The Duke’s Obsession Bundle (46 page)

The earl’s lips quirked. “Dear lady, why wouldn’t I give out such a thing to everybody at whose table I might someday sit? I’ve never understood the business of hoarding recipes. Now, how quickly can we arrange for you to start?”

He was gracious in victory. She had to give him that. He’d also gotten Bronwyn into the tub, and he had the best apple tart recipe she had ever tasted. The picture wasn’t entirely bleak. Moreover, the Rosecroft kitchens might need a thorough scrubbing, but as he led her on a brief tour, she saw the ovens were huge, the counter space endless, and the appointments surprisingly modern and well kept.

“My inventory will have to be moved, and I will need storage for it, as well.”

“Details, and ones I’m sure you’ll manage easily.” The earl put her hand on his arm as they left the kitchen. “As we’ve lost the light, Miss Farnum, I must conclude the hour has grown late. Will you allow me to call the carriage for you?”

“I am not but a half mile up the lane. It will not serve to bother the stables for so paltry a journey. I walked here; I’ll enjoy the walk home.”

“As you wish.” He led her through the house to the front door, where her frayed gloves and ugly bonnet were waiting on a table. “Shall I carry it for you?” He held the bonnet up by its ribbons, her gloves folded in the crown. “It’s not as if you need to protect your complexion at this hour.”

“I can carry it.” She grabbed for the bonnet, but his blasted eyebrow was arching again.

“I do not comprehend yet all the local nuances of manners and etiquette, Miss Farnum, but I am not about to let a young lady walk home alone in the dark.” He angled his free elbow out to her and gestured toward the door held open by the footman.

Barbarian. She wanted to stomp her foot hard—on his—and march off into the darkness. She’d capitulated—albeit grudgingly and perhaps only temporarily—to his idea of sharing responsibility for Bronwyn. She’d put up with his sniping and probing and serving her tea. She’d agreed to move her business activities to his kitchens, but she would not be bullied.

“I know the way, my lord,” she said, glaring at him. “There is no need for this display.”

“You are going to be responsible for Winnie’s first efforts to acquire a sense of decorum and reserve, Miss Farnum.” He picked up her hand and deposited it back on his forearm, then led her down the steps. “You must begin as you intend to go on and set a sincere example for the child. She’ll spot fraud at fifty paces, and even my authority won’t be able to salvage your efforts then. A lady graciously accepts appropriate escort.”

“Is this how you trained recruits when you were soldiering?” She stomped along beside him, ignoring the beauty of the full moon and the fragrances of the summer night. “You box them in, reason with them, tease, argue, taunt, and twist until you get what you want?”

“You are upset. If I have given offense, I apologize.” His voice was even, not the snippy, non-apology of a man humoring a woman’s snit. She hauled him through the darkness for another twenty yards or so before she stopped and heaved a sigh.

“I am sorry,” Emmie said, dropping his arm. “I suppose I am jealous.”

He made no move to recapture her hand but put his own on the small of her back and guided her steps forward again. “You are jealous of what?”

“Of your ease with Bronwyn. Of the wealth allowing you to provide so easily for her. Of your connections, enabling you to present her a much better future than I could. Of your ability to wave a hand and order all as you wish it.”

“Are we being pursued by bandits, Miss Farnum?” the earl asked, his voice a velvety baritone in the soft, summery darkness.

“We are not.”

“Then perhaps we could proceed at less than forced march? It is a beautiful night, the air is lovely, and I’ve always found darkness soothing when I took the time to appreciate it.”

“And from what would the Earl of Rosecroft need soothing?” She nearly snorted at the very notion.

“I’ve felt how you feel,” he said simply. “As if another had all I needed and lacked, and he didn’t even appreciate what he had.”

“You?” She expostulated in disbelief but walked more slowly and made no objection to his hand lightly touching her back. “What could you possibly want for? You’re the firstborn of a duke, titled, wealthy; you’ve survived battles, and you can charm little girls. How could you long for more than that?”

“My brother will succeed Moreland, if the duke ever condescends to expire. This harum-scarum earldom is a sop thrown to my younger brother’s conscience, and his wife’s, I suppose. He and my father had considerable influence with the Regent, and Westhaven’s wife may well be carrying the Moreland heir. Anna made the suggestion to see Rosecroft passed along to me, and Westhaven would not rest until that plan had been fulfilled.”

“How can that be?” Emmie watched their moon shadows float along the ground as they walked. “A duke cannot choose which of his offspring inherits his title.”

“He cannot. According to the Moreland letters patent, it goes to the oldest legitimate son surviving at the time of the duke’s death.”

“Well, you aren’t going to die soon, are you?” She glanced over at his obviously robust frame, puzzled and concerned for some reason to think of him expiring of a pernicious illness.

“No, Miss Farnum, the impediment is not death, but rather the circumstances of my birth.” There was a slight, half-beat pause in the darkness, a hitch in her gait he would not have seen.

“Oh.”

“Oh, indeed. I have a sister similarly situated, though Maggie and I do not share even the same mother. The duke was a busy fellow in his youth.”

“Busy and selfish. What is it with men that they must strut and carry on, heedless of the consequences to any save themselves?”

“What is it with women,” he replied, humor lacing his tone, “that they must indulge our selfish impulses without regard to the consequences even to themselves?”

“Point taken.” For a barbarian, he reasoned quickly and well, and he was a pleasant enough escort. His scent blended with the night fragrances, and it occurred to her he’d already admitted to being comfortable with darkness.

And in his eyes, in odd moments, she’d seen hints of darkness. He referred casually to serving King and Country, and he admitted now to being a ducal bastard. Well, what would that matter? By local standards, he would be much in demand socially, and the squire’s daughters would toss themselves at him just as they did at Helmsley once long ago—poor things.

She was so lost in her thoughts she stumbled over a gnarled old tree root and would have gone down but for the earl’s arm around her waist.

“Steady on.” He eased her up to find her balance but hesitated before dropping his arm. In that instant, Emmie gained a small insight into why women behaved as foolishly as her mother and aunt and countless others had done.

“My thanks,” she said, walking more slowly yet. The heat and strength of him had felt good, reassuring in some inconvenient way. For twenty-five years, Emmaline Farnum had negotiated life without much in the way of male protection or affection, and she’d been at a loss to understand what,
exactly
, men offered that would make a woman suffer their company, much less their authority.

And she still didn’t know, exactly, what that something was, but the earl had it in abundance. The sooner they found Bronwyn a real governess, the better for them all.

“Why do you still wear black?” the earl asked as he ambled along beside her. “Your aunt died several years ago, and one doesn’t observe full mourning for years for an aunt.”

“One doesn’t have to, but my aunt was like a mother to me, so I dyed my most presentable wardrobe black and haven’t had the coin to replace it since—nor much need to. Then, too, wearing black made me less conspicuous to Helmsley and his cronies.”

“You did not respect my predecessor. I suppose you don’t respect many men, given your aunt raised you alone.”

Another pause, but again his hand was lightly at her back, steadying her.

“My mother told me my father tried hard, but he became restless, and she could not find it in her heart to force him to stay.”

“She did not care for him?”

“She did. I never want to fathom a love like that, a love that puts a loved one aside and says it’s for the best.”

“Did she know she carried his child when she wished him on his way?”

“No.” Emmie sighed, feeling his hand at her back as she did. “She was not… she did not have clear indications of her predicament, early on, and by the time she was convinced the unthinkable had happened, her fellow had shipped out for India.”

“Be very, very glad she didn’t follow the drum,” the earl said, something in his voice taking on the darkness. “It is no life whatsoever for a woman.”

“Particularly not when the man ends up dying in battle, and there you are—no man, no means, no home and hearth to retreat to, and babies clinging to your skirts.”

“This is an abiding theme with you, isn’t it?” The earl’s voice was merely curious now, but he was identifying a pattern accurately.

“I have avoided the Rosecroft grounds as much as possible,” Emmie said, her steps dragging. “Helmsley was an eloquent reminder of how dishonorable a titled, supposed gentleman can be.”

“He was a thoroughly disagreeable cad,” the earl agreed. “A more disgusting excuse for a man, much less a gentleman, I have yet to meet, unless it was that porcine embarrassment colluding with him, the Baron Stull.”

“So you met Helmsley?”

“I killed him,” the earl said easily, taking her hand in his. “Watch your step. We’ve reached a rough patch.”

Emmie stumbled again, more heavily, but he caught her this time, as well. His left hand went around her left wrist; his right arm secured her to his chest by virtue of a snug hold about her waist. They stood for a long moment in an off-balance version of a promenade, while Emmie used the earl’s height and strength to regain her balance.

“Well, good,” Emmie said with a certain relish. “The man was in want of killing.” Next to her, she heard and felt the earl exhale, a deep, slow breath, sending air fanning past her cheek. She had the sense he’d been holding it a long time. Weeks, maybe, months—his whole life.

“He was, at that,” the earl replied. “Shall we proceed?” His voice gave nothing away, though Emmie thought he’d call his earlier words back if he could. Not because he regretted taking the man’s life, but because announcing such a thing while escorting a young lady home through darkness wasn’t at all the done thing.

Even a barbarian would know that.

“He made a few tries at me,” Emmie said. She kept hold of the earl’s hand as she walked along, then adjusted her grip as they negotiated more roots, so her fingers laced through his. “It was Helmsley’s attentions the old earl sought to preserve me from.”

“Did Helmsley ever… achieve his ends?” Rosecroft asked, the same foreboding in his voice.

“I am a baseborn girl, my lord. What difference would it have made if he had? He threw more than a good scare into me, and the lesson served me well when I went into service. Beastly nuisance of a man. I am glad you killed him. Glad and relieved. The old earl, much as he loved his grandson, would have applauded you for protecting his granddaughters.”

It was safe, somehow, to speak so openly with him in the darkness, even though holding hands with him this way was also
not
safe. Not safe, nor smart, not what a prudent woman would do. A prudent woman wouldn’t take such pleasure from it nor speculate about what other behaviors Lord Rosecroft might engage in on a dark and breezy night.

Emmie turned the topic to the details of moving her bakery to Rosecroft, then prattled on about the neighbors surrounding the property and the various tradesmen and farmers in the area. She cast around for topics that were pleasant, soothing, and even humorous rather than make her escort dwell on a past better left in silence. And she did not drop his hand until they approached a stately two-story house, the structure more grand than a tenant farmer’s cottage, but certainly not a manor in itself.

“The old earl put you here?” Rosecroft asked as he led her up wide porch stairs.

“He did. He purchased it as a sort of dower house.”

It was a pleasant place, or so Emmie told herself. Flowers abounded, a small barn with adjacent paddocks stood back from the house, and large trees afforded a shifting mosaic of moon shadows. In sunlight, it was cheery, airy, and gracious.

“This is a lot of property for one person to maintain,” the earl said as Emmie settled on the porch swing. He set her bonnet on the steps and turned to look at the moonlit landscape. “You have a nice view to the river, though.”

“I do, and I love my trees. The shade is lovely, and in winter they provide protection from both wind and snow.”

“I missed the greenness of England terribly when I was on the Peninsula,” her companion mused. “Missed it like some men missed their sweethearts.”

“We English are basically homebodies, I think.” Emmie set the swing to rocking gently with her toe. “We wander hither and yon for King and Country, but we come home and are glad to be here.”

“I will take that as my cue to wander home,” the earl said, holding out her bonnet.

“Thank you for your escort, my lord.” She rose from the swing and retrieved her bonnet. “I will see you on Monday.”

“Until then.” He took her hand in his and bowed over it, a courtly gesture one might show a lady but not the daughter of a mere soldier, earning her living in some Yorkshire backwater.

“You can find your way in the dark?” she asked then realized the question was silly. What if he said no? Would she escort him back to the manor?

“I’ll manage.” His teeth flashed in that buccaneer’s smile, and he waited as an escort should until she was safely inside her house. Before she lit a single candle, she turned and peered through her parlor window, watching him disappear into the shadows, his stride brisk, his sense of direction unerring.

When she said her prayers that night, Emmie dutifully thanked the Almighty for the good turn that had finally befallen little Bronwyn. If Emmie could just loosen her grasp of the child, the earl would provide for Winnie, provide generously, and not in any absentminded way, either. He would personally notice what she needed and provide it. The adjustment to not caring directly for Bronwyn, to not worrying about her, would take time, but Emmie vowed she would make it. If she loved that child and wanted what was right for her, she absolutely would.

But before she bid her Creator good night, Emmie also asked for more than the usual measure of fortitude to see her through the coming days, and not just with respect to letting go of Winnie. With the earl’s competence, air of command, and masculine appeal—there, she thought, that term would suffice—Rosecroft was going to be a temptation. Fortunately for her, he was also possessed of pride, arrogance, and a lofty title. If all went well, he would notice Bronwyn and ignore Bronwyn’s cousin.

The fortitude was necessary, however, to assist Bronwyn’s cousin in ignoring—or at least pretending to ignore—the earl.

As that gentleman strode toward his new home, he considered the developments of his day and let his pace slow to a more thoughtful amble. The fountain would need to be repaired, as first impressions were important, and a drive ending in a broken fountain would hardly serve. The stables were adequate but in need of a thorough scrubbing. The previous owner’s neglect meant none of the pastures had been harvested of hay for several years, though. There was an abundant if overripe crop to be cut in the next few weeks, and that was a good thing—provided he could find the labor—for Yorkshire winters were nothing to be trifled with.

He planned and organized his way right back to his own doorstep but hesitated before going inside. The night was lovely, and though the hour was late, he paused at the front terrace.

The porch needed a swing. If there was going to be a child on the premises, that was a high priority. Thinking of Winnie, he went inside, trying to recall where he’d had her quartered. The nursery and children’s rooms would have been on the third floor, but something in him had rebelled at isolating the child from others when she’d been ostracized her whole life.

As there were no sentries to see to the matter, he made a circuit of the interior, knowing it was foolish. In summer, an estate like this would hardly secure its windows and doors, the breezes being welcome, and the likelihood of mischief none at all. Still, he prowled his darkened house before going upstairs then patrolled that floor in its entirety before checking on Winnie.

She looked tiny in her bed; and in sleep, her mouth worked as if she’d been a thumb sucker in infancy. The earl had seen new recruits with the same characteristic ten years her senior. He traced a finger along her downy cheek, and she quieted, so he withdrew.

Leaving him to face the rest of his night alone.

When morning came, he was surprised to realize he’d slept through the night. It was a rare, though no longer unheard of, occurrence. He took the good nights when they came and endured the bad as best he could. In London, he’d gotten into the habit of riding with his brothers before breakfast, and it still seemed like a worthy start to the day.

“Good morning, my lord.” Steen, the butler, bowed, bearing a week-old edition of
The Times
bound for the iron. “Will you and Mr. Holderman be taking tea in the library after your ride?”

“We will, but as Miss Winnie has joined the household, we’re going to have to put together something in the way of breakfasts.”

“I will inform the kitchen, my lord. And will you be passing along some breakfast menus for Cook?”

“After my ride.” Ye gods and little fishes, could his staff not even produce a breakfast without being told to toast both sides of the bread?

“Spare me from menus,” he muttered, frowning as he approached the stables. He clattered out of the yard shortly thereafter, desperately grateful to be mounted and moving. He had let the horses rest and settle in for a few days after their two hundred-mile journey north from Surrey, then put them to light work in the riding ring last week. This week, it was time to graduate to hacking out, taking the horses cross-country, over hill and dale, stream and log.

“You’re trying to convince me you’re a city boy, aren’t you?” The earl patted Red’s muscular neck. The gelding had done well enough in his earliest training, but the open countryside was another matter altogether, as Red reminded him when a rabbit shot across the path. A prop, a halfhearted rear, and some dancing around, and Red was eventually convinced it might have been only a rabbit, not a tiger. The entire ride progressed along the same lines, until the earl realized he was circling back toward the manor along the route he’d taken with Miss Farnum the previous night. He brought Red back down to the walk and changed directions, heading for her house instead.

By day, particularly in the fresh light of early morning, her property was as pleasant and peaceful as he’d imagined it by moonlight. Following his nose, he rode up to the back of the house, not surprised to find several fragrant pies cooling on the porch rail.

He’d slipped Red’s bridle off and set him to grazing Miss Farnum’s backyard when a cheerful voice called to him from the porch.

“Good morning, Lord Rosecroft.” Miss Farnum called, smiling at him broadly. She put two more pies on the rail and waited while he approached the porch. She wasn’t in black, but wore what looked like an old cotton walking dress with a full-length apron belted around her waist—apparently not part of her “most presentable” wardrobe. The apron nipped in and revealed what his hands had told him last night: She was curved in all the right places, both curved in and curved out. He resisted the urge to dwell on that pleasant revelation.

“Good morning, Miss Farnum.” He bowed, finding himself tempted to return the smile. Well, a good night’s sleep was sure to improve a man’s spirits. “I trust you slept well?”

“I did not.” She shook her head, her smile still in place. “It’s a baking day, and in summer one likes to get that done as early as possible. As late as I ran yesterday, I decided to simply get to work when I got home last night. I am almost done with my day’s work.”

“You slept not at all? My apologies. Had I known how limited your time was last evening, I would not have detained you.”

“You would, too,” she contradicted him pleasantly. “But you are here now, so you can give me your opinion. I am of the mind that you excel at rendering opinions.”

The earl felt the corners of his mouth twitching. “I will make allowances for such a remark because you are overly tired and a mere female.”

“You noticed. I’m impressed. Have a seat.” She gestured to a wrought iron table painted white, surrounded with padded wicker chairs, while the earl admitted to himself that, indeed, he
had
noticed, and was continuing to notice. “May I offer you some cider? I keep it in the spring house so it should be cold.”

“Cider would be appreciated,” he replied, wondering at her working at her ovens through the night and now greeting the day with such obvious joy. She banged through a swinging door, leaving him swamped by a cloud of delicious kitcheny scents and contemplating the profusion of flowers growing in her backyard.

She swung back through the door, a tray in her hands. “Prepare to opine.” She sat down in one of the wicker chairs, propped her elbows on the table, and rested her cheeks on her fists.

“Regarding?” The earl lifted an eyebrow, noticing Miss Farnum had a little smudge of flour on her jaw.

“My experiments.” She nodded at the tray and the three separate plates thereon. “Tell me which you prefer and why.”

“You will not join me?” the earl asked, eyeing what looked like three identically delicious flaky pastries.

“I believe I will.” She deftly cut all three in half, put three halves on one plate and the other three halves on a second plate. “Baking is hungry work.” She picked up a pastry without further ado and bit into it, cocking her head and frowning in thought.

“Well, go
on
,” she urged, “or my opinion will carry the day. The dough is adequately turned, I suppose.”

Seeing she had not provided utensils, the earl slid off his riding gloves and picked up a pastry. He bit into it, realizing he was hungry. “Tea in the library” after his ride would have included scones, butter, and jam. The same scones, butter, and jam he’d had every morning since arriving to Rosecroft.

“You put ham and cheese in a pastry? It’s good.”

“What would make it better? Ham, eggs, and cheese tend to become soggy and are boring.”

“Not to an empty stomach, it isn’t.” The earl demolished his first half in two more bites. “Maybe a bit more butter inside?”

“I butter the dough so heavily it practically moos, but it needs something.”

The earl frowned. “Leeks? Garlic for breakfast might be a bit much, but even celery would give it texture. Bacon would add both variety and substance.”

“I will try that,” she said, smiling at him. “Onions, at least. Bacon lacks subtlety, unless I used it very sparingly. Thank you. Try the next one.” The next one had some sort of sweet, soft cheese inside, a rich, heavy filling that made a half portion adequate.

“I’d add a little lemon zest. It will lighten the flavor considerably, make it more a breakfast food than a dessert.”

“Oh, I like that.” Miss Farnum nodded enthusiastically. “Have you lemons in your orangery?”

“I don’t know.” The earl eyed the remaining bite. “If there were lemons in there three years ago, there should be some salvageable stock now.”

“One hopes; try the last one.” Miss Farnum’s eyes were alight with anticipation, and the earl couldn’t help but draw the moment out with a slow sip of his cider.