“Not at all,” he answered back. “Only let me bid good day to your dear family, and we can set off in a bracing ramble.”
Nora followed the two gentlemen into the garden outside and they walked together to the shaded place where Lady Colbourne and Diana were primly attending to lovely embroidery. Nora had begun the day beside them in the same study of elegance, but as usual she had grown weary of the task early on and had turned to her paint box. Lady Colbourne had made more than a few comments about her briefness of attention, but when it became apparent that Nora had the capability of attending for a long period of time to her painting, the comments had turned into a sort of explanation to Diana about how very rarely painting was necessary in drawing room conversations. Nora found this difficulty with Lady Colbourne to be most perplexing, for in fact she thought that if she and the woman had met under different circumstances, they might have actually liked one another. Lady Colbourne was bright and interesting and had travelled rather extensively.
It seemed that her main objection to Nora was Gerard’s perceived affection for her, and perhaps if no such arrangement had ever been made, she and Nora might have struck up a friendship of sorts. As it was, she seemed to go out of her way to ensure that Nora understood her position in comparison to other young women of her status.
Today, however, nothing could take the shine off William’s arrival. He brought with him a delicious, light-hearted energy, and even Lady Colbourne was smiling with delight when she stood to greet him.
“How wonderful that you’ve come to us so soon, Mr Pembroke.” She gestured to the bench nearby. “Please, have a seat here in the shade.”
“We were actually just going out on a walk,” Gerard said with a smile. Nora looked at him standing so casually there in the warm garden, and felt again the draw to his handsome, elegant form and deep voice. He was so kind with his family, gentle even in the face of his mother’s occasional displeasure, and she found it one of the many things that drew her heart closer to his. She only wished, as she did often, that she knew what his feelings were in return.
She busied herself packing up her paint box as they exchanged pleasantries, but then William caught hold of her painting before she’d tucked it away and turned it so that Gerard could see it.
“You’ve a fine hand, Nora. I’ve said it before, but it seems you’ve captured these gardens very well,” William said with a smile. “Although I think you’ve added a bit more roses then are presently in season.”
Nora blushed and reached to take the painting back. “It’s set later in the summer, so the roses are appropriate.”
“No,” William kept it just out of her grasp. “I think Lord Colbourne would be interested in this, for it seems he features somewhat in the landscape.”
“Do I?” Gerard asked with interest, looking at the painting.
“Does he?” Lady Colbourne’s voice was a bit less interested and a bit more suspicious.
“Yes, right there in the corner window. You can see the form of a man standing there, and what other man would be in a painting of Holcombe but the proud lord responsible for the lands?” William pointed to the shape in the shadows. Gerard peered closely at the painting for a moment and then looked up at Nora with a carefully constrained smile. She felt she could see his amusement twinkling in his eyes, despite his propriety.
“Why, I’m honoured, Miss Pembroke.”
“You’re quite mistaken,” she said, mentally scolding herself for having indulged in that little detail. “That is not you at all in the painting. It is…it is Pierre.”
“The butler?” Diana asked innocently.
“Yes.” She tucked the painting into a bit of canvas. “I find he cuts an excellent artistic figure and knew that he would improve the painting.”
“The butler.” Now she could see a definite glint of merriment in Gerard’s eyes, and she realised too late that by lying about the painting she had confirmed his presence in it. “How inclusive of you.”
“Weren’t we going to walk?” she asked, flustered. “I suppose the servants could bring my paints inside and we could set off at once.”
“I suppose,” William said, “although you’ve still your painting smock and the blue in your curls.”
Nora was rather fond of William generally, but at this particular moment she felt she could have socked him a sound one over the face and felt no guilt whatsoever. Blushing terribly and feeling Lady Colbourne’s displeasure on the attention that had been drawn to her haphazard appearance, she untied the pinafore that had protected her white muslin and tucked some of the loose curls back into the gauze sash she’d wound around her head.
“Don’t you need a bonnet?” Lady Colbourne asked innocently enough.
“No, thank you. I’m quite satisfied and ready to set off,” Nora said, a bit too fiercely. She thought wryly as they walked away that her complexion could not be more damaged by the sun than it had already been by the blushing instigated by her brother’s teasing and Lady Colbourne’s comments.
They set off three abreast, Nora walking on one side of William and Gerard walking on the other, taking the path by the stream that they’d taken on their first day at Holcombe. It was a warmer day than it had been then, and after only a few minutes of exercise Nora already found herself grateful that she had bare arms and a bare head to catch the meagre breeze.
“How was your travel?” Gerard asked William as they wound their way down along the trail. “I know the way is not hard, but I saw that you came by horseback rather than carriage and that can be trying in the heat.”
“It was pleasant enough, although I’m more interested in discussing your return to Holcombe, if I’m honest,” William said. “How have your days been here? Have you set to right the problem with the estate?”
Nora felt her interest peaked. Since their return, Gerard had been careful to leave her and Diana and Lady Colbourne out of all the conversations regarding the estate. He was kind about it, but she could see him sidestepping topics regarding the land agent, the state of the tenants, and the fields. She had seen the way his face fell when they passed the empty cottages, and she could also see the droop in his posture and the set line of worry on his face after his meeting with the bank. She had many questions but did not feel that she had the right to ask them. And yet, here was William, ignorantly offering a place for Gerard to speak while she was still present.
She saw Gerard look over at her briefly, and expected another change of subject, but instead he cleared his throat and said, “It has not been going well, I’m afraid. Or, at least, I believe it will take longer than a few days to set to right the problems with this estate.”
William observed the glance exchanged in Nora’s direction and asked, “Are you quite comfortable discussing these things now?”
Nora held her breath and turned to look away so that Gerard might have the freedom to change the subject without indignity.
“I would like to hear Miss Pembroke’s thoughts on the subject as well as your own, if that’s what you’re asking,” Gerard said. “I have been reluctant to open the conversation up until this point, but I speak about you with these matters regularly, and as you have assured me many times that your sister’s education paralleled your own, I believe that her insight might prove useful.”
“You are correct in so thinking,” William said. “Nora has always had a sharp mind for creative solutions to difficult problems.”
“So sharp a mind,” Nora interjected playfully, “that she doesn’t take kindly to being spoken about in the third person.”
Gerard smiled softly at her, and she detected something gentle and tender in his eyes that made her heart beat a little faster. “My apologies, Miss Pembroke. Are you quite comfortable with me discussing matters of estate in your company?”
“Quite,” she said.
“Good, then I will be honest and say that I am at a loss for ways to bring tenants back to our property. Word of the mouldy seed has spread in the area, and i
n connection with my father’s death, I suspect people do not place much hope in the future of Holcombe. I fear that prejudice and preconceptions in this matter will be very dangerous to our prospects.”
William frowned. “People can be hard to sway when they’ve once got it into their minds that an endeavour is doomed.”
“Hardly doomed,” Nora interjected, wanting to protect Gerard from her brother’s blunt manner. “You have only had a setback, and it is my understanding that such things are common enough when you are managing an estate. I have no doubt that, while you see your father’s management as without issue, he had similar situations during his lifetime. There are things we simply cannot foresee.”
Gerard smiled. “You are kind, Miss Pembroke. Perhaps I am being a bit too hard on myself, but the fact remains that something must be done, and as I am the one responsible to do it, I must find a solution to the problems that are stacking up against us on every side before Holcombe loses face.” He turned to William. “I believe the first problem to solve is the issue of the tenants, so that I have people to work the land. I have already sent out to the docks to see if it is possible to get more grain, but the prices are dreadful.”
“Have you thought about a different output this year?” William asked. “If it is so expensive that buying seed is not an option, you could always focus your efforts on the animals. You have enough land, after all, that grazing would not be an issue. We’ve already had a very wet winter and spring and I don’t think we shall have an issue of drought again.”
Gerard nodded. “I had thought of that. Perhaps I will go into town tomorrow and see if there are any livestock at the auction that might be brought into our herd.”
“The tenants that left,” Nora mused thoughtfully. “Did you know them well? Do you know where they have gone?”
“I do know them. They were long-time tenants of my father, and in some ways, they are like family.” Gerard shook his head sadly. “I do not know where they have moved at present, however.”
“Doubtless someone in town would know,” Nora went on. “I think you should go to them and ask them to return before seeking new work elsewhere.”
Gerard looked at her in silence, a worried frown on his face. William shook his head. “You would not want to seem weak, Gerard.”
“He also would not want to seem proud,” Nora corrected her brother kindly. “I don’t believe you ought to go begging for their return, but I think that the main difficulty appears to be this trial atop the transfer of power between you and your father. Perhaps if you went yourself and spoke to them about your plans for handling the estate, they would have confidence that their needs would be considered even during this change of management.”
Gerard walked on quietly for a few moments and then nodded. “It is a good thought,” he said at last, “and one that I should have thought of myself. Tomorrow I will ride into town to visit the auction, and afterwards I will make enquiries about my tenants and see if arrangements can be made for them to return.”
They walked on together talking about numbers and yields and all the things that were unfamiliar to Nora but increasingly interesting. She was impressed to hear in person what she had already suspected: that Gerard was as capable a businessman as he was a lord.
Not only a refined gentleman, but a thoughtful caretaker of what had been entrusted to him. After having at last bridged the gap necessary to involve Nora in some of the conversations, he went on to ask her as many questions as he asked William, and at each answer he treated her with kindness and respect, giving credence to what she had to offer.
Nora had been raised with three brothers who loved and cared for her, but to have someone outside her family treat her with such honour for her opinions and education was new and a startling joy.
When the walk had ended and she parted ways with her brother and Gerard, she caught the latter’s eye as she curtsied and made her way into the house. He was looking at her rather intently, as though he was seeing her for the very first time.
Chapter 23
Nora Pembroke was beginning to monopolise Gerard’s thoughts when he wasn’t particularly careful about focusing on the estate. She crept in when he was walking alone in the gardens, talking details with his land agent, or tending to his mother’s interests. He found himself wondering where she was in the house, and when he was going to see her next.
He had always found her pretty, but now that he had a fuller knowledge of her intellect and wit he found her whole person to be somewhat intoxicating. Here in the country he had already seen her painting and horseback riding and love of the outdoors as a better frame for her free nature, but now he saw also that it brought out the responsibility and caution that she seemed to throw to the wind in London.
Her idea about the tenants had proved successful, for when Gerard had tracked the three families down in the neighbouring county, he found that none of the three had yet put down roots that they were unwilling to dig up again. They were all missing their long-time homes and grounds, and when they saw that the new Lord Colbourne was as responsible and creative as the deceased, they each in their turn agreed to come back for a year’s trial before setting out on their new journeys.
“A year is not very much,” Gerard said to himself as he walked away from one of the tenant homes a few days after they returned. He knew he would have to apply himself to the task of management at once to prove to the families that they had made the right decision in trusting Holcombe management.
He walked down the path away from the cottage and cut across a particularly lovely glen that was sheltered by tangled woods. At the far corner, he caught sight of a bit of white fluttering amid the woods ahead of him, and when he’d come down the trail at last he saw that it was Nora, dressed in a slim muslin gown, curled up with her back against a mossy tree and a small canvas in her hand.
She had not heard or noticed his approach in any way and was dipping her brush again in a small jar of water as he walked up. He stepped softly, observing her in a rare moment where she did not know she was being watched.
Her hair was loose around her shoulders. He had never seen it like that and assumed she had taken it down only under the assumption that she would be free of visitors. It was quite luscious and spread against the dark tree trunk gave the impression that she had emerged from the woods like a nymph herself. She was using watercolours today, drawing the brush lightly across her page and spreading a sort of green-grown magic along the forest floor in her painting. She bit her lip as she worked, and he felt his heart overcome by the sight of her innocence and beauty.
“Unaccompanied today?” he asked gently.
She started and looked up at him with a light laugh. “You frightened me, Lord Colbourne.” She made a move as though to rise, but he held out his hand and came to sit down beside her on the cloth she’d spread on the damp ground.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you, Miss Pembroke. Will you show me what you are working on?”
She had turned the painting away from him as he took his seat beside her, but now, with a pretty blush, she turned it back in his direction. He saw an unfinished forest scene that he’d witnessed a glimpse of before, but now he noticed for the first time that beneath the pale golden light she’d painted filtering through the trees, there were small bright people dancing about on the ground. They were tiny. Fairies, really. And as soon as he had made that connection, he saw that she had added gossamer wings that shimmered in the paint at their back.
“It’s childish, I know,” she said. “But Diana’s poem has me thinking of fairy things today.”
“I think it’s quite beautiful.”
“You mean that it shows some menial skill,” she said with a smile.
He didn’t like that she always assumed him to be thinking about matters of practicality. He shook his head. “No,” he said gently. “I mean that it is beautiful, skill or not. And makes me think about lands from a time gone past.”
A Baron Worth Loving: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 14