“That’s settled then,” Isobel announced, feeling somewhat wary at the ease of their success.
Amelia shook her head, unsure what exactly had just happened, but knew that it was wise not to ask too many questions in case Sebastian changed his mind.
The following morning, Amelia found herself leaving Tingdale with Isobel. The difference in departure from her leaving Glendowie was striking. Everyone had taken sumptuous breakfast in their rooms, after which Amelia, dressed in one of Isobel’s warm travelling dresses, was informed the carriage was ready to leave when she was ready.
Moments later, Amelia left the house with a small smile of thanks to a startled, yet clearly besotted Hodgkiss. Sebastian and Dominic were chatting amiably next to a resplendent carriage led by four matching bays.
“Morning.” Sebastian smiled when Amelia stared at his horse in something akin to horror. “That’s Bramble, he won’t hurt you.”
“Bramble?” she queried, with an astonished quirk of her brow. “He’s huge,” Amelia exclaimed, not knowing much about horses other than this one simply glistened with good health. By the way it was dancing around; it was positively bursting with energy. Suddenly she was so very glad Sebastian had suggested they should take the carriage.
“Peter and Edward have gone ahead to light the fires and open the rooms up for us. You have the food,” Sebastian added, dropping the step to hand the ladies into the carriage. “Dominic and I will ride alongside you.”
“Won’t that slow you down?” Amelia knew it would take several hours more in the carriage than it would on horseback. She noted the look Sebastian shared with Dominic.
“Go ahead, we can ramble at our own pace and meet you there.” She could sense the indecision between the two men.
“It’s alright; we can meet the others later.” Dominic shifted, clearly itching to get going, yet reluctant to leave the ladies.
“Go. Leave us alone. We will be fine. If you ride fast, you may be able to catch Peter and Edward.” Isobel pecked her husband on the cheek quickly, before jumping aboard the carriage. “Come on, Amelia, let’s go.”
Amelia fought the urge to smile as she climbed aboard, leaving the men standing looking somewhat befuddled.
As the carriage began to rumble down the long driveway, Amelia glanced out of the carriage and saw Dominic and Sebastian trotting alongside. Mounted, both men looked the epitome of arrogant masculinity, and very imposing.
Silence settled over the carriage as the women watched the men thunder past. Sebastian’s wave was accompanied by a cheeky grin as he swept by the open carriage window, before disappearing over a low slung wall, and heading off across the fields after Dominic.
Amelia settled back with a sigh.
“Boys will be boys,” Isobel muttered, studying her new friend curiously. “It’s nice to have another female to talk to.”
“I know. The men are very nice, but sometimes only a woman will do.” Despite their new acquaintance, Amelia felt a kinship with Sebastian’s sister-in-law.
“You love him, don’t you?” Isobel watched as a flicker of disquiet swept over her friend’s face. It vanished so quickly she wasn’t certain she had seen it.
Amelia didn’t want to offend Isobel, not when the woman had been so generous and kind to her, but felt she couldn’t lie. “I am a mere servant,” she whispered softly, aware of the frown of concern that stole across Isobel’s face.
“A servant? Are you sure?” The question was out before Isobel could stop it. She placed a gloved hand over her mouth quickly, and mumbled an apology.
Amelia smiled. “Yes, I am sure. I have worked as a housekeeper in the Scottish borders for the past two years. I was on my way home when I found Sebastian lying half-dead in the undergrowth.” Her gaze became unfocused as she stared out of the window, lost in memories of that fateful night. “I thought he was dead, but I knew from the outset he was aristocracy and not for the likes of me.”
Isobel knew instinctively there was something more Amelia wasn’t telling, and wondered how far she could politely probe without causing offence. “What do you mean, for the likes of you?”
“I am a servant,” Amelia repeated, not sure if Isobel had heard the first time.
“Yes, you said that bit. But there is something more.” Isobel settled back against the plush confines of Sebastian’s finest carriage, and frowned at Amelia. “You don’t talk or walk like a servant. You were bred for better things.”
Amelia felt colour stain her cheeks as she contemplated how much she should tell Isobel.
“I don’t want to pry, but Sebastian clearly thinks you are not a mere servant, or you wouldn’t be here. He would have ensured your safety, servant or not. But if there was any real doubt as to your suitability, he would have left you in the care of his housekeeper who would have kept you in the servants’ quarters. Or, knowing Sebastian, he would have furnished you with your own cottage on the estate where you could remain for as long as you wished.”
Isobel knew her brother-in-law well enough to know he was a man of decency and honour, and wouldn’t knowingly disgrace a servant. She had seen enough of the tender looks Sebastian gave Amelia to understand that there was real, deep affection between them. Whether she really was a servant, or not.
“Suitability for what?” Amelia asked, aghast at the thought that the household considered her his mistress.
“Well, as his wife of course,” Isobel replied, watching the flush of guilt stain Amelia’s cheeks. Knowing the Cavendish men, she supposed it was inevitable that Sebastian would follow in his brother’s footsteps, and not wait for the church doors to open before bedding the woman he wanted as his own.
“I cannot be his wife,” Amelia replied, shocked.
“Yes you can, my dear. Whatever your circumstance, you have the makings to be the most suitable wife for someone like Sebastian. The breeding is there, whether you admit it or not, and he considers you most eligible. One only has to see the way he looks at you to know that.”
“How does he look at me?” Amelia shifted on her seat, intrigued. She hadn’t been aware he had looked at her in any way other than as a mere annoyance. Well, aside from the incident in her room yesterday, when she was standing before him naked and still wet from her bath. The shock on his face was something that gave her a thrill of feminine delight, despite her embarrassment.
“Like he could drag you off to bed.” Isobel ignored Amelia’s shocked stare, and continued unabashed. She was pleased Amelia wasn’t offended at discussing such intimacies. “You must know he cares about you deeply. I know him well enough to know that he holds you in high esteem. The way he watches you, when you are in the room together, is decadent. He positively eats you alive with his eyes.”
She didn’t add that it was the same way Dominic looked at her when he wanted to take her to bed.
Amelia’s heart clenched in her chest with a mixture of longing and dread. She shook her head sadly. “He doesn’t love me. He might desire me, but it isn’t love.” Amelia’s voice trembled at the last.
“Believe me, Amelia, unless Sebastian had every intention of keeping you, he would not have brought you home with him,” Isobel announced, grasping her friend’s hand comfortingly. “He may not admit it outright just yet, but he will.”
Amelia shook her head. “We have slept together, but I won’t be his whore and I am not worthy to be his wife. He deserves better.”
“Have you murdered someone?” Isobel murmured softly, unsurprised when Amelia shook her head. “Are you already married?” When Amelia shook her head again, she patted Amelia’s hand before releasing it.
“Then unless you have some fatal disease, you are most eminently suitable for Sebastian. He just has to admit his feelings to you.” Her eyes caught and held Amelia’s. “The Cavendish men don’t succumb easily. I had to be practically dead before Dominic declared his feelings for me.”
“Dead?” Amelia murmured weakly, looking at the healthy glow of her friend opposite. She
couldn’t imagine Isobel looking anything less than stunningly beautiful.
“Sit back and relax. We are going to be a while, and I have a story to tell you,” Isobel said, and settled back to recount the events of her own tumultuous journey to happiness with Dominic.
“Where the hell are they?” Sebastian slammed the front door shut again, and stomped back towards the library with a fierce scowl on his face. “They should have been here hours ago.”
“They are in a carriage,” Peter reasoned, shaking his head at Sebastian’s clear devotion to the mysteriously alluring Amelia. “It is going to take them longer to get here as they are coming by road. Just relax, Hughes is driving. He is the most experienced coachman in the county. They couldn’t be in better hands.”
Despite his words, Peter knew he was talking to himself. Sebastian was busy pacing around the room like a caged lion, muttering dire imprecations to himself for allowing the ladies to travel alone. Dominic had taken to staring moodily out of the front windows, watching the drive avidly for any sign of movement.
Dominic understood Sebastian’s tension. He knew Isobel well, and her penchant for going gung ho into dangerous situations. He could still remember the palpable fear he had felt when they had searched her uncle’s house in the middle of the night. She hadn’t seemed all that perturbed by the experience, while he had been left a quivering wreck.
If Amelia was anything like Isobel for her adventurous spirit, heaven knew what they were up to.
“We’ll give them half an hour. If they are not here by then, I’m going out to look for them,” Dominic declared, already planning the lecture he would give his wayward wife the next time he saw her.
“Here they are,” Edward exclaimed with a sigh of relief, when the coach turned into the driveway. He briefly considered making himself scarce while Dominic and Sebastian berated the women for their, well, lateness? Shaking his head, he was only glad he hadn’t got a troublesome female to tie him into knots.
Dominic and Sebastian had already left the house to stand at the top of the steps to wait for the carriage to pull to a stop. They practically bristled with masculine fury.
“Missed us?” Isobel asked with a careless smile, ignoring her dark scowl on her husband’s face. Nudging the step down with an elegant foot, she stepped out of the carriage, dragging the huge basket of food with her, which she deposited with a thud at her husband’s feet. “Be a love and take that inside, would you? We have more.”
She moved away as Amelia emerged from the carriage, dragging another heavily laden basket with her.
“I only put one basket into the carriage this morning,” Sebastian snapped, not willing to let go of his worry until he had them safely inside. With the door shut and locked tightly. With him holding the key.
“We stopped off in the village. It was market day, so we bought some more fruit and some wonderful game pies. They smell just heavenly,” Amelia replied, still astonished at the veritable feast Isobel had casually purchased in the village. She was certain they had bought out most of the contents of the food stalls there.
Copying Isobel, she pushed the basket at Sebastian, who immediately relieved her of the heavy burden and followed her as she swept inside without a care.
He wasn’t sure whether to be angry or bemused. He had been worrying himself until he was practically grey, and she had been on a shopping expedition for food they didn’t need. He should be angry for the stress and worry she had caused him.
But a small voice inside reminded him of the dire way she had been living. He really couldn’t find it within him to begrudge her, if she wanted to sample the delights of a well-stocked food basket. There must be foods in there that Amelia had not had in years, if ever.
His worry simply vanished as he dropped the basket beside Dominic’s equally large burden. Instead he watched the ladies remove their cloaks, discussing which rooms they would open, and which dust sheets they would remove.
“Come on then,” Isobel commanded as she marched towards the main staircase beside Amelia. “Let’s get some of the bedrooms ready, and then we will eat while we plan where to start the search.”
Like a general marching to battle, she motioned towards the stairs leading the group of bemused men, who followed her without question.
Together they opened five of the bedrooms, just enough to be habitable overnight. The dust sheets had been removed and fresh sheets put on the beds, before candles were replenished and water jugs filled.
“There,” Isobel announced proudly, as they emptied the last of the baskets onto the kitchen table. There was enough food to provide them with a veritable feast for the next few days. Amelia had never seen so much food in all of her life.
“Let’s eat.”
They had decided to eat around the kitchen table where it was easier to clean up, and they could leave the food out until morning.
Amelia remembered she hadn’t eaten since an apple in the carriage, many hours earlier. She tucked in to a piece of pie hungrily, closing her eyes as the delicious flavour of the meat and gravy exploded in her mouth.
While she had learnt to cook passably for herself and Sir Hubert, nothing tasted better than food cooked well, by an expert. As she swallowed the delectable pastry, she slowly ran the tip of her tongue around her lips in search of crumbs and stray gravy, before slowly taking another bite, her eyes still closed.
Sebastian sat mesmerised, his own food forgotten in his hand as he watched her. He was aware of the silence that had settled over the table, but couldn’t drag his eyes away from the sensual onslaught of watching Amelia savour her pie. He knew she had a sensual side to her. Despite her newness to making love, she had willingly given herself over to sensual bliss time and again. He just hadn’t realised how naturally sultry she was. Without trying, apparently.
She simply had no idea what she was doing not only to him, but to every other man around the table.
Reluctantly he dragged his gaze away from her pink tongue and alluring lips, to glance at Peter and Edward who were blatantly watching the siren-like display with rapt attention. Even Dominic wasn’t immune as he watched, transfixed, as Amelia took another bite of her pie.
He jerked and coughed uncomfortably when his wife nudged him with a scowl. It was enough to snap everyone out of their trance.
Including Amelia, who opened her eyes and looked down at her plate, completely oblivious to the effect she had been having on the male occupants of the table.
“Pie nice, Amelia?” Sebastian asked, his voice husky with arousal. He almost groaned when Amelia’s lambent green gaze met his, and she smiled in supreme delight.
“It’s wonderful,” Amelia replied, her voice soft. “I had forgotten how nice meat pie was.”
Sebastian almost groaned as she took another bite, immediately lost once more in the delicious food. He had never seen anyone enjoy their food as thoroughly as Amelia. It made him realise just how deprived she had been over the past few years. Despite the aching of his erection, couldn’t resent her enjoyment.
He would just have to watch where he took her out to dine when they were married, Sebastian thought ruefully. Or else, he would have to take his sabre whenever they left the house. Shaking his head, he turned back to his own food, glad when the meal was over.
Earlier, they had each chosen a room to search. After a few instructions from Sebastian, they set off to carry out their allotted tasks.
Amelia was searching the study. It was a relatively small room, sparsely furnished but comfortable. According to Sebastian, it was Benedict’s favourite room in the entire house.
She decided to start at the window in the far corner and move inwards, across the room. It felt slightly uncomfortable, poking around someone else’s house, even if they were dead. The only consolation was the thought that if something was found, it could help capture the man responsible for injuring Sebastian so brutally.
She wasn’t certain how long she had been searching, but the sun had long since fade
d when she approached the door, frustration gnawing at her.
“Find anything?”
She squeaked and whirled in surprise as Sebastian appeared silently in the doorway. Her hand rose to cover her thundering heart, and she tried to calm herself as she eyed his masculine length. How did he manage to move so silently?
She shook her head regretfully. “Not a thing. Just papers and books. Lots and lots of books,” she murmured, glancing back at the room. “Are you sure this isn’t the library?” She had tried to leave it as she had found it, but it was hard to tell with all of the heavy tomes lying everywhere.
Sebastian chuckled, thinking of the room he had been allocated. It had been crammed from floor to ceiling with every kind of book imaginable.
“Nope. We have yet to search the library. That is something requiring all of us.” He smiled at Amelia’s low groan, and fought the urge to slide his arms around her. “Have you seen the others?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Edward appeared.
“Nothing in my room either. Peter is nearly done and hasn’t found anything yet,” Edward reported, shaking a fine peppering of dust off his jacket with a sneeze. “’Scuse me,” he mumbled, his voice raspy with dust.
Sebastian took hold of Amelia’s elbow and gently guided her down the corridor towards the dining room, looking inwards as they passed, to find Dominic regretfully shaking his head.
“Isobel?” Amelia queried, as the lady in question poked her head out of the morning room, wiping a speck of dust off her cheek.
“Nothing in here either.” Isobel shot the room behind her a dour look, closing the door with a firm click and a sneeze.
“The library it is, then.” Amelia’s voice held a tinge of reluctance that Sebastian quickly picked up on.
“If you are tired, why don’t you and Isobel call it a night? We can search in the morning,” he murmured softly, eyeing the dark circles under Amelia’s eyes with a frown.
“No.” Amelia shook her head. There was no way Sebastian was going to pack her off to bed now. “I’ll help search with the rest of you.” With that, she pushed the sleeves of her dress higher on her elbows and, after receiving instruction from Sebastian, set about searching her corner of the library.
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