kind to me. And I did enjoy their company. It was harder saying good-bye to them last night than I anticipated. Poor Tristan. I’m afraid Caroline and I became rather emotional.”
“You two did seem to get on well together.”
“Surprisingly, we did,” Diana agreed, cutting a hunk of cheddar cheese and passing it to the earl. “After we got over an initial misunderstanding, we became most friendly. I must confess, however, both Caroline and Tris were nothing like I imagined members of the haut ton would be.”
“How so?”
“For one thing, they were very accepting of me, despite my rather bizarre situation. They weren’t snobby or pretentious or self-important. They have a deep and genuine love for each other, and they’re not afraid to express it. They are two rather extraordinary people.” Diana struggled awkwardly with the wine bottle, trying unsuccessfully to remove the cork.
“You sound surprised,” the earl said, reaching over and taking the bottle from her.
“They are gentry,” Diana said simply, shrugging her shoulders. “I had no notion of what to expect.”
“And what of me, Diana? Am I what you expected?”
“You, my lord,” Diana lied, “are precisely as arrogant, overbearing, and autocratic as I anticipated.”
Gleefully, she let him mull her comment over as she held out her empty glass. Derek filled it automatically, and she took a cautious sip, her eyes watching his astonished expression over the rim of her glass.
Diana searched again through the basket. Pulling out two freshly baked apple tarts, she handed the earl one. They continued eating in companionable silence as the coach lurched and swayed on the road. When they had sufficiently stuffed themselves, Diana put aside three generous portions of food, carefully wrapping them in separate linen napkins. She then insisted the earl pass the food out to his driver and coachmen.
“You want me to what?” he shouted, surprise ringing in his voice.
“I am sure your men are hungry, my lord,” Diana said. “There is plenty of food here. ’Tis only fair they receive a portion of it.”
“You are going to spoil them,” the earl grumbled, but he complied with her wishes. “I’ve never before met a lady so concerned about servants’ feelings.”
“It is hardly spoiling someone to offer him food,” Diana said. “I learned a long time ago a little kindness and consideration can do much for a person’s morale and self-esteem, no matter what his position in a household.”
“I cannot fathom that my cousin ever treated any of his household servants with kindness or consideration,” the earl stated. “And yet the staff continues to act as though they are still loyal to Giles instead of me.”
“I cannot imagine Giles being kind to any servant,” Diana said quietly. “During his brief visits to Cornwall he was most demanding of the staff, almost abusive at times.” His behavior had probably been a reflection of his feeling toward her, Diana amended to herself. She tilted her head and studied the earl. “If your household servants are surly with you, it is probably because they are wary. Demonstrate to them you are not like their former employer and they will come around.”
“Prove my good intentions to a group of servants?” Derek asked in an amazed tone.
“You misunderstand me,” Diana said. “Show them you are a fair man who can be trusted. Loyalty is earned, my lord, not purchased.”
Derek snorted. “You sound like an army officer.” Yet her observations made sense. He knew from experience that earning loyalty was the first and most important step he took when establishing a relationship with the soldiers who had served under him. Would it work with servants? “I don’t have much experience handling domestic matters.”
“What you really need is a wife, my lord,” Diana responded instantly. Almost without thinking she added, “Why have you not yet married?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. Diana averted her eyes at his critical stare, suddenly becoming fascinated with the buttons of her wool traveling cloak. What ever had possessed her to ask him such an intimate question? She felt her cheeks flush with color as she waited for his response, not sure what she wanted most: for the earl to drop the matter entirely or to answer her question.
“I almost did marry several years ago.” He gave a deep, self-mocking laugh. “The lady in question preferred another.”
“I can’t believe that,” Diana said softly.
Derek stared hard at her, wondering briefly if she was scoffing at him. “I can assure you it is quite true. He had a title. I did not.”
“I am sorry,” Diana said tentatively, her eyes fastened upon his face. “It was not my intention to cause you any distress by recalling unhappy memories.”
An expression of grief briefly crossed the earl’s handsome features, but it vanished so quickly Diana was not certain she had seen it. Derek gave her a philosophical smile.
“Never fear, Diana,” he said matter-of-factly. “That incident is all in the past and long since forgotten. I am fully prepared to fulfill my obligations to my noble lineage and the earldom. Naturally, I shall marry and produce an heir. I intend to start searching for a suitable applicant this coming Season.”
“Applicant,” Diana said faintly. “You sound as though you are hiring a servant.”
“Nonsense,” Derek insisted. “One must be practical when approaching the Marriage Mart. I will merely allow the information that I am in need of a bride to circulate among several well-connected matrons. After that, all I have to do is attend a few select social functions in order to meet all the eligible young misses. Once I find one who meets my requirements, I shall make an honorable offer of marriage to her father or guardian.”
“It sounds positively barbaric,” Diana whispered in horror. “So cold and calculating. Surely you are jesting?”
“I am quite serious,” he responded calml
y. “That’s how it is done. I think the worst part of it will be attending the balls and parties. They can be excessively boring. And lemonade and stale cookies at Almack’s is a trial. Can’t be helped, however.”
“You really are serious,” Diana said in amazement. Unable to stop herself, she added, “What precisely, if you don’t mind my asking, are your requirements for a wife?”
“No more than eighteen years of age, docile, biddable, reasonably intelligent, with a trim figure and a pleasing face, and if at all possible, unspoiled. I simply can’t abide tantrums.”
Diana shuddered involuntarily at the open expression on his face. He sounded as though he were listing the salient points of an item he wished to purchase, not a woman he wanted to marry. She realized he was being completely honest, and she was truly stunned by his attitude.
Diana give Derek a disdainful look. “What about her family background? And her dowry? Shouldn’t she have a large dowry?” Diana asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Minor considerations,” he declared, with a wave of his hand. “I have no need to marry for money, and a respectable birth is all I require.”
“What about her teeth? Shouldn’t she have sound teeth?”
Derek shot Diana a quelling look, but did not respond.
“It seems as though you have given this a great deal of thought, my lord,” Diana stated in a deceptively calm voice.
“Precisely,” he murmured, ignoring the harsh way she was staring at him. “I have decided it is best to approach these matters with a clear plan of action already devised. Therefore, I have created a list of the characteristics I find suitable in a wife. It will make the search much simpler.”
“Humph!” He sounded so damned smug. Diana felt her temper flaring.
“You appear a bit agitated, madam. I hope I have not said anything to distress you.”
Diana was silent for a moment as she fought to control her anger. “Agitated?” she retorted sharply. “Agitated? Yes, well—no, no, I am . . . disappointed. Utterly disappointed. I just cannot believe that you can be so cold . . . and arrogant . . . so smug and conceited.”
“I hardly think you are qualified to give me marital advice, madame,” he declared coldly.
Diana gasped loudly at the insult, overwhelmed with rage. “How dare you?” she said indignantly. “I know a great deal more about marriage than you think, sir. I know firsthand how awful . . . how painful and humiliating it can be when you are wed to the wrong person.” She was shouting at him now.
“There is no need to get so upset,” Derek bellowed back. “Marriages of convenience are an everyday occurrence.
“You are not talking about a marriage of convenience, my lord,” Diana said emphatically. “People marry for money, for power, for position, and, yes, in rare cases, for love. You are glibly spouting nonsense about searching for an applicant who meets your requirements as if you need only the temporary convenience of a wife until you can beget your heir. A wife, my lord, is also a woman with a mind and feelings of her own. She ought to be valued for the person she is in her own right, not treated as chattel or some kind of subservient creature to your passing whims.”
“Are you quite finished?” Derek grumbled.
“I had thought better of you,” Diana muttered sourly. “Truly, I had thought better of you.”
Silence invaded the coach for several long minutes. Finally the earl spoke. “I am sorry I have distressed your.”
“What?” Diana exploded, still too upset to listen.
“I said I was sorry,” Derek yelled loudly.
“soh,” Diana murmured, starting to feel a little embarrassed over her tirade. “Yes, well, I didn’t mean to get so . . . well . . . so—”
“Loud?” Derek asked.
“Emotional,” Diana said with a pointed look, her temper again flaring. “You reminded me a great deal of Giles just now,” she continued in a calmer voice. “You frightened me.”
The earl blanched visibly at her comment. “I think you may have picked up too many romantic notions living with Tristan and Caroline this past week.”
“The very last thing a woman in my circumstances can afford to do is to cherish foolish romantic dreams,” she told him with sober eyes. “That is one lesson I have learned very well.” She sighed deeply. “You, however, are more fortunate, my lord. Don’t be so hasty to throw away your opportunity for happiness with such a narrow-minded vision of women and marriage. It will be a mistake you will be forced to live with for the rest of your days.”
Diana turned her face to the window, effectively ending the discussion. Listening to the earl speak so coldly about finding a wife had shaken her. She was overwhelmed with sadness, thinking back on her own unhappy marriage, and her future looked no brighter. She would return to the security of her home in Cornwall and probably live out the remainder of her life there, alone. Her prospects for marriage were almost nonexistent, and her horrible experience with Giles left her unable and unwilling to open her mind to it, even if there had been suitors to consider.
Diana breathed a heavy sigh of regret and tried to shake off her gloomy thoughts. She curled up on her side, cushioned her head with her hands, and closed her eyes. Amazingly, she was able to fall asleep in a relatively short time.
As the coach pulled into a deserted innyard, Diana awakened and straightened up in her seat, stretching out her legs.
“We are stopping to water and feed the team,” Derek informed her, running his fingers through his rumpled hair. “Would you like to walk about for a moment?”
Diana nodded, and when the carriage came to a halt, Derek opened the door and swung down. Reaching up for Diana, he caught her at the waist and set her on her feet, enjoying the sensation of holding her tightly. She gave him a weary smile, but backed away from him as soon as her soft leather slippers hit the soil. They strolled leisurely about the deserted innyard, before Derek suggested they go inside for refreshments.
“How may we serve you this afternoon, milord?” the innkeeper asked, greeting them at the door.
Derek grasped Diana’s elbow, leading her into the inn. The taproom was deserted except for two laborers sharing a pint of ale together in one corner. Derek noted the general cleanliness and pleasant aroma of the room, and he decided the lack of customers was due to the hour, not the quality of service.
“I require a room for her ladyship to refresh herself and a private parlor, if you have one, where we can take some refreshment,” Derek announced in an authoritative voice.
“Oh, yes, milord,” the landlord replied as he bowed to them both. “We have a private parlor at the back of the inn. I’ll just light the fire to warm the room while my sister shows the lady upstairs.”
Turning away from the earl and Diana, the landlord bellowed loudly for his sister. She appeared shortly, a young, slender girl with a crisp white apron tied about her waist. She stood at the edge of the heavy oak bar, her hands on her hips. “How am I ever going to get my stew in the pot if you keep screaming for me, Harry?”
“Hush now, Gladys,” the innkeeper fretted. “We have guests. Show her ladyship to the room at the top of the hall, and then bring her up fresh water. Hurry up now!”
Gladys frowned at her brother, but followed his orders without further complaint.
Diana gathered up her skirts and followed Gladys up the stairs, where she was directed to a small but clean room. It was a far sight better than the conditions of the ten separate inns she had stopped in on her way to London, and Diana appreciated the neat surroundings.
She removed her cloak and smoothed out the wrinkles of her black gown. She was heartily sick of the garment, having worn it and her one other mourning dress exclusively for the past few weeks because she had been forced to abandon her traveling trunk in Salisbury with her broken-down carriage. Unfortunately Diana had brought no extra funds for purchasing new dresses while in London, so she was reduced to wearing these two garments continually.
Diana felt better
after washing her hands and face and brushing out her hair. She deftly rolled her blond locks into a tight chignon, securing it at the nape of her neck. She went back downstairs and stood uncertainly in the taproom until Harry spotted her and rushed over.
The innkeeper nearly tripped over a chair in his haste to reach her, and then he bowed and scraped his way toward the back of the room leading her to the private parlor. Diana brought her hand up to her mouth and coughed loudly to hide her grin. She noticed Harry had tied a freshly laundered white apron around his paunchy middle, no doubt to impress his wealthy guests. Diana decided she liked Harry. He might be a bit obvious in his desire to ingratiate himself, but clearly he was no fool.
As Diana entered the private parlor the earl’s back was to her, but apparently he heard her enter because he turned immediately. The innkeeper rushed away quickly to fetch their food.
“Harry is most eager to please. I fear he might fall flat on his face in his enthusiasm to prove his worth,” Diana said with a slight smile.
Then her breath caught in her throat as she took in the full measure of the earl’s appearance. He too had removed his traveling cloak, and the rich burgundy color of his waistcoat set off his coloring most attractively. His. cravat was simply, though faultlessly tied, and his golden buckskin breeches were tightly fitted, with his powerful leg muscles bulging through the material. He was absolutely magnificent, she decided.
“Do you mind?” Derek inquired politely, holding up a smoldering cheroot.
For an instant Diana thought he was chastising her for staring so rudely at him, but when she noticed the cheroot, she sighed with relief. “I don’t mind at all if you smoke.”
The earl paced the room calmly, puffing on the cheroot. Then the innkeeper knocked sharply on the parlor door. Without waiting for a reply, he entered, Gladys following close behind him. Harry carried a tray laden with numerous plates of food. He waited impatiently while Gladys laid down a fresh tablecloth, plates, cutlery, and glasses; then he swiftly arranged the food in the center of the table.
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