The Heiress's Homecoming
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“Then perhaps you would grant me a favor,” he said.
She arched a brow. “A favor?”
He lay his hand on her stirrup, gazed up at her with his best smile and was surprised to hear his heart pounding louder than when he’d seen her fall. “Allow me to ride with you. I’d like to apologize for my behavior last night and become better acquainted.”
* * *
It should have been easy to urge Blackie to a run and dash away, but Lord Kendrick’s face, turned up to her, was bright with hope. Those green eyes positively twinkled in the summer sun, as if being with her was the most delightful thing he could imagine. Besides, her hip was beginning to protest its collision with the ground, and she didn’t relish galloping at the moment.
“Very well, my lord,” she said.
Returning to his horse, he swung himself up into the saddle as if from long practice and eased alongside her. His dapple gray was a fine animal, with dark intelligent eyes and a ready step. She was certain he’d give Blackie a good run, if she’d have dared to race today. But perhaps she should try to remember she was a lady for a change.
Together they set off across the pastures toward Kendrick Hall. The air was still cool so close to the mountains, scented with damp earth and growing things. London never smelled this good. No country estate she’d visited matched the crisp scent either. She found herself drawing it in. It smelled like home.
“You’re certain you’re fine,” he asked again, as if noticing her deep breaths.
Samantha felt herself coloring. “I’ve taken a fall or two in my time, sir. There’s no need to fuss over me.”
Immediately she regretted the tartness of her words, but he merely smiled. “Habit. It seems I’ve grown a bit too much into the fatherly role.”
Just as Jamie was outgrowing it, she realized. She remembered how she’d had to accustom herself to her three guardians when her cousins had first arrived at Dallsten Manor on her father’s death. Lord Everard had kept his nephews in the dark about his wife and daughter. Certainly Samantha had never dreamed she had a family until her father had died and his will demanded that she work with her cousins to save her inheritance and theirs.
The will had required her to be presented to the queen, to be welcomed in all the homes who had refused admittance to her scandalous father and to garner an offer of marriage from three eligible gentlemen. One had been from her old friend Toby Giles, one from her cousin Vaughn and one from the brother of the man who rode beside her. Only one requirement remained, and she knew she would never fulfill it now.
“Still, there’s no need to apologize,” she told him as they crossed the stream, the horses’ hooves splashing in the sparkling mountain waters. “You were only trying to protect Jamie. I used to do the same thing when we were younger.”
He held the reins lightly, but his gaze flickered over her. “Did you?”
Could he not see her in that role? “Certainly. He was so cute when he was little, so earnest.” She smiled, remembering. “He would do anything I suggested. I had to be very careful, I promise you.”
He seemed to sit taller in the saddle. “And now you’ve returned,” he said, and something simmered in his warm voice. “But not to stay, it seems.”
The light of day made this conversation no easier than it had been last night. She said the lines she’d rehearsed. “I thought it was time I took a more active role in the summer party. It’s a family tradition, and it’s been years since I even attended.”
“So I understand. Eight, isn’t it?”
Did he think to upbraid her? She offered him a smile and said sweetly, “Less than the nine or more years you were away.”
He grimaced, a quirk of his gentle mouth that reminded her of Jamie. “Your point. I should be the last one to question why someone would want to leave Evendale.”
Or return. She knew why he’d come back, and though she was glad Jamie had been reunited with his father, the knowledge of the part she’d played was a weight on her heart.
“And how go plans for the big event?” he asked as if realizing she was too quiet. Her—quiet! How her cousins would laugh if they knew. She certainly had no trouble talking to anyone else, and she very much feared it wasn’t her guilt that was keeping her tongue-tied.
She could see Kendrick Hall rising ahead of them and directed Blackie to stop.
“Well enough,” she answered him as he pulled his horse up beside hers. “There will be a puppet show, a whirligig and more pies than anyone should safely eat.”
“And dancing in the evening?”
She blushed at his tone and wasn’t sure why. “Certainly, my lord. That is tradition, too.”
“And woe betide us for changing tradition,” he said with a chuckle. “As you did not favor me with a dance last night, I hope you’ll save one for me at the party.”
A dance? With him? Ever since her father had instituted the annual summer party, she’d dreamed of dancing. When she’d left for London, she had been too young, in her governess’s eyes, to participate. The party had been held the past eight years without her as she’d attended one house party after another, from Cornwall in the south to Carlisle in the north, all to fulfill the last requirement of her father’s will. She’d had to delegate the party to her housekeeper and Mrs. Dallsten Walcott.
Now at last and possibly for the last, Samantha was the hostess.
“I will certainly see if I can find time for a dance,” she promised. “But I expect to be very busy, my lord.”
He barked a laugh. “Well, that’s a leveler. I thought all young ladies wished to dance with eligible earls.”
Did he consider himself eligible, then? She thought every lady within miles must be setting her cap at him. Funny. Given his history she’d somehow considered him immune.
“I suppose they do,” she acknowledged. “But I no longer need to attach eligible gentlemen.”
“Then you have an understanding,” he said, and once again she was all too aware of his green gaze as he studied her. She had an understanding all right, but not of the sort he meant. She had come to the realization that marriage was not for her.
“Suffice it to say that I will not be marrying anytime soon,” she replied. “Thank you for your company, my lord. I should return home.”
He looked ready to protest, eyes narrowed, head high. Still he nodded a farewell, and she turned the horse. She tried to look as calm, but she couldn’t keep herself from looking back. Once more he was watching her leave, yet this time the determination on his face told her that he intended to learn her secrets, whether she wished it or not.
Chapter Four
Unfortunately the Earl of Kendrick wasn’t the only person intent on discovering more about Samantha’s personal affairs. She had barely reached Dallsten Manor and was heading for her room to change out of her mud-encrusted riding habit when Mrs. Dallsten Walcott met her at the foot of the main stair.
The house was much improved since she’d left, thanks to the vision of her cousin Jerome and judicious use of funds from her inheritance. Jerome had a reason to want to preserve the manor. He had fallen in love here with Mrs. Dallsten Walcott’s daughter, Samantha’s former governess, Adele. And Adele had been raised in the house, which had belonged to her family before hard times had forced them to sell to Samantha’s father. So it was no wonder Jerome and Adele shared Samantha’s fondness for the place.
In the past eight years the Everards had rebuilt the crumbling pele tower that stood at the north corner and added fine wood paneling to the lower half of many of the walls. They’d also augmented the formerly spartan staff with footmen, gardeners and maids of every variety.
Now their work was evident, for every wood surface gleamed, from the parquet floor to the banister on the elegant stair. Even the ancient wall tapestry of knights attacking a stag had been cleaned, the colors once more proud.
But never as proud as the lady standing sternly on the stair.
“Why am I not informed of your goings out?” Mrs. Dallsten Walcott demanded, face nearly as pink as her fashionable wool gown.
Samantha stifled a desire to stick out her tongue at the elderly woman who had known her most of her life. For one thing, the gesture was unkind—she knew how Mrs. Dallsten Walcott tended to cling to people and things as a way to stave off her fears of loneliness and poverty. For another, Samantha had entirely outgrown such childish displays, most days.
“It was only a ride,” she said, pausing below her chaperone and feeling a bit more like a schoolgirl every moment. “I didn’t think you’d wish to join me.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott put her formidable nose in the air and sniffed. “Certainly not. I never felt the need to pelt across the grounds willy-nilly like some hoyden.”
Like me, Samantha thought, but the appellation of hoyden merely made her smile. Truth be told, she liked the fact she felt free to race across the grounds. Lord Kendrick hadn’t minded either. He’d seemed genuinely concerned about her fall, of course, but he’d never scolded her for jumping hedges, even if the act was a challenging feat from a sidesaddle.
“If you have need of me, I’d be delighted to help,” she told Mrs. Dallsten Walcott, “as soon as I’ve changed.” She spread her skirts to emphasize the state of her disarray and a chunk of dried mud obligingly fell to the floor with a plop.
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott took a step back as if she feared the dirt would attack her. “I merely wish to congratulate you on your strategy and offer my guidance in achieving it.” She eyed Samantha’s riding habit. “You appear to need some assistance.”
Samantha dropped her skirts. “Strategy?”
“To marry young Lord Wentworth.” She wagged a finger at Samantha. “You may have the others fooled into thinking you’ll give away the manor, but I know better.”
Why would none of them leave her alone on the matter? It wasn’t their portions of the Everard legacy at risk if she failed to meet the last stipulation of her father’s will and marry before her upcoming birthday.
Her oldest cousin, Jerome, would keep the estate her father had left him, which had only grown more prosperous under his management. Her cousin Richard would keep his ship and the two he’d purchased with his inheritance. Cousin Vaughn had no doubt already spent the money her father had left him on the estate he’d been given when he’d been elevated to marquess. She was the only one who stood to lose—her childhood home and the bulk of the fortune. But better that than to risk her future or her very life.
Samantha pushed past her chaperone and started up the stairs.
“I am not marrying Jamie,” she flung over her shoulder. “And I don’t need anyone’s help.”
She said it loudly and with great conviction, but she might have been whistling down the wind for all the good it did. Mrs. Dallsten Walcott swept up beside her, keeping pace as Samantha stomped down the long corridor for her bedchamber, shedding more mud with each step.
“Certainly you need help,” the elderly lady scolded. “He’s a mere youth, true, but even young men can be clever about evading matrimony. And you only have a fortnight.”
Samantha paused beside the painting of Mrs. Dallsten Walcott’s father, who had a similarly unforgiving look in his eyes. “Madam, I refuse to have this conversation with you.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott folded in on herself, and her lower lip began to tremble. “Very well. I know you have no use for me even though I was your mother’s dearest friend and only confidante when your father abandoned her here for his other life in London. You needn’t heed my advice, although I’m certain I’ve only ever had your best interests at heart.” She slipped a lace-edged handkerchief from the sleeve of her gown and dabbed at her eyes.
Other women would have begged her pardon, rushed to assure her of her place in their affections. Samantha had known her too long. She put her hands on her hips.
“Crocodile tears will not move me, madam. I know where your loyalty lies—with this house and the name of Dallsten.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott raised her head, and as Samantha had suspected, no tears glistened on her soft cheeks. “And if that were true, would you blame me?” She flapped her handkerchief across the air. “How can you even consider giving all this away!”
The guilt threatened to overwhelm her. She was an Everard, and this was her home just as much as it was Mrs. Dallsten Walcott’s. She’d learned to read and ride here, lost a father and found a family. How could she let this house be sold to another?
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The guilt abated. She had to remember that Dallsten Manor was only a house. Its presence or loss only affected her and a few others. They would mourn, and it would be over. Marrying in desperation or out of any other emotion had the potential to hurt so many more people, and more than one generation. She knew that now.
She laid her hand on Mrs. Dallsten Walcott’s shoulder and was surprised how frail it had become. “I’m sorry. I know how much you love this house and how you’ve enjoyed living in it the past eight years while I’ve been gone. But I’m not marrying before my twenty-fifth birthday. Very likely, I’m not marrying at all.”
This time Samantha was fairly sure the water welling in her chaperone’s blue eyes was real. “But we’ll lose the house, all the furnishings, the paintings, the sculpture,” Mrs. Dallsten Walcott said, sucking in a breath as if the idea was too much to bear.
“All but the dower house,” Samantha agreed, the words like acid on her tongue. “You have the use of that in your lifetime, along with any family mementos you care to claim.” She leaned closer. “We both know how many of those the dower house can hold.”
A slow smile lit her chaperone’s face as she blinked back her tears. Samantha knew she was also thinking about the time, eight years ago, when Mrs. Dallsten Walcott had managed to cart most of the house’s valuables down to the dower house for “safekeeping.” Only Jerome’s diplomacy and Samantha’s offer to let the lady live in the main house again had made the woman feel comfortable in returning the items to their former places.
“Clever girl,” she told Samantha now. “I’ve always said so. I’ll need your help.”
Samantha straightened. “You’ll have it. Whatever you like, we’ll move it down to the dower house immediately, just as was agreed in the original deed from my father. I imagine you know exactly where to find all the important pieces.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott nodded as she tucked her handkerchief away. “I have the list in my head. I shall put it to paper, and we can start checking things off this very day. But you will need to forego our efforts tomorrow for tea.”
Hand on the latch to the door of her room, Samantha eyed her. “Tea? I don’t recall an appointment over tea.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott waved a hand. “The invitation came while you were out. Lord Wentworth has invited you to tea tomorrow at Kendrick Hall.” She beamed as if this was a tremendous honor.
Samantha raised her brows. “Reading my mail now, are you?”
Her chaperone drew herself up. “And how else am I to keep watch over you, young lady? There’s a reason Adele allowed you to come north alone ahead of the others.”
There was indeed, and it had little to do with the fact that Mrs. Dallsten Walcott was available to play chaperone for propriety’s sake. Adele was hoping the time alone at Dallsten Manor would make Samantha change her mind about marrying.
“I didn’t come ahead to play at tea,” she said. “We have work to do if we’re to have everything ready for the summer party in a fortnight.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott waved her hand again as if the effort amounted to nothing. “That is well in hand, thanks to all your work in the intervening months. You have done quite well in that regard, so you have no reason to avoid tea tomorrow. I have already accepted for you.”
Heat licked up her. It seemed no matter how old she was, her life was not her own. Well, perhaps it was time to make it her own.
“Since you accepted, you can explain why I don’t show up,” Samantha informed her chaperone, pushing open the door and marching into her room.
She thought the lady would wait to continue the argument until after Samantha had changed, but Mrs. Dallsten Walcott followed her into the bedchamber, ignoring the maid who came hurrying from the dressing room.
“But he’s the heir to an earldom,” her chaperone protested. “Surely you can see the benefits of such a match!”
The benefits were evident—the combination of their lands to provide a larger estate for both houses, the fulfillment of her father’s will. She could live among her beloved fells, surrounded by friends and family.
But she would have cheated Jamie out of finding a bride who could truly love him. Surely her way was better! Help me be strong, heavenly Father!
She pasted on a smile as she raised her arms to allow her maid to help her out of her soiled habit. “I’m sure Lord Wentworth will make a wonderful husband, for the right young lady. I am not that lady.”
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott went so far as to stamp her foot, and the maid cringed.
“Oh, how can you be so stubborn?” her chaperone cried. “Adele let this chance slip through her fingers. She was engaged to the former heir to Kendrick Hall, and she let him get away. Do not make the same mistake!”
Samantha had nearly been engaged to the former heir as well, something she could never forget. Lord Gregory Wentworth had been years older and a sophisticated gentleman who’d had years to master London Society. She’d been fascinated from the moment he had been introduced to her. He’d seemed so attentive, so sure of himself and her.
But she’d later learned that his pursuit of her had been dictated by his mentor, a villain intent on treason who had already hurt her family. The former Lord Wentworth’s role in his powerful mentor’s evil plan had been to keep her cousin Vaughn so busy worrying about Lord Wentworth’s courtship of Samantha that Vaughn forgot his quest to find the villain who had murdered her father, his beloved uncle.
The plan might have worked but for two things. Vaughn hadn’t been jealous; he’d already fallen in love with the villain’s daughter, of all people! And Lord Wentworth had fallen in love as well, with Samantha. The knowledge that he would put her before his mentor’s plans had driven the villain to kill him. Samantha could not help feeling that she should have done something, anything, to save Lord Wentworth. Perhaps, if she’d been more observant, if she hadn’t been ruled by her emotions, if she hadn’t been so fixated on gathering her third proposal, she might have discovered his connection to the treason plot and acted before he’d been killed.
Now she turned her back on Mrs. Dallsten Walcott as the maid pulled off her habit.
“The gravest mistake, madam, would be for me to marry,” she said, gaze on the far pink wall. “And nothing you or anyone else says will change that.”
Though she heard Mrs. Dallsten Walcott stalk from the room, Samantha was fairly sure the argument wasn’t over. But she knew she’d already won. And lost.
* * *
Will reacted with nearly as much determination when he was informed later that day about Jamie’s invitation to have Lady Everard join them for tea. He had returned from his ride sure that he could find a way to uncover the secrets he saw lurking in the lady’s deep brown eyes, if only to protect his family. That effort would require him to meet her again, gain her trust. But he had not expected his son to steal a march on him.
“And what exactly is the purpose of this event?” he asked Jamie as they sat in the library discussing estate business.
Jamie shrugged, lounging with great satisfaction in the leather-upholstered chair. “I told you—I want to reacquaint myself with our neighbors. Tea seemed a good way to start.”
“Will you pour or shall I?” Will quipped.
Jamie colored. “Mrs. Dallsten Walcott will be joining us. She can pour. And I would be delighted for you to attend, Father. Unless you have better things to do.”
Nothing more important than protecting his son from possibly predatory females. And attending would give him a chance to study Lady Everard more closely.
“Of course I’ll attend,” he told Jamie. “This is my home. I’d insult the ladies by not making an appearance.” He slapped his son on the knee. “Count on it. I’ll be there to support you.”
Jamie nodded, but somehow he did not look comforted.
He looked even less happy when he and Will gathered in the withdrawing room the next day to await their guests. Will’s mother had designed the formal room, from the elaborate pattern of the inlaid wood floor to the gilded chevrons on the white paneling of the lower walls and white marble fireplace. The creamy floral wreaths on the red silk wall hangings were mirrored in the sculpted wreaths edging the high ceiling.
Will hadn’t paid the decor all that much attention growing up. Peg had hated the room, particularly the snowy carpet in the center with its red silk fringe. She’d been afraid to walk on it lest she soil it. He had to agree it was rather impractical. He should have removed it years ago, but it reminded him of Peg.
Today Jamie refused to sit on any of the elegant white, curved-back chairs or sofa. He paced from the windows overlooking the fells to the doorway into the corridor, peering out each and pausing only long enough to tug at various articles of clothing. Already his cravat was wilting, his blue patterned waistcoat was rumpled, and his tasseled boots had lost their shine. Will felt for him.
“You’ll be fine,” he offered, stretching out his own tooled leather boots where he sat near the hearth. He hadn’t dressed the part of the earl today, choosing instead a tweed coat and chamois trousers. But the boots had been with him too many years to forego. Far more elaborate than the ones his contemporaries generally favored, they were as soft as butter and as comfortable as old slippers. He’d had them made his first week in Constantinople, and they’d been with him ever since.
When Jamie didn’t respond, Will glanced up. His son was frozen on the carpet, and their guests were at the door.
“Lady Everard and Mrs. Dallsten Walcott,” said their butler, a relict as formal as the room.
Will could understand why his son was gaping. He was hard-pressed not to gape himself. Samantha, Lady Everard, had been a vision in her cerulean ball gown. Now it seemed as if joy had entered the room. Her pale muslin gown was covered in a fitted blue jacket that brought out the gold of her hair. The collar was a frivolous affair with multiple points edged in lace; it was as whimsical as her smile.
He found himself smiling back and forced a more serious look. He’d met women from every part of the Ottoman Empire and places in between, from dusky-skinned princesses to platinum-haired grand duchesses. Why did this woman make them all fade in comparison?
“Samantha.” Jamie rushed forward to take her arm and lead her into the room. “Thank you for coming.”
“Well, it seems I promised,” she said with a sidelong glance at her companion.
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott, resplendent in royal purple as if she planned to take tea with the Regent, swept up to Will and curtseyed. “Lord Kendrick, how kind of you to invite us to your lovely home.”
Will bowed. “It is only lovely because you grace us with your presence, dear lady.”
She batted her lashes at him as she rose and tapped his arm with one finger. “I spoke with the Widow Trent yesterday. She was utterly charmed by your attentions at the party the other night.”
He could not think who she meant. The only woman he remembered meeting was gazing at him from across the room in obvious amusement. “She is kind to think of me,” he replied.
Mrs. Dallsten Walcott tittered. “It isn’t kindness that makes a lady remember a handsome gentleman, my lord.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Samantha put in. “Any lady would remember a kindness after a sudden mishap. Such an act is unlooked for and most welcome, like a breeze on a hot day.”