An Honorable Gentleman

“I stopped at the gatehouse when I arrived this evening,” he said. “No one answered the bell. And your father saw fit to send you when there was a stranger in the house. Naturally I assumed he must be ill.”

“My father was…unavailable earlier,” Gwen replied, hoping he wouldn’t ask the reason. It had only been a few cups tonight, far less than the bottles he’d downed shortly after Mother had died. “I was out with Dolly checking the grounds for the night, or I would have answered the bell myself.”

He frowned. “You serve as night watchman, as well?”

Night watchman, nurse, gardener and cook, but she could hardly tell him all that without making her father sound like a laggard. “Only when my father is unavailable, I assure you.”

He glanced around the room. “And who serves as maid?”

Not her, and for that he should be thankful. With the lamps lit, she could see streaks of dust crossing the fine grain of the wood where she’d missed spots in her hurry. “The staff were all let go when Colonel Umbrey, the previous owner, died. His heir chose to sell the estate, and we couldn’t know when someone would purchase it.”

His gaze speared her. His eyes were green, a light shade like the creamy jade Colonel Umbrey had brought back from his travels in India and the Orient. “And you’ve never heard of Holland covers?”

“Certainly we’ve heard of covering the furniture when it’s unused,” Gwen said, trying not to sound defensive. Pleasantries, remember? It wouldn’t do to snap at her father’s new employer.

But he couldn’t know how hard she had to work to get anything done around here, the hours spent cajoling and encouraging for the least task. Ever since her mother had died a year ago, her father had lost all will to live. And losing the respect of the villagers hadn’t helped. Far too many things had changed at Blackcliff. What they needed was a little order.

“We were waiting to hear from the new master before giving the place a good cleaning,” she explained at his frown. “The solicitor only just reported that Blackcliff had been sold. We certainly didn’t expect you to arrive unannounced.”

“A gentleman shouldn’t need to announce his arrival when returning home,” he said, not unkindly, and handed her a leather-bound packet.

“Well, it is a new home for you,” Gwen pointed out, untying the ribbon that held the packet shut. “And we thought if you were going to make Blackcliff your home, you would arrive with more ceremony. Do you have a carriage somewhere? Luggage?”

“I rode,” he said, and nothing in his tone gave her any clue as to why or how long he intended to stay.

Did he live in the Evendale Valley, then, and it had been merely a short ride to reach the house? No, that voice belonged in a more sophisticated setting. Or was this only one of the many properties he must inspect over the course of a year?

Gwen glanced down at the parchment, hoping for a few answers to the questions she could not ask without seeming even more impertinent. She’d seen enough legal papers as she’d helped her father act as steward for the colonel to be able to locate the important details in the close-written document. She glanced up at him, blinking.

“You were awarded the estate for services to the Crown? Were you a soldier like Colonel Umbrey?”

He smiled, but the light didn’t reach his cool green eyes. “Nothing so dashing. I settled a thorny administrative matter, and the chief beneficiary saw fit to recommend me to the Prince and purchase an estate in thanks. I take it you’re satisfied that I’m the new owner.”

She could not see him sitting behind a desk, shuffling papers, fingers smeared with ink. Those large hands looked like they should be wielding a sword as they had been earlier or clutching the reins of a team of horses. Despite his title of baronet, Sir Trevor seemed far too healthy, too vital, to have spent his life either clerking or in idle pursuit of pleasure.

But the papers looked as legal as any she’d seen. She slipped them back into the leather covering.

“This all appears to be in order,” she replied, handing the packet to him. She squared her shoulders and gave him her most charming smile. “Welcome to Blackcliff Hall, Sir Trevor. I hope you will consider it your home and wish to spend your life here. Now let’s get you down to the George and see you settled.”

In the act of accepting the packet from her, Trevor paused. A singular woman. Energy glowed from her fiery hair to her creamy skin to the fluttering of her gloved hands. Her topics moved as rapidly as she did. “The George?” he asked.

“The George Inn. Fine establishment. Excellent cook. You’ll love it.” She slapped her thigh, and Dolly scrambled to her feet, nails clattering against the stone of the hearth.

Now that the lamps had been properly lit he could see the mastiff more clearly. Her body, dappled in streaks of dun and black, was thick and powerful, with a barrel chest and a solid column of a neck. Her muzzle was coal-black, and her jowls quivered in her eagerness to move. Intelligence sat in those big brown eyes, and he was certain loyalty filled her massive heart. He could only be thankful she was so well trained, for even his dull club of a sword would have been of little use against her had she chosen to attack him.

“There’s no need to go to an inn,” he said to Gwen, but she was already bustling about the room, retrieving her lantern, extinguishing the other lamps. Everything about her said determination, from the set of her pointed chin to the quick movements of her lithe body. She looked to be a few years younger than his thirty years, and he wondered why such a beautiful woman wasn’t married and instead prowling around his estate in the dark with only a great beast of a dog for company.

“There’s every need,” she assured him, retrieving her cloak and throwing it around her shoulders. He hadn’t noticed the streaks mottling the soft brown wool of the garment. Had he caused that when he’d knocked her down?

“You may not have had time to visit every room in the house,” she said, returning to his side, “but few are livable. The beds need airing, the lamps trimming and the pantry stocking.” She smiled at him. “I’ll have everything ready by the time you return tomorrow.”

From anyone else, the statement would have been laughable. He had looked in every room in the house earlier, and he knew how much work had to be done to make it a home. But, with the light shining in her deep brown eyes, her face turned up to his, he thought this woman could very well work miracles.

“I’d prefer to stay here,” he said, and even he could hear how stubborn he sounded.

Her smile turned kind. “Now, now,” she said, laying her free hand on his arm with a grip that was firmer than he would have guessed from the size of her, “we must make sure you have a pleasant evening. I’m certain you’d prefer a good bed tonight and a nice warm dinner. You cannot possibly get that here. Why should you settle for less than the best? Where’s your horse?”

She was tugging him toward the entryway, and Trevor followed, feeling as if he’d been snatched up in the middle of a storm. “He’s in the stable.”

She tsked. “I’m surprised we had feed for him. I’ll see to that, as well. Or rather, my father will. He’s very good at making sure all the master’s needs are met.” She cast him a glance out of the corners of her eyes. “He was the steward before Colonel Umbrey died. Did they tell you that when they awarded you the place?”

“No,” Trevor said as she released him to hustle to the front door, the dog trotting obediently at her side. “I assumed the estate came adequately staffed. But I’m used to roughing it. I assure you I’ll be fine here tonight.”

“Nonsense. We can’t have the new master living in anything less than comfort.” She paused to smile back at him, and the look tugged at his heart as surely as her hand had tugged at his arm. Was this how Greek sailors felt in the myth of the siren? Her beauty and enthusiasm called to him, but he had a feeling they’d lead him far from his intended course.

“You’re not going to give me a moment’s peace until I’ve agreed to this, are you?” he asked, certain he knew the answer.

Her dark eyes crinkled up as if she was laughing inside. “Why, Sir Trevor, I simply want to make sure you are well taken care of. My father would insist on nothing less.”

He was beginning to think her father was at home, hiding from her determination. If anyone insisted on anything in that house, he was certain he was looking at her.

“And will your father be here to greet me in the morning?” he countered.

Her smile widened. “I guarantee it. I’m certain once you see the estate in the morning light, you’ll be pleased to call it yours. Would you prefer to ride to the village or shall we walk? It isn’t far.”

He didn’t like losing, even an argument, but he had to agree with her that the house needed work before it would be comfortable.

He wasn’t sure why that so disappointed him. He’d decided on the way north that he would only use the place for the income it could provide. He’d never intended to make it home. Home was London, the social whirl, the acquaintances he’d made in school and afterward. The sooner he could settle his affairs in Blackcliff Hall, the sooner he could return.

“I’ll ride,” he said, striding for the door. “That is, if the groom can be bothered to saddle my horse.”

“I’m afraid the groom gave notice ages ago,” she said in that calm, conciliatory voice. She followed him out the door, the mastiff bounding down the stone steps ahead of them while she turned to lock the door. “Colonel Umbrey decided he was too old to move from the Hall and sold his carriage and horses.”

Was that what would become of him if he stayed? Would he grow to be a fat, complacent old man with no interest in even making the short ride into town?

“Then the fellow who’s staying in the stables,” Trevor all but snapped.

She handed him the ornate brass key, which weighed more heavily than it should in his hand. “No one lives at the estate except me and my father, Sir Trevor.”

He stared at her, feeling as if her great bear of a dog had sat on his chest. “Then who on earth took charge of my horse?”

Chapter Three

Lord, please protect his horse!

Gwen threw up the prayer as she led Sir Trevor around the side of the house and through a door in the stone wall for the stables. She could tell the animal meant a great deal to him. In the light of her lantern, his face was tight, his jaw hard. His long legs ate up the ground as they crossed the garden at the back of the house. She had to scurry to keep up.

Dolly obviously thought it was as great game, this rush through the growing dark, the garden silent around them. She bounded alongside Sir Trevor, veering off from time to time into the shadows to snuff at something under the weed-choked plants. Sir Trevor, on the other hand, had his eyes narrowed in such a fierce look that Gwen could only pray the person who’d taken charge of his horse was either a highly competent stranger looking for work, or was miles away by now.

“We’ve had a little trouble with vagrants,” she offered as they approached the long, two-story building of dark stone at the back of the garden. “Nothing’s been stolen, mind you. I’m sure it’s just men out of work, on their way to the next village and needing a place to stay the night.”

“And a horse to ride,” he said, voice as tight as his look.

Lord, not his horse! She needed Sir Trevor to love the place; she needed him to want to stay. It was the only way to save the village.

She hadn’t done more than check the stables for vagrants in the past two months, so she wasn’t surprised to find it dark as they approached. Her lantern’s light glinted off the half-moon windows that topped the arches in the stone. More weeds poked up among the gravel of the yard.

The big wooden door blocking the entrance protested as she tried to pull it open. With a grimace of impatience, he took the tarnished brass handle from her grip and tugged. The door moved out of the way with an unearthly screech that made Dolly yelp in protest.

“A little oil will fix that right up,” she assured him as he pushed past her into the stables. The scent of decaying hay and dried manure tickled her nose, and she sneezed. Oh, what must he think of them!

Even as Gwen raised her lantern, Dolly trotted down the wide breezeway between the rows of stalls. It had been an elegant stable once, the boxes lacquered black and the curving screen separating the tops of the stalls a pristine white. Now everything looked a dingy gray. When had she allowed things to get away from her?

Something whinnied in the darkness beyond the light. Sir Trevor let out a breath of obvious relief and stalked toward the sound. Gwen followed him, then pulled up with a gasp.

In truth, she’d wondered why he had been quite so worked up about a horse. She knew they could cost a pretty penny, but, in her experience, they were great hawking beasts like as not to step on your foot as to pull your coach.

The animal standing in the middle stall, however, wasn’t a horse any more than a diamond was a rock. This animal had a jet-black coat that gleamed like satin and warm, liquid brown eyes that demanded loyalty. Every line of muscle and tendon said power.

“Dolly, no!” Gwen ordered as the mastiff approached the rope that closed off the stall. But the magnificent horse merely lowered its head and blew a breath at the dog. Dolly’s tail wagged so happily her whole rump wiggled.

Sir Trevor strode up to his horse and stroked the long muzzle. “Good lad, easy now. Everything all right here?”

She wouldn’t have been surprised if the horse had answered him. The beast tossed his head with a jingle, and she realized he still wore his bridle.

“Never even removed the saddle,” Sir Trevor said, and his tone indicated he felt the lapse worthy of eternal punishment. “Still, I suppose I should just be thankful he didn’t make off with you.”

“I’m very sorry,” Gwen felt compelled to say. “I can’t imagine who met you out here.”

“Neither can I,” he replied, gently nudging Dolly aside with his knee so he could release the rope. “But I assure you I had better not see him again.”

Please, Lord, let it be someone besides Father!

“Certainly not,” she agreed, moving forward to latch her free hand on Dolly’s collar and pull the mastiff out of the way. The dog came reluctantly, clearly wanting to sniff about this fascinating creature they’d found in the stables. “Is your horse all right?”

He’d stepped into the stall and was running his hands over the animal as if to make sure, his movements gentle, soothing. Why had she thought he was meant for battle? She could imagine those hands playing a sonata or painting a masterpiece just as passionately.

“He seems to be unharmed,” he murmured, and she could feel his relief.

Gwen ventured closer, peering through the spindles of the upper screen on the box. The golden light from her lantern warmed horse and master alike, glowing in their dark hair. “What’s his name?”

“Icarus.” The word brought a smile to his lips, and Gwen felt her lips turning up in response. He patted the horse on its glossy flank. “He likes to fly higher than he should.”

She wondered if the same could be said of his master. “He’s beautiful.”

“That he is. A descendant from the Byerley Turk.” He dropped his hand and turned. His face was solemn, troubled, and she stood a little taller to hear his concerns.

“Tell me the truth, Miss Allbridge. Can this estate provide anyone a living?”

She hoped so; she prayed so. Everything she’d ever dreamed of depended on it. “Certainly!” she told him, putting every ounce of faith into the word. “It was the finest estate in the upper valley before the colonel took ill. All it needs is a little attention.”

Trevor glanced around the stable. Stalls just like the one in which he stood stretched away on either side. The place would hold a dozen horses and several carriages when full, with room for coachman and grooms in the quarters upstairs. Now the darkness surrounded them like smoke, and she thought she could hear the scurrying of tiny feet not far away.

“I suspect,” he said with a sigh, “that it also needs an influx of cash.”

She dimpled at him. “Well, that goes without saying.”

He closed his eyes a moment. Was he praying? Did it truly look so awful to him that he had to reach to God for help? She wanted to touch him, stroke away the worried lines from his eyes and mouth. But that was not her place. All she could offer was encouragement.

“It will look brighter in the morning,” she murmured. “I promise.”

He opened his eyes and regarded her. Perhaps it was a trick of the lantern light, but his jade eyes seemed to have warmed. She felt warm just gazing into them. The vast stable was suddenly too small, too intimate. She swallowed and turned for the door. “I’ll just show you to the George now, shall I?”

She took a deep breath to steady herself and glanced back in time to see him swing himself easily into the saddle. “If it’s in your village, I’ll find it. Have your father send down my shaving kit. And tell him I expect a full report tomorrow morning in the library at ten.”

With a cluck of encouragement, the magnificent Sir Trevor and his equally magnificent horse disappeared into the night.

An influx of cash. Trevor shook his head as Icarus picked his way down the graveled drive. Gwen Allbridge smiled as if finding money was an easy matter. He supposed it would be for many a gentleman. But she couldn’t know that he was a gentleman in title only.

It had ever been this way. He had been born outside of wedlock, to a mother who was considered no lady. Yet his mother, his father, the accountants who arranged for him to attend the best schools, to wear the finest clothes, expected him to act the gentleman. Nay, they demanded it of him.

Gentlemen did not sully their hands with work; gentlemen lived off the income from their estates or their shrewd investments in the ’Change. But when you were born to neither estate nor investment, when the money was provided merely to educate, clothe and feed you while you were a lad, how were you supposed to get on?

He’d found a way, but few respected it. If the determined Miss Allbridge knew how he’d earned his meager income and his baronetcy, he had little doubt she would be far less eager to welcome him to her village.

But she wasn’t the only one so eager, he quickly learned. He located the George easily enough: a two-story, whitewashed building with black shutters and the picture of the king swinging merrily from the sign over the red front door. The inn was located in the heart of the little village, surrounded by tile-roofed cottages and two glass-fronted shops, all dark for the night.

The tall, long-nosed innkeeper was all politeness as he made sure Icarus was rubbed down and stabled. He easily agreed to have Trevor take a room for the night on the upper floor. That is, until he read Trevor’s entry in the great register book lying open on a high table near the entry.

“Sir Trevor Fitzwilliam of Blackcliff?” He squinted down at the words in black ink on the wide-lined book, then jerked up his head on his long neck like a stork checking for foxes. “Mrs. Billings—do you hear that? We are housing the new master of Blackcliff!”

Only three men lounged in the public room behind Trevor, but he could hear them muttering, the scrape of a chair as someone rose as if to get a better look at him. The pudgy innkeeper’s wife waddled from the steaming kitchen, wiping her hands on her wrinkled apron. Her brown eyes were bright as sugared raisins. “The master himself? Oh, an honor, sir, to be sure!”

In short order, he’d been installed in what he was assured was the best room in the house, jacket taken to be cleaned and pressed, pan warming the huge bed while a dinner of spiced mutton, soft pudding and buttered squash warmed his insides. Now that was more like it, that was what he’d hoped to find at Blackcliff—diffidence, competence, respect.

The morning was even better, with a breakfast of eggs and country ham, sharp cheddar, grilled tomatoes fresh from the vine and applesauce loaded with cinnamon, all with a week-old London Times to keep him company.

And there was the announcement: “Trevor Fitzwilliam, elevated to the rank of baronet. It appears that nepotism is still alive and well in our fair empire.” He crushed the paper with his fist.

So he wasn’t the only one to see his father’s hand in all this. Could the duke have found a more out-of-the-way place to send the son he refused to acknowledge publicly? There wasn’t an estate in Devon or Lincolnshire he could have purchased? No, Trevor must be sent about as far north as possible, into the Evendale Valley to the west of Carlisle, well into the peaks and lakes of Cumberland.

But, as always, Trevor had acted as a gentleman. He’d come to look at his estate, assess its ability to provide him an income. He would see that all assets of his land were producing, make sure his tenants were cared for and capable.

But nothing said he had to stay.

He had asked that Icarus be ready for him by half past nine, but he hadn’t expected the crowd waiting for him when he exited the George. Nearly two dozen men, women and children crowded expectantly in the coaching yard behind the inn. They wore rough cottons and dark wools, patched and frayed but generally clean. Their faces were pinched, their eyes wide. He couldn’t think what they wanted from him, but the moment he stepped out, a cheer went up.

Trevor raised his brows.

Then Gwen Allbridge shouldered her way to the front. Today she looked every inch the lady, her coppery curls barely visible inside a white satin-lined straw bonnet, her slender body wrapped in a dark green coat with a ruffled collar and lace at the cuffs, tied under her bosom with a rose-colored ribbon. He felt himself smiling at the sight of her and knew it wasn’t just because she was the most friendly face in the crowd.

“Good morning, Sir Trevor,” she said with a bob of a curtsy that set her pink bow to fluttering. “I hope you don’t mind, but a few of the villagers asked permission to accompany you to the Hall this morning.”

Trevor felt like standing a little taller. He offered them all a polite smile, in keeping with his new role of lord of the manor. “I am the one honored, I assure you.”

An approving murmur ran through the crowd. Gwen stepped aside, and an aisle opened between him and Icarus, who stood, head high, as if deigning to receive the attention bestowed upon him.

Trevor rather felt the same. He strolled down the center, nodding to this person and that, all the while keeping an eye out for the man who’d taken Icarus from him the night before or any of the men he had crossed in London. No one looked the least familiar. In fact, they were thin-faced and weary, as if living this close to the fells sapped their strength.

An older woman in a faded skirt curtsied to him. “Welcome to Blackcliff, sir. If you’ve need of a maid, my Becky’s a hard worker.” The plain-faced young woman next to her stared at him with worshipful eyes.

Gwen laid a hand on the woman’s arm as if in encouragement. “Sir Trevor will be making decisions on staffing soon, I promise. Send Becky up to me tomorrow, Mrs. Dennison, and I’ll find work for her.”

The woman’s blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, thank you, Miss Allbridge.”

Trevor suddenly felt as if fine threads were being woven around him, tying him to this place. He wanted to shake them off, demand his independence. He had come north to learn what Blackcliff Hall could do for him, not what he could do for it.

Mrs. Dennison licked her lips. “And while you’re making plans for the place, sir, I hope you’ll see fit to reopen the mine.”

Silence fell, stretched. They were all watching him. He wouldn’t have been surprised had they been holding their breaths. But this was one question he felt perfectly comfortable answering.