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‘He left when your mama decided only to keep your horses, and those which were hers and the children’s, and get rid of the rest. She said, and I must say it made sense, that those who didn’t belong to them or you wouldn’t be used, so it was best to let them go somewhere they’d at least be exercised. I think, mind this is tittle-tattle so no telling others, Compton wasn’t best pleased.’ Mrs Loveage sniffed. ‘His job here was a bit of a walk in the park so to speak and he was loath to see that lost. Anyroads, this past year or so, young Ronnie there has taken a more active part and aided Belton, the new man, while he got settled. Stop that.’ She smacked Brody’s hand as he tried to help himself to a third bun. ‘There’ll be none left for tea if you don’t give over. Now shoo. Out of my kitchen.’ Brody turned to the back door; he knew when he was beaten. After all, he would get some at teatime. He hadn’t taken three paces before Mrs Loveage called after him.
‘The basket’
He turned back. ‘I need my head examined.’
‘No, you need your brain to have more to do.’
As ever, his housekeeper had the last word. Brody sketched her a salute and made his way outside. Whatever shortfalls there had been on the estate, and it beggared belief to assume there would be none, the kitchen garden wasn’t one of them. Vegetables and herbs were there in abundance, not long off being ready to be picked, and then dried, salted, or pickled. He snapped a pea pod from the stem and shucked out the peas inside to toss them into his mouth and savour their unique flavour and aroma. Fresh vegetables such as this, and the broad bean he replaced it with in his mouth, were something he sorely missed when abroad. It wasn’t that they weren’t cultivated, more he had been unable to avail himself of them.
Now he sniffed the herb and vegetable scents that filled the air and thanked the lord he was home once more, and determined the ducal estate would again flourish under the Duke’s direction – not just on the Duke’s behalf. It was, he repeated to himself, his private avowal.
He arrived at the stables as Ronald was checking the harness on the horses. The young lad looked to all intents and purposes the tidy and proper groom of a prosperous country estate. The jacket was slightly too big, and Brody rather thought the boots pinched the youth, but the grin on his face showed he did not care. If he was as good with the horses as intimated, then Brody knew whom his new groom would be. For now though, he said nothing, just nodded his thanks and waited until Ronald stood back.
‘All’s well, m’lord.’
‘Let’s go then, you get up with me, take the reins and we’ll get these parcels delivered.’
It was pleasant tootling along the lanes with someone well versed in local affairs next to you. Once Ronald accepted that Brody meant what he said, did genuinely want to know all that was going on around them, and was interested in every last detail of affairs pertaining to the castle and its surroundings, he spoke freely. With a competence Brody understood and respected, Ronald took the vehicle, the matched chestnuts and the passengers safely along the narrow lanes, chatting all the while. He interspersed his narrative with asides about the state of hedges belonging to neighbours, the chance of a good pheasant-shooting season, and one Miss Susan Foulkes whom, Brody understood, Ronald had his eye on. Although not out of his teens the young man had his head screwed on properly and Brody made a mental note to find out what he could with regards to the young lady.
They approached the lane that snaked from the top of the steep escarpment where the castle perched – a perfect position to check out invaders in its less than peaceful past – to the valley bottom. A scant half a mile later it reached the village, which took its name from both the castle and the river that meandered around its boundaries.
They paused at the crossroads and Ronald held out the reins in Brody’s direction. ‘You best take ‘em now, m’lord, I mean Your Grace.’
Brody thought for a second and shook his head. ‘You take ‘em down. You seem to remember their mouths are soft and you’ll know the incline is sharp. Use the brakes with caution but remember they’re there.’ He grinned. ‘So am I, if you need me, though I doubt you will.’
Ronald flushed with pleasure and took a long indrawn breath. ‘Well if you’re sure. I’ve taken the wagon to church every week for them that need to get back sharpish-like, and driven the gig down often enough but never sommat as bang up as this.’
‘There’s a first time for everything and as my groom-cum-country coachman – you’ll have to get used to driving anything I ask. On you go, I have all faith in your abilities or I’d not have offered.’
Brody sat back, arms folded and satisfied, and watched the myriad of expressions chase over the youth’s face. If all went well Ronald could in time work his way even higher but for now, Brody decided he’d overwhelmed the lad enough and sat back with an air of unconcern, even though he was primed to take over if needed to.
There was no need. Once, the nearside horse pecked at a rabbit, which had a death wish and ran between the horses’ legs, but Ronald soothed and steadied him without the animals missing a stride. Brody was pleased that Mrs Loveage’s encouragement was working out.
Nothing else happened to upset animals or humans and within a few minutes, they reached the bottom of the hill and the first few houses of the village. On one side of the lane, the sturdy Norman church with its unusual elegant spire sat in a slightly elevated position, its lychgate tucked safely away from the lane’s edge. Next to it was the school, where several children waved from the grounds as the curricle went by.
‘Ho, Ronnie there’s a prime pair.’ One young girl waved and shouted and then danced around in a circle. ‘Yes, yes, yes, cake day.’ An elegant lady, possibly in her early twenties, hushed the child even as she looked covertly at the vehicle and its occupants.
It’s her. Brody got an impression of a fine bosom under plain and serviceable dark blue cotton, and dark brown hair in a riot of curls. He wished he were close enough to see what colour her eyes were. He was as certain as could be it was the lady he’d seen all those weeks before on his return to the area. The lady he’d deliberately not asked questions about. After all, a brief glance of a shapely rear and breasts you wanted to bury your head between didn’t give enough information to use to discover an identity. At first he’d thought he’d find out soon enough, and then he’d had too many other things on his mind to give thought to the question. His skin tingled as he thought he might now be one step nearer to discovering who she was, what she was, and if there was any point in approaching her.
Ronald waved back, as the prancing child whistled loudly, to be, it seemed, reprimanded by the lady with the fine bosom. Brody decided he’d need to learn the unknown lady’s name sooner rather than later. He couldn’t continue to think of her in such a way. What if, when he eventually met her, he let that sobriquet slip? It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Time for them to run off some of their energy,’ Ronald said. ‘That noisy one, in the red apron, is my youngest sister. She’s intent on learning and become a teacher herself. Miss Mary, that’s her there, encourages her and our ma is happy for it. Cissy is bright, not like the rest of us.’
‘Miss Mary?’ He committed the title to memory. Not the schoolmarm then? Now at least he had a name for her. ‘Miss Mary who?’
Ronald shrugged. ‘You know, Your Grace. I cannot mind. All I know is she helps out, comes over from the Grange once a week.’
Probably an under-housekeeper, Brody surmised. She had too much elegance to be a lower servant, and not enough to be gentry. The gown was a mark of that.
Damn.
He cast his mind over his surroundings. As far as he knew the Grange, a tidy house a mile or so from the village, had been unoccupied for years with just a skeleton staff to keep it from falling into disrepair. He’d have to do his best to forget about the woman. Even though she didn’t work for him, he couldn’t be seen to consort locally. More was the pity, that bosom begged for attention. So did the rest of her.
‘I wouldn’t say you were unintelligent,’ Brody answered Ronald’s last statement regarding himself, as the school and church were left behind them and the lane widened to become the village street, thence to split into two and circle a pretty green with a duck pond and a set of old stocks nearby. ‘You know these animals and their quirks inside out. You have a practical bent, not one inclined to book learning perhaps.’
Ronald chuckled. ‘I’m wise in some ways m’lord but not in all. I don’t have the same sort of nosy mind as our Cissy. I like horses and country life. To know at the end of a day that a good job’s over and I’ve left nowt undone. I love working with the horses and if you’re happy for me to serve you here, well, I’m a happy man. Then mebbes in a year or so I can convince Susan’s pa that I’m the right husband for her and my life is sorted out.’ His accent was a mixture of how he’d spoken as a youngster, and presumably how he’d been told to speak in the employ of a duke. Rather than pull him up for his slips, Brody let it be. It was rather endearing, and the longer Ronald mixed with the upper servants the more polished his voice would become.
Brody wished his own life could be so simple. He laughed. ‘You’ve got your head in the right place. Carry on as you are, and in a year or so I’ll put in a good word with your sweetheart’s father, and there’ll be a cottage for you. It’s on my list to build some more. I’ll make sure you get one. Woah! Hold em!’ His words had made Ronald drop his hands and, unchecked, the horses surged forward.
Ronald recovered in a second. ‘Oh my, oh grief, oh…’
‘Oh, well, no harm done,’ Brody said firmly. ‘Ah here we are. Tie them up, and you go to see your mother if you wish. I assume she’ll be at home?’
‘Yes, m’lord she does out sewing for the castle, whilst the youngsters are at school. Are you sure?’
‘I never say anything I don’t mean.’ Not unless needed to by the crown. ‘I’ll pay my visits here and walk up to the school and meet you there after my visit. To be there for two?’
He waited until Ronald made uncertain noises and finally acquiesced. Then Brody jumped down, grabbed the basket, and made his way to the first house, shamefully eager to get these visits over and reach the school.
It was no good, the dark haired woman had caught his attention and he had to meet her, decide she wasn’t for him, and move on.
If he couldn’t do that he was deep in the mire.
Chapter Two (#uf121cba6-d67d-54cd-a39a-f380f122f1cd)
‘Ohh, Miss Mary did you see that? Bang up pair. Eh, and fancy that, me brother with the reins. Who’d’y reckon that was with him? Some toff a visitin’? Coo er, me ma won’t ‘alf be pleased. Me brother and a prime ‘un. But she’ll be wonderin’ who ‘e is, eh?’
‘Try not to drop your letters, Cissy. You’ll need them as a teacher.’ Lady Mary McCoy smiled at young Cissy Meadows who jigged from one foot to another, making her blonde curls dance and her apron and skirts fly out around her sturdy legs.
‘Yes Miss.’ Cissy grinned. ‘I’ll put them in me pocket. But who is he?’
Mary shook her head at the smart retort. ‘I don’t know.’ She would like to know the answer to that question as well. Even the short sharp look he’d given her had felt as if he’d stripped her naked and liked what he saw. That glance was not the sort of perusal a gentleman, or an aristocrat, would give someone unknown, of his own class. It was one reserved for a woman he intended to amuse himself with. If he decided to make his admiration known to her, she’d have a hard time not to slap him down and give him a piece of her mind. But slap she’d have to. There was no way she’d let on who she really was – and no way, as Miss Mary Lynch, would she be anything but someone to dally with for an aristocrat. And the so-called toff was definitely that, there was no mistaking it. Having been married to an elderly peer for several years Mary knew a title when she saw one and she had no inclination to know one close up and personal again, whatever the reason. Hence her use of her godmother’s surname.
A figure in the door of the school caught her eye and she beckoned to the dozen or so schoolchildren still running around in the late summer sunshine. ‘Miss Grey is about to ring the bell. Time to go in.’
‘And cakes,’ the irrepressible Cissy sang as she rushed to the door, slowed down and straightened herself to walk decorously inside.
Mary chuckled.
Peggy Grey shook her head in mock disapproval. ‘That young lady will end up being the power behind the throne or being transported… and then she’d only end up running the colonies!’
Mary had to agree. ‘She’s lively and enthusiastic. She’ll make a good teacher.’
‘So would you.’
Mary laughed and shook her head. ‘Not me, I’m happy with my few hours. It… it grounds me, I think. And on that note, I better carry on before they get their cakes. I need to be away before then, I have several things to do when I leave.’ She didn’t, unless you counted weeding her lettuces yet again and deciding on which novel to read next.
Good grief, has my life come to this? Where’s the excitement, the gaiety? The most excitement she had was her weekly visit to the ladies who taught her to tat. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken to a man other than the baker, the vicar or her servants, let alone a man of her own class. It was her own choice, she accepted that. Nevertheless, she was uneasily aware that her year of grace given to her by her brother before he insisted she rejoined her rightful place in the ton was half over and she still hadn’t decided how to go about that. It was a simple choice, she thought. Return to the ton as the widow of Lord Horace McCoy and all the inherent problems that brought – rakes who saw her as easy prey, impoverished peers with an eye on her fortune – or return to the ton under the aegis of her brother and his wife. Who would still expect her to use her title and marry, but hopefully scare the worst of the suitors away.
Nether options appealed.
Mary wasn’t sure she wanted to marry again. She’d loved her husband and married him in the face of family objections almost as soon as she was out, and never lived to regret it. Their marriage had been unusual, she accepted that. Most marriages in the ton were not love matches but made for what each could person bring to the union. Generally a dowry and heirs.
It had not been like that for her. But Horry – Horace – had died after only five years of marriage, and here she was, only just two and twenty years of age, and a wealthy widow. It was not, she decided, an enviable situation.
‘Miss Mary?’ It was Cissy who tugged on her sleeve. ‘Are you ready? Cos it’ll be cake time soon and we wants to show you how much we’ve got better at our letters.’
Mary mentally shook herself. She loved the way the children had called her, ‘Miss’, and this had filtered into the community. Miss Mary, widow, she was known as, and as that she was happy to stay, even if it was a muddled title. ‘Of course, let’s get on.’
Once she was seated on a ladder back chair with two dozen children in front of her – she’d listened to the others before their break – Mary forgot all about her life, the mystery man and the un-weeded lettuces. These hours were precious. She became engrossed, and when Miss Grey entered the room and cleared her throat it took several seconds for the person next to her to register. Mary looked up at the clock on the wall at the back of the room and groaned. She’d been so involved with the children she hadn’t kept track of the time and it was over thirty minutes past the hour she usually left.
Cake time, in fact. A situation brought home to her when the gentleman – and oh he was a gentleman, be him in country clothes or not – held a basket aloft and the children cheered.
Mary stood up and curtseyed without making eye contact. ‘I’ll be off. I’ll see you next week, children.’
The chorus of “yes miss, thank you miss, see you then miss,” reassured her. No one here linked her to her family, which was how she wanted it.
‘You’re not about to leave on my account, I hope,’ said the tall, dark and really impossibly handsome man who crowded her, even though he stood several yards away. He spoke suavely, and still had that intense look in his eyes. That insulting look which stripped her naked and showed Mary he thought of her as someone with whom he could play fast and loose.
She shook her head, and ached to add, “you don’t figure large enough in my life.” Of course she didn’t, and responded lamely with… ‘Not at all, sir, I should be long gone.’
‘This is the Duke of Welland,’ Peggy Grey said quietly. A gasp ran through the assembled children, which echoed in Mary’s mind.
That was all she needed. Mary had heard all about him and his ways. No wonder he had looked at her in such a way. She made the mistake of glancing at his face. The admiration and challenge in his eyes hit her with the force of a runaway carriage. He didn’t intend to let her run and hide easily. She curtseyed and did her best to ignore the humour in his eyes. Obviously he knew he’d unsettled her, and did not care one jot. She gave a curtsey to the perfect degree of deference. ‘Please excuse me, Your Grace. Please excuse me.’ She didn’t exactly run from the classroom, not quite, but his soft laughter made her want to.
Mary was halfway home before she realised she’d left her basket and her hat behind. They’d have to stay in the teacher’s room until the following week. She had no intention of returning for them that day, or any day soon.
Brody, the new Duke of Welland. She’d heard of him of course, who hadn’t. Even before she came out, her fellow pupils – at the exclusive school in Bath her papa had sent her to – spoke of his exploits in hushed whispers and giggles. One girl swore he winked at her and she swooned, another girl said he had propositioned her sister who had to be sent to Leamington Spa to recover. As his antics grew more outrageous so did the alleged meetings between schoolgirls and the rake. Not that most people believed them, although Mary thought most secretly wished it had been them on the receiving end of his attention. Strangely, by the time she’d left school and begun her brief time enjoying the delights of her first season, he wasn’t around and no one seemed to have any idea where he was.
As far as she knew, whilst she and Horry were in the north of England this Duke’s father has been alive; he’d died not long before her beloved husband. But the duke hadn’t appeared back in Britain until recently, and to Mary’s knowledge this was the first time he’d been to the school.
Suddenly, fiercely, she missed Horry and his common sense.
If anyone had questioned her why she fell in love with a man forty years her senior, at the first ball she attended, she couldn’t answer. She just did, and in a bold manner so unlike her usual self had let him know it, in no uncertain fashion. It was her husband who held back and said it wouldn’t be fair on her to be tied to someone so much older, and Mary who pushed. People might comment that things like that didn’t happen, and before she met Horry, she would have agreed.
Now she knew they did, but was under no illusions that it was the norm, and was sceptical she’d ever fall in love again. Horry was a hard act to follow and to be honest she didn’t feel so inclined. He had fulfilled her every need. Now, her life might be mundane but it suited her better than to be pestered and courted for her money, not her mind or personality. All she had to do was persuade her brother of that fact.
Luckily, the Grange was hers, but Desmond, her brother, was her guardian until she was twenty-five. Another three years to go. Why Horry had insisted on that, she had no idea, but it was a fact she had to cope with.
Desmond was a good brother and Patience, his wife, the perfect sister-in-law. But neither of them could comprehend that she might not want to be wed again. In both Desmond and Patience’s opinion, a woman needed a man to keep her safe and provide the children. A woman’s role was to bear said children, and support her husband however he wanted. Even if that meant staying in the background. However, to Mary, a woman needed a man for all those purposes plus some definite other reasons, many involving the pleasures of the flesh. An open and clear view of life had shown her marriage wasn’t necessary for that to be accomplished. Not that she’d actually found anyone she’d want to indulge with, but it was there in the back of her mind.
A vision of the duke flashed through her mind and she shook her head with a wry laugh. He was one person not to tangle with. Instead, she judged he was the very sort of person Horry had warned her about. They’d known it was on the cards that Mary would outlive her husband, and he’d been assiduous in his efforts to ensure she was as savvy as possible and alert to all things that could affect her wellbeing.
So far it had worked. Now Mary wasn’t so sure. She walked briskly up the short drive to her home and let herself into the peaceful house. She loved it, it was her sanctuary. From the snug parlour to the more formal drawing room and elegant dining room, every room reflected Mary’s taste. When she’d arrived several months before, the house hadn’t been lived in for years, and although it was clean and tidy, it was also tired. As if it was waiting for her to wake it up once more.
With the help of Mr and Mrs Niven, the husband and wife team who had been caretaker and housekeeper to Horace for years, and Nettie, a local girl hired as a housemaid, the house was now warm, homely, and loved. Before she’d moved, Mary had decided to call herself Mrs Lynch, and just be a villager. Then once settled, and she was comfortable, she began to involve herself with village life.
Now she took her turn on the church flower rota, did her stint at the school and was an active member of the ladies’ club. To some, her life must be seen as tedious and uninteresting in the extreme, but to Mary it was what she wanted and needed. Or had been, until one look from a pair of dark eyes reminded her of all she was missing.
Damn him. Mary kicked off her shoes, replaced them with an old pair of half boots suitable for gardening, and wandered into the kitchen. At this time of the day, the Nivens were in their cottage and wouldn’t return for another hour or so, when it was time to prepare for and cook dinner. Plus, Mary trusted Nettie was at home chatting to her mother and hopefully enjoying her free afternoons.
Mary went into the pantry and selected a ripe peach. It would hold her until dinnertime. She bit into the soft flesh and as juice dripped down her chin and the sweet scent assailed her senses, she sighed in ecstasy. They might only have a tiny hot house but it provided an abundance of fruit and vegetables, more than enough for her to have plenty to share. Mary made a mental note to take some of the bounty the following day to the elderly lady who was helping her to overcome the intricacies of tatting.
For now though she’d enjoy the fruit, and then go and weed her lettuces.
Sadly it didn’t put the duke out of her mind. It might have only been a brief meeting but she sensed his interest in her, or, she thought with a silent laugh, her bosom. It had obviously been an effort for him to look elsewhere. Well Horry had said it was a particularly splendid specimen, and presumably he knew such things. Her nipples tightened under her serviceable gown as she remembered the duke’s probing look and the way his eyes glowed.
Mary sat back on her knees and sighed. Why on earth was she hankering after a man who had stared at her in such an audacious way? If only she could give him a piece of her mind. Not that she’d have the chance. She understood he was not a man to pit her wits against – she would surely lose. He might want her, but no duke – or as in this case, also lord of the manor – would, in Mrs Niven’s vernacular, play in his own yard
Did the Grange count as that? She had no idea, but whilst he thought of her as a maiden, she was fairly sure she was safe. Even when he discovered she had been married. Mary was under no illusions that that titbit of information wouldn’t fall into his lap sooner, rather than later, but surely he would assume she was not in his orbit?
He might set up a mistress in town, but out here he’d be careful whom he dallied with. Especially one as young as she, who to all intents and purposes was a grieving widow. Oh she’d grieved and would always miss Horry, but as he’d told her on more than one occasion, they had enjoyed good times and all good times came to an end. Horry had instructed her not to go into black, and she’d compromised with navy, greys and purples and now more lilacs, pale greys and soft blues.
None of which negated the fact that her body stirred when she thought of him. The Duke.
Mary glanced down at the so-called weed in her hand and realised it was a lettuce. One she’d planted out not a week earlier to create a late salad crop.
Perhaps it was time to tidy up and forget about the annoying man. He’d had his fun, got her flustered and would now no doubt have forgotten her. Just one more village lady.
What would the duke think if he knew the meek and quiet Miss Mary Lynch was in face Lady Mary McCoy, widow of Lord Horace McCoy and one of the richest women in the country?
She wasn’t going to consider that.
****
Brody took his leave of the children, congratulated Miss Grey on her success with the school, then retrieved his empty basket and made his way outside to where Ronald patiently walked the horses.
‘My apologies for keeping you waiting. I assure you, I tried for at least ten minutes to depart,’ Brody said as he climbed aboard the curricle and took the reins. ‘Your sister is incredibly persistent once she gets the bit between her teeth. She is most insistent that if any child has a perfect attendance record at the end of this session they should be taken up in my phaeton and tooled around the lanes to end up at the castle thence to enjoy cakes and lemonade.’
‘M’lord,’ Ronald sounded mortified. ‘She’s a pest. I hope you gave her what for.’
Brody laughed. ‘I gave her my word “t’would be thus”.’ He waited until they began the steep haul up the escarpment. ‘For such an impassioned and reasoned plea, she deserves the treat anyway. Who is this Miss Mary?’ He hoped he sounded only mildly interested. It wouldn’t do to show more than that.
Ronald glanced at him, not a whit perturbed, it seemed, by the abrupt change of subject. ‘All I know is what I told you earlier. She’s well liked, involves herself in village affairs, and puts herself out to be helpful but not encroach.’
‘She sounds like a veritable paragon,’ Brody said, somewhat disgruntled by Ronald’s glowing description. She didn’t seem the sort of woman to enjoy a casual coupling. Such a pity, Brody was convinced that fine bosom needed more attention.
And the rest of her would bear to be inspected as well. God almighty I cannot think like that so close to home. He returned his attention to what Ronald was saying.
‘Oh no my lord, no paragon, just a lady.’ The way Ronald spoke made Brody certain the mystery lady was no “Lady”, for which he was thankful. He wanted no truck with young “ladies”, be they earnest and full of good works or not. Somehow, in his past, once they fastened their eyes on him he became their next mission. He had no intention of that happening again. Any interactions would be on his terms.
‘They do says she’s got the Grange fine and dandy again,’ Ronald continued as the horses strained to crest the top of the hill and turn along the lane towards the castle. ‘Not that it was a ruin, but like most of us around here allus – always –’ he corrected himself with a bashful grin, ‘– said, it was waiting for something. Young Cissy dotes on her.’
‘Seemingly this Miss Mary was just that.’ Brody changed the direction of the curricle to head along the rutted and little used back drive that headed in the directions of the stables. ‘The person needed.’
After one particularly deep rut Brody swore. He made a note to see the head groundsman with regards to its upkeep. The dozen or so yards from the lane to the gates were almost unusable. ‘A veritable treasure.’ God he sounded crabby. Brody was about to say something – anything – to make amends when Ronald spoke.
‘She is that. My Su… well, I mean, Susan, says Miss Mary brought new life into the village what with helping out where needed but never doing more than expected like. Not like that Lady Potter who used to live over Calden way. Nose in the air, lady bountiful, she thought she was. It’s fair to say your ma gave her short shrift. Now your ma, a real lady she is, it shines through her.’ He jumped down from the curricle and began to push open the gates. It wasn’t an easy job; it was obvious this route was rarely used.
