She wanted to wade into the cool water, but she also wanted to stay with her family. She didn’t want to let this moment go by. Here, in this time and place, everything was as it should be. There was no cold workhouse, no gossiping eyes, and no people to please all the time.
She turned on her side and felt the warmth of the sun. It was comforting and safe, and she snuggled in it.
Henry felt himself closing his eyes, but he wavered between being asleep and being awake. The moon had been low above him and the river peaceful beside him. He remembered having tea and being pleased with the day. Audrey Wakefield had come to see him. She had been so very happy with the cottage, though he remembered it as a tiny place with not much space to move about it. He guessed after what she had been through, it was more than she had hoped for. It was a place to call home for her small family.
Then there had been Della. He had not wanted to see the black-haired woman who had broken his heart. His dreams and life had been wrapped up in her eyes and face, and seeing her again had been unpleasant. Seeing Nanette as well had been trying.
He had never been overly fond of Nanette. She had wanted them to marry for the status it would give her daughter, but starting a new life with him meant Della was less under her mother’s thumb. All that had changed in France. Della had met another man, fallen in love, and broken off their engagement. That she wanted to reconcile now was too little too late. He could not. He could never trust her again. She had turned out to be frivolous and untrustworthy.
He felt something brush against his arm and looked to the left of him. Snuggled against his arm was Audrey Wakefield. He struggled to recall what had happened.
Then he remembered.
The Adam and Eve. He had too many whiskeys. Now they were lying in the grass at the Broads. He looked at her face. It was a perfect face. A soft face with blue eyes and lush lips set in an oval frame of perfection. He saw her arm was draped over his, and he moved his other arm to touch her.
His heart quickened. He was surprised to feel something for another woman after Della, but she was nothing like Della. Audrey was intelligent and had a strength that he had not seen often in a woman. When he touched her cheek, it was like silk. He felt himself spinning a little. How many whiskeys had he had? He couldn’t remember.
He looked back at Audrey. What would he give to taste those lips? He closed his eyes as his hand fell back to his side. The chaotic world was very quiet. The quietness seemed deafening. Perhaps he could dream of another place. A quiet place. Where he was the master and the woman by his side was Audrey. He fell asleep smiling.
Audrey blinked once and saw the grey light that surrounded her. She smelled the dewy green grass underneath her and looked up at the grey sky. She frowned. When she looked beside her, she saw Henry and gasped. She hadn’t meant to gasp loudly, but she did, and Henry woke as well. She pushed away from him and sat up.
“What’s wrong?” he said, sitting up as well.
“What’s wrong?” she echoed, a panicked tone to her voice. “Better to ask what’s right. I’ve been out all night and the Matron will probably sack me. I spent the night in the woods with a—a man!”
“Audrey,” he said, not realizing he should not have.
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.
He huffed in annoyance. “Well, you just said you spent the night with me. Should I still call you Ms. Wakefield?”
She shot him a sharp glance. “I’m glad this amuses you.”
He met her stare directly. “I’m not amused. I’ll speak to Matron.”
“No, thank you. That will do more harm than good.” She scooted even further away from him.
“Why is that?”
She grunted. “Because she’s already told me to watch myself. I don’t think she likes me befriending the other male staff and you especially.”
He frowned. “Why me especially?”
“Because you’re a board guardian,” she said impatiently. “I’m sure like everyone else she thinks I did something to get my job.”
He stared at her, clearly not following. “Did something?”
“You know what I mean.” She turned hot eyes to him.
“I don’t.” But he did.
“That I’m your mistress.” Her heart pounded at the words.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “That’s ridiculous.”
She threw her hands up. “Exactly.”
“Well, it’s not logical.”
She frowned. “Why isn’t it logical?”
“If you were my mistress, I wouldn’t give you the job at the workhouse, Audrey,” he said, purposefully using her name. “I would settle you somewhere with your own household and we’d make a different sort of arrangement.”
Audrey’s cheeks flushed warm. She pushed at his chest. “A different sort of arrangement?”
He rubbed at where she’d pushed him. “Ow. That hurt.”
“This is just so funny to you.” She glared at him. “I meant to be kind. Helpful. As you had been to me. I listened to your problems and wanted to help. And what do I get in return? A drunken night in the middle of nowhere with you and my reputation in shatters.”
“Audrey.”
She rounded on him. “Stop calling me by my first name!”
“Ms. Wakefield,” he said, and that sounded silly even to her. “No one knows we’re here. You go back to the workhouse. Tell Matron you went to see your family. You were homesick.”
“She’s not stupid.” If she were a child, she might have stomped her foot out of frustration just then.
“Tell her. And if you ever need me to back up the story, any story, I will.”
Audrey stood up and brushed off her skirts. “You’ve done one good thing for me. And I am appreciative. But every other time you seem to bring me bad luck.”
He stood up as well. “That’s rude.”
She smacked at the bottom of her skirt with perhaps a little more force than necessary. “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. I think it best we keep out of each other’s way.”
“You came to see me. Do you recall?”
Audrey paused. “So I did. It was a moment of happiness to share with someone about the cottage. It was foolish. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Henry tried to make her see reason. “Ms. Wakefield, we don’t need to be unfriendly. I obviously had too much to drink and too much on my mind. In the light of day, I’m a good friend to have.”
She stared at his earnest expression and finally relented. “Very well. In the light of day, should we meet, I will speak to you.”
“And when the moon is full, and I thirst for blood—I’m a werewolf?” he asked, deliberately being ridiculous.
Audrey stood there with her hands on her hips, saying nothing. “I’m going to head back now,” she said finally, her tone cold.
“Aud—Ms. Wakefield, I can walk with you a bit of the way. No one will see us here. No one is up.” He pointed out the still grey sky.
Audrey pondered his words. “Fine. But the minute we see anyone, we go separate ways.”
“Yes, ma’am. I wouldn’t want you to be tainted by my mere presence.”
“That’s the first thing you’ve said in some time that makes sense,” she said rudely.
“You’ve a harsh tongue,” he commented.
She met his stare, refusing to back down. “I use it when necessary.”
When they finally made their way to the small road, she turned to him. “I’ll walk back from here. When I find a cab, I’ll take it back to the workhouse.”
“Ms. Wakefield,” he said curtly.
“Good morning, Mr. Ryland,” she returned, leaving him to stand alone in the road.
Chapter Twelve
Matron folded her arms over her large bosom. She watched from her apartment window high above the workhouse as Audrey exited the hansom cab.
“Little slut,” she said under her breath.
She looked down at the anonymous letter in her hand. Not
hing could save the girl now. The writer claimed she had knowledge of the sexual promiscuity of Audrey and that Audrey Wakefield had been inside the Maids Head Hotel yesterday afternoon. She had been seen with a man. The letter had been hand-delivered, but the author of the note remained unknown.
Audrey’s days were numbered.
The Master would not tolerate such behavior and neither would the board. The Matron must place it before them and have her dismissed. She had thought the girl unsuitable and now she knew with certainty that she was a woman with loose morals and must be given the sack. She would not let this new information go by.
She had watched her flirt with Levi and Joseph, and now she had been out all night. It was the final straw.
Henry entered the large house and went upstairs to his room. Shrugging out of his jacket, shirt, and trousers, he went into the bathroom, which had been tailor-made to his specifications and included a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet with indoor plumbing. It had been a luxury but also a necessity.
He splashed water on his face and ran the water for the tub. When finished bathing, he wrapped himself inside his dressing gown and went to watch the sunrise over the river. It was his favorite thing to do in the morning.
He thought once more of the day before and how it had started so simply and ended so oddly. He had never thought that a day filled with law books and ledgers would end with him looking at the moon and falling asleep next to a beautiful woman with the grass beneath them.
He sighed. Seeing Della had been inevitable. Norwich had over eighty thousand people, and a great many of them were known to him through his work and his mother’s charities. But what he had not counted on was an afternoon and night spent with Audrey Wakefield and the feelings he had felt watching her. That had been most unexpected.
He had not thought to find another woman so alluring after Della’s betrayal, but Audrey was so intriguing, he found himself wanting to be near her. He hadn’t realized it before, but when she’d spoken at the club he had attended for her sake and then when he had visited the workhouse, he had sought her out. He was smitten. He must control himself and act the part of the dutiful guardian so he would not trouble her. He knew enough to know that.
He dressed for the day and, with light steps, went downstairs. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table with the newspaper.
“Henry,” his mother said, sounding surprised.
He glanced up. “Mother.”
“I didn’t hear you come in last night.” She lingered in the doorway, staring at him.
“Well, I did. I’m here,” he said.
She gave him an odd look. “I must go into town today. Do you need anything?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I must get a start then.”
“So, must I. Goodbye, Mother.”
Theodocia watched as her son practically skipped into the foyer. She took a last sip of coffee and followed him minus the skip.
Audrey had barely enough time to change her undergarments before class began. She raced down the hallway, breathing heavily as she entered the room. The day went by uneventfully, and she greeted Levi and Joseph at mealtime and then again at tea.
She saw Matron at her high table, and when they made eye contact, she thought she saw the old woman scowl. She sighed heavily. There was no pleasing the woman. As the end of the day rolled to a close, she received a note. The Master wanted to speak to her before supper.
She was excited. She thought it might be the news that she was being brought on full-time. When she entered the meeting room, he was waiting in his usual place behind his desk.
“Take a seat, Ms. Wakefield,” he commanded, and Audrey did as she was bid. “You’ve been with us less than a month.”
She clasped her hands in her lap, suddenly nervous. “That’s right.”
He studied her closely, and she fought the urge to squirm. “This was to be a temporary assignment. A sort of trial basis, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And in the event we found it didn’t suit, then that would be that.”
She met his cold gaze. “Yes.”
“I think we can agree it is not a good fit, and we will ask you to leave at the end of the month,” he said in an even, calm tone.
Audrey’s heart dropped. “Leave?”
He gave her an impatient look. “Ms. Wakefield, we have young girls here. Young girls that need someone to look up to.”
“I understand.” She thought she had been a good role model.
“We cannot have a woman in charge of the schoolroom who openly visit hotels in broad daylight.”
Audrey’s face flushed hot. “Hotels? I don’t understand.”
He sneered at her. “You were seen in the company of a man at a local hotel. That sort of behavior is unacceptable.”
“That’s not true,” Audrey stuttered, her heart beating heavily inside her chest.
“Indeed?” He raised a brow and picked up a piece of paper from his desk. “I have a letter here that states you were seen at the Maids Head Hotel. You were with a man. Is that a lie?”
Audrey swallowed. “No. But that’s twisting the way it was. I was having tea. It was innocent—”
He interrupted her sharply, no sympathy in his gaze. “Ms. Wakefield, please don’t embarrass yourself.”
A building sense of panic rose in her. “I took tea. Nothing more.”
The Master nodded. “Indeed. So, when the Matron herself saw you enter the grounds in the early morning of the next day, does tea normally take that long?”
Audrey desperately shook her head. “I went to visit my family. I was homesick.”
“Of course. At the end of the month, Ms. Wakefield,” he said firmly.
Audrey stood up abruptly, causing the chair to scratch loudly on the floor. When she turned, she saw the Matron enter with a smirk on her face. She passed by her, and when she was out of sight, she ran down the hall. Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t stop running until she was in the orchard. She fell at the bottom of a pear tree and covered her face with her hands.
When she felt a hand upon her shoulder, she shrugged it off.
“Audrey,” she heard her name on his lips.
When she looked up, she saw Henry’s handsome face, and she pushed at him angrily. “What do you want? Why are you here?”
His face was full of concern. “I’m here for the guardians’ meeting. I saw you run down the hall. I followed you. What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
She furiously swiped at her tears. “Well, don’t console me. This is all your fault. I’ve been sacked. And ask me why I’ve been sacked.” But she didn’t give him a chance and forged on. “I was seen in a hotel with a man. Guess who that was? And Matron did see me arrive this morning so she knows I was never in my bed. And I told Master the ridiculous lie you told me to tell about me visiting my family, and he all but laughed at me.”
He stiffened. “I’ll fix this,” he told her.
“No. Please don’t do anything,” she said.
“I must,” he said firmly. “You’re in this trouble because of me. I’ll tell them I saw you at the train station. That we spoke and you were headed to Kingsdown.”
Audrey wiped away her tears. “We can’t keep meeting like this. People will talk.”
“People talk anyway.”
She shook her head. “I mean it. If this works and I don’t get sacked, we can’t meet anymore.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets. “If that’s what you want.”
“I need this job. I need it for my family. You know how much this means to me,” she said passionately.
He stood up and pulled her to stand next to him. “I only ever meant to help you.”
“I know that.” She sniffled.
“I’ll make this right.”
“I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding, and someone has set out to slander Ms. Wakefield,” Henry told Cuthbert Meacham before the board meeting.
Tho
ugh Cuthbert ruled the workhouse well and with a guiding hand, he had the utmost respect for the Board of Guardians as the overseeing entity.
“How—how so, sir?” he said, looking uneasy.
“Yesterday afternoon, I was taking my mother to the train station. We happened to see Ms. Wakefield, who said she was homesick and was returning to see her mother and sister. We bid her a good journey and she departed,” he said, absently picking a bit of nonexistent dust of his pant leg.
“I—I see,” Master said, looking uneasy.
“She mentioned it was a last-minute trip and that she would return on the morrow.”
“She said that?” Cuthbert swallowed visibly.
“I saw Ms. Wakefield just now and she was in some distress. She said there are claims that she was at a hotel with a man. She can’t be in two places at once, can she?” Henry asked innocently.
Cuthbert’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “No—no, indeed, Mr. Ryland.”
“You and I are both men of the world. I think it safe to assume that some old biddy is probably jealous of Ms. Wakefield and is trying to get rid of her. Most un-Christian-like if you ask me,” Henry said, knowing Cuthbert was a man of virtue.
Cuthbert nodded vigorously. “Most—most un-Christian-like. You are correct.”
Henry hid his smile. “So, let’s have no more talk of anyone leaving. Also, I would like the Wisteria Cottage repainted and cleaned for Ms. Wakefield. Her family is coming to live with her at the end of the month, and she needs more room.”
Cuthbert nearly tripped over himself in his haste to agree. “Of course. I’ll see to it myself.”
Satisfaction ran through Henry. “Thank you, Mr. Meacham.”
When Matron learned of the cottage being given to Audrey and the fact that she was staying, she flew into a rage. She didn’t care that Henry was her alibi. She only cared that Audrey would remain.
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