by Heather Boyd
She glanced over her shoulder. He seemed to be taking a very long time to change and return downstairs. Had she missed hearing him? Had he slipped away to call on Mrs. Beck without saying goodbye? She glanced at his staff, curious about the way he really conducted his affairs when she was not around. “I understand Mr. Whitfield hosted a dinner recently.”
“Aye, he did. A successful affair it turned out to be.”
Mrs. Mills clucked her tongue. “Well, it would have been if not for—”
“Shh,” Mrs. Harrow hissed, glancing at Jessica and Mrs. Brown guiltily.
Jessica looked between the women. “What are you not telling me?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Mrs. Harrow promised.
“Not nothing. I’ve got my suspicions.” Mrs. Mills crossed her arms over her ample breasts.
“About what? Is this about Mr. Lewis behaving strangely toward Mr. Whitfield?”
Mrs. Mills shook her head. “He sees what’s going on, too.”
Jessica sat back in her chair, annoyed with them for dangling such a tiny scrap of information before her and not explaining. “Well if you’re going to remain cryptic about the matter, I think it’s time to take my leave.”
The pair protested, but Jessica stood anyway. She scooped up her shawl and draped it around her shoulders. “Ladies, thank you for a pleasant afternoon. Don’t get up. I shall see myself out.”
“It’s that new woman, the one living with the Napiers,” Mrs. Mills blurted out.
“Hush,” Mrs. Harrow warned.
Jessica turned back slowly. “Mrs. Beck?”
Mrs. Mills nodded even though Mrs. Harrow said nothing.
“What has she done?”
“She’s got her eye on him.”
The only gentleman Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Harrow had ever worried about was their own master. “On Mr. Whitfield?” she asked, just to be sure she had the right of it.
“Yes,” both said in unison.
“I don’t believe you’ve anything to worry about. He’s always said he would never marry.”
“Because of the way his father was with him,” Mrs. Mills grumbled. “Too hard on the boy, he once was.”
All the air released from Jessica’s lungs. She knew very little of Gideon’s life before her birth, but now that she considered it, Gideon never spoke of his father or with any sadness that he had passed away. Jessica sank into a chair slowly, ready to listen to the two women who might know more about Gideon than anyone alive. “Tell me.”
Mrs. Mills picked up a rag and scrubbed at a spot on the tabletop. “Punished unfairly, he was. Over nothing but some imagined slights. His mother was too timid. Afraid of her husband.”
“And now Mrs. Beck’s boys suffer the same tyranny under another’s hand,” Mrs. Harrow whispered, leaning toward Jessica. “It would stop, of course, if he married the mother. He’s a gentle man, our master. We fear he would do anything to spare a child so much pain again.”
Jessica gulped. She could easily see where the ladies’ imaginations were heading with this. “He’s a good man.”
“He’d be a good husband. A kind father if he but trusted himself not to turn out like him.”
Was that why he’d vowed not to wed? Why she’d never heard a whisper about Gideon courting until now? Jessica would never believe Gideon could be cruel, and she was about to say so, too, but she heard a heavy tread on the staircase and shushed the ladies quickly. She began to discuss the spices again as Gideon’s familiar steps slowly drew near.
Chapter 9
Gideon walked heavily toward the housekeeper’s chamber to announce his impending arrival. He could hear Jessica’s voice in the room and he did not want to disturb them. However, he did not pay his servants to sit around drinking tea all day with his neighbor’s youngest daughter.
He brushed his fingers along the familiar walls of his home as Jessica made gentle suggestions for improvements to his menu as if she were mistress of the house.
It always amazed him how concerned Jessica was for the comfort of others, but it wasn’t right that she fussed over him.
He headed into the kitchens and all conversation stopped. He looked about the room and inhaled the strong scents of Jessica’s purchases. “Forgive the interruption.”
Mrs. Harrow smiled. “What can I do for you, Mr. Whitfield?”
“Nothing. I was just on my way out.”
His cook started to get up. “We had just finished. Time to start your dinner anyway.”
“I’m dining out tonight.”
Mrs. Mills sat down with an obvious sound of displeasure. “Again?” she grumbled softly, although everyone in the room would have heard her.
“Dinner will be the usual time, Mr. Whitfield,” Jessica said quickly.
“You’re dining at Stapleton tonight?” Mrs. Harrow exclaimed. “I’ll let Mr. Lewis know to brush off your best suit early so you’ll not be late.”
Jessica rose to her feet. “I am on my way out now, too, so that is excellent timing.”
Jessica collected her bonnet from a hallstand while he stood watching. His arousal had thankfully subsided but his memory of it had not. “I’ll see you out then,” he suggested.
He waved to his housekeeper and gestured for Jessica to precede him outside. He would help her climb into his carriage and see her safely headed for home with her chaperone.
Gideon set his hat on his head as the Stapleton housekeeper joined them. “It’s a lovely day for a carriage ride, my lady.”
Jessica grinned. “Perfect, actually, but I think I should like to walk home instead of taking the carriage.”
Jessica was an energetic woman, and impulsive, too. He worried for her chaperone, who was getting on in years. “What of Mrs. Brown? Will you make her walk home, too?”
“Oh, no. I’ll send her back in the carriage with Mr. Lewis, if I may borrow him for an hour to drive her. Do you mind going home without me very much, Mrs. Brown?”
“Of course not, my lady. I know how you like to stretch your legs.” The housekeeper smiled warmly. “I’m sure Mr. Whitfield will see you safely home.”
Even when it wasn’t proper? After the events of today, it was even more wrong. However, the Stapleton housekeeper seemed to find nothing wrong with Jessica’s plan, and he was very puzzled by her agreement. “She is always safe with me,” he promised.
The housekeeper smiled warmly. “Good.”
Gideon saw Mr. Lewis on the far side of the garden, and when called for, Lewis was quite happy to comply with his request. He doffed his hat to Jessica and even smiled at Gideon, too, for the first time in weeks. Lewis promised to bring the carriage to Mrs. Brown if she would but wait a few minutes in the shade.
Gideon and Jessica left the housekeeper behind on a bench. He put his hands behind his back as they walked along. “Strange that. Mr. Lewis must be over his mopes at last.”
“I hope so, too,” Jessica murmured as she suddenly claimed his arm. “I have missed our walks.”
He had, too. Perhaps he should follow behind at a distance. However, she’d said Lord James had returned, and he could be loitering in the garden in the hopes of catching her alone. He would not like her to be surprised by the appearance of a fortune hunter while she was unguarded.
They moved beyond the first enclosure, taking the usual path toward her father’s estate. Jessica, wearing a sunny smile and full of excitement, glanced about happily. “How far shall we walk today?”
“You are walking directly home, young lady.”
She pouted. “There’s nothing improper about us walking about Stapleton together, and I need to talk to you. In private.”
“Oh?”
She rubbed her brow. “Giddy, I have a problem I can see no easy way to deal with.”
“There is no problem you cannot overcome, Jessica. You are a sensible, intelligent young woman. You know there is nothing that can stop you once you make up your mind. What is the problem, and we will figure out what to do about it?”
She stopped under the shade of an oak and rested her fingers on the trunk, remaining silent a painfully long time. “Rebecca says Lord James has likely come to propose a marriage between us, and I think she is right.”
He looked at her sharply. “You don’t like the idea?”
She looked at him and blinked. “Giddy, he’s so boring, and was obviously in love with someone else just last week. I saw him with Lady Hannah Alexander in London. I thought, like everyone else, they were in love. I never expected to see him here!”
“He’s from a powerful family.”
“His father is wealthy and a bully, I think. Lord James has pockets to let and depends on his father for his living. I suspect Lord Newfield has dragged him here to propose to me simply because he’s desperate for a large dowry and the connection to my father. Lady Hannah has only a small dowry, but her father is not so well liked. If Lord James’ desperation made him in any way attractive as a marriage prospect, I’d never feel this eager to escape my own home. Rebecca says I must refuse him the right way without offending his father, but I worry just saying so once will not be enough.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Rebecca supports your decision to refuse him?”
She nodded. “On this, she and Mother are on the same side—mine. But nothing they’ve said so far gives me hope that this will not cause consequences for Father later.”
He rubbed his hand across his mouth. “Short of being already engaged, I can only suggest being honest with Lord James. If he’s in love with another lady, as you believe, then he is probably equally unhappy to be here now. As a gentleman, he must accept your decision without argument.”
“But as a member of parliament, his father may find a way to punish my father later in some devious way.”
“You don’t like Lord Newfield at all, do you?” She was wise to fear parental manipulation. “What does your father say to do?”
She looked up at him. “Father says he loves me, and it is my choice who I wed. I just never thought my decision could affect him.”
He brushed his fingers from her shoulder to her elbow, wishing there was something he could do to ease her fears. “It shouldn’t be like this for you.”
“That is why I desperately need you at dinner tonight. I can’t fake another megrim for the third evening in a row.”
“Do you want me to monopolize Lord James’ attention for you?”
“You managed that very well at Christmas without me even asking you to,” she noted.
“I wasn’t aware I’d been so obvious.”
“Oh, I noticed, and I did not mind at all.”
Gideon had been justified at Christmas—Jessica hadn’t been out, and her father had wished for his involvement in keeping an eye on Lord James. “A bachelor with no interest in marriage has his uses.”
Her fingers landed on his arm. “I might need even more help than just having you step between Lord James and I tonight. I fear he’s actually becoming interested in our conversations about fungus now. He’s asking all kinds of questions that test my knowledge of the subject!”
“Well, that is inconvenient.” He considered what to do. Many lords were in need of funds and an heir, and the simplest way to remedy the shortfall was to marry a young lady with a large dowry from an impeccable family.
And Jessica had a dowry of twenty thousand pounds.
A clever man could do a lot with that level of funds at their disposal. An ambitious man could bribe the servants to look the other way and ensure Jessica had no choice in the matter of who she wed. He did not like to think Stapleton’s servants were so mercenary, but it wasn’t unheard of when there was a lot of money involved. The first time could be more than enough to land Jessica in a scandal she couldn’t escape.
Gideon stared across the garden, jaw clenching. He had always hoped Jessica would be pursued by someone who loved her. “Perhaps I could be of use—with the right incentive.”
“What sort of incentive?” Her gaze flashed to his, mischief shining brightly in her eyes. “I could pay you in kisses? Real ones, and not that clever trick you did with your finger on my palm.”
He shook his head. He’d walked directly into that trap all by himself. “How about you play the pianoforte after dinner instead? I haven’t heard you since Christmas. I have missed the sound.”
She nodded, but it was apparent his answer had disappointed her. “Then I will play for you all night if it keeps Lord James at bay. No duets. What would you like to hear?”
He smiled. “Any music that makes you happy.”
She smiled back. “I’ll play just for you then. I know your favorites by heart.”
“Done.” He would enjoy that—the music and thwarting a rival for her affections. He tried to lead her toward Stapleton Manor, but as had happened before, Jessica resisted and turned the other way.
“Jessica, where are you going?” He pointed in the direction she should be going. “Home is that way, or have you forgotten.”
“Please don’t make me go back yet. I will be cooped up with Lord James soon enough. I just want to walk a while more with you.”
Reluctantly, he nodded. Those odd desires he’d experienced earlier had not returned. Jessica was safe, and he wanted to put the troubling moment firmly in the past. He pointed to the path that would bring them back to Stapleton manor in a roundabout manner, past fields where Stapleton’s servants always toiled.
They would be seen together every step of the way.
Jessica stopped to speak to several of the oldest fellows, enquiring what they were doing and how they had been while she was away in London. There was a new man on the estate, and she asked the land steward to introduce them.
Gideon was not happy about that when he got a look at the great hulking fellow. The new man was young and obviously strong, arms and legs like tree trunks, and he towered over Jessica. And over Gideon, too, for that matter.
When the fellow looked upon Jessica with a lusty eye, that set Gideon’s teeth even more on edge. “Lady Jessica,” he said, raising his voice to interrupt. “You are expected back at the manor.”
“So I am. Goodbye, Mr. Sweet. We’ll talk again soon.”
Mr. Sweet? Ridiculous name. The damn man looked dangerous, especially around Jessica.
She rejoined him quickly enough but after a few steps, she looked back over her shoulder. “Goodness, he was impressive, wasn’t he?”
He looked back over his shoulder at the sweaty young man staring after Jessica like a hungry beast. He pinned the man with his darkest scowl until the fellow had the sense to look away. “Hard to tell under all that mud.”
“Strong, too.” Jessica chuckled. “The maids have been talking about the new man nonstop. I had to see for myself.”
Gideon stopped and his scowl returned, only this time directed at Jessica. He definitely didn’t like the idea that she was admiring the servants on her father’s estate. “If you dare say you fancy him…”
Instead of being chastened, Jessica gaped at him—and then doubled over and peeled with laughter. He stood awkwardly until she recovered, wiping her eyes. “Never in a thousand years, Giddy.”
Apparently, he’d completely lost his mind today and overreacted yet again. “Forgive me.”
“Mr. Sweet has a sister living with an aunt in the next village. The aunt hasn’t very much to live on, and the girl is of an age to take up a position. To begin to learn about her potential, I needed an introduction. He’s the head of the family and responsible for her. I’m hardly likely to fall into a swoon over someone I just met like the silly maids have done.”
Chastened, he looked away. “I should hope not.”
Jessica laughed again and clutched Gideon’s arm. “Giddy, there are days when I think you know me better than I do myself, and others when you don’t know me at all.”
Gideon walked on a few steps in silence, Jessica’s arm firmly curled about his. “About your suitor?”
“Lord James isn’t a suitor I want, Giddy
. When I came home, it was with the assumption that I had none.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Gideon anticipated that Jessica would release him soon, but she moved her hand along his arm, fingertips pausing at the inside of his wrist. They danced lightly over his pulse in the most maddening way. He stared down at where she touched him and gulped back a moan. “I’m sure you will not remain unmarried for long. When you return to London next year, who knows who you will meet then.”
“Did you ever doubt your decision not to marry, or did you always want to live alone?”
“I never really thought about it.”
Jessica squeezed his wrist and sighed. “You could change your mind.”
They were veering into territory he’d rather not speak of. He shook his head quickly. “I won’t. Not now.”
Jessica pressed her cheek against his shoulder suddenly, like she had when she’d been a child and scared during a thunderstorm. “I missed you,” she whispered.
Gideon bit his tongue rather than admit he’d missed her, too. He untangled himself from her grip regretfully—before Stapleton Manor appeared through the trees and anyone saw them nearly embracing.
Just as well he had, too. The duke was walking the gardens, speaking with a stranger just ahead. Lord James trailed behind, snapping off the heads of flowers while no one stopped him. “Is that Lord Newfield with your father?”
Jessica slid behind him as if trying to hide. “Yes.”
Gideon studied the gentleman strutting along at Stapleton’s side carefully. Older than himself, slightly portly with a booming voice that carried across the grounds. He turned his attention back to Lord James following behind. The young man slouched and displayed none of the bravado he had at Christmas. At Christmas, Lord James had exuded confidence as if he owned the world.
Perhaps his father was the one who owned him.
If that were the case, Lord Newfield was not a man Jessica should ever be related to. When they all stepped into one of the walled gardens surrounding the manor and disappeared, he turned to her. “I’ll escort you directly to the doors.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re here. After you go home, I am going to remain upstairs in my room until you return at dinnertime. I’m not giving them a chance to catch me alone tonight.”