Page 43 of From Rakes to Riches

“You’re aware, are you not, my lord, that your sons think you’re about to do just that?”

No, they couldn’t possibly think he’d do something so cruel as that.

Could they? “No, they don’t. They know I’d never?—”

“They don’t know anything of the sort.” She nodded toward the other end of the stables. “Look at them, my lord. Anyone can see you’ve upset them.”

He did as she bid him, and his heart sank. The boys were still standing in front of the pen, their small bodies tense and their wary gazes fixed on him, as if they weren’t certain what he’d do next, and were determined to keep their eyes on him. “I didn’t mean to?—”

“I understand it seems ridiculous to you to call our lessons animal husbandry, Lord Hawke. Despite what you may think, I do realize domestic cats don’t qualify as livestock. I’m not a fool.”

“I don’t think you’re a?—”

“The boys enjoy being in the stables, my lord, and like most young children, they’re interested in animals. My intent with these lessons is merely to encourage that interest, and at the same time teach them how to behave towards animals with kindness and compassion.”

“I—I wasn’t going to take the cat.” He’d told her that twice already, and he sounded like a half-wit repeating himself over again, but those were the words that rose to his lips whenhe turned back to face Miss Templeton. All at once it seemed imperative that someone, at least, understood that much. “I would never take something they loved away from them. Surely, they must know that?”

“How would they know it?” Despite her harsh words, her face had softened a little. “It’s been months since they’ve seen you. That’s a lifetime at their age. They aren’t certain what you’ll do, because they don’t know you anymore.”

It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear, but hadn’t he seen the truth of what she was saying for himself? He might argue with her all he liked, but it wouldn’t change a thing. “Tell the boys they can keep their cat, and carry on with their…animal husbandry lessons.” It took an effort for him to getthatout. “I won’t interfere again.”

He brushed past her and strode toward the stable doors. A blast of frigid air hit him square in the face and crept under the neckline of his coat as he paused there, half-hoping and half-dreading one of the boys would call out to him, asking him not to leave…

Neither of them said a word.

But Miss Templeton did. “Wait, Lord Hawke.” He paused without turning around. Footstep approached from behind him, a determined click of a boot heel against the stone floor. “As I said, the boys don’t know you anymore, but theywantto.”

He did turn then, startled. It was a kindness in her to tell him that. A kindness he didn’t expect, and one he didn’t deserve. Not from her.

For the first time, he reallylookedat her. Oh, she had a haughtiness to her, certainly, with that firm little chin and the determined brow, but there was a softness to her mouth, and compassion in those unusual blue gray eyes.

She was rather like Sophie, in some ways. Kind, but with a backbone of pure steel. There weren’t, after all, manygovernesses in England who’d dare to tell their employer his sons were afraid of him. Miss Templeton might be a troublesome, meddling bit of baggage, but she was no coward.

“What happened just now,” she waved her hand toward the corner of the stables where Hecate’s pen was located. “And yesterday, on the staircase…there are bound to be rough patches as the boys become accustomed to your being here, my lord, but young boys have short memories, and your sons are eager to give you the benefit of the doubt. In the end, these little misunderstandings won’t matter much.”

He sucked in a breath. She didn’t have to tell him any of this. Given the way he’d treated her since he arrived at Hawke’s Run, she had every reason in the world to want to keep him far away from her and his boys.

“They talk about you all the time, you know. Why not stay for the lesson? Ryan and Etienne asked you to come, didn’t they?”

“Yes.” But that was before he’d threatened their cat, and shouted at their beloved governess. No doubt they were eager to see him go now.

“You might learn something you don’t know about animal husbandry if you stay,” she added, a cautious smile on her lips. “You don’t have to touch Hecate.”

“I…no, I don’t think so.” He should have said more—a thank you, at least, for the consideration she’d shown him, but his chest was tight with shame, and all he could think to say was, “You’ll tell the boys what I said about Hecate?”

She nodded, but her smile vanished, her brows drawing together in a frown. “I’ll tell them, my lord.”

He returned to the castle and went straight to his bedchamber, but even the fire leaping in the grate couldn’t chase away the chill. He considered ordering another bath, but this chill went deeper than his skin, all the way down to his bones.

Guilt and shame could freeze a man from the inside out.

The way Ryan and Etienne had looked at him, when he’d lost his temper with Miss Templeton just now! They’d been trulyfrightenedof him, and Ryan had jumped in front of Hecate’s pen as if he’d actually believed Adrian might hurt the cat.

God, the shame that had flooded him then…

The past two years had been the bitterest of his life, but he couldn’t recall a more bitter moment than that one.

He leapt up and began to pace from one end of his bedchamber to the other. What had Miss Templeton said, about the animal husbandry lessons? That she wanted to teach Ryan and Etienne how to behave with kindness and compassion?

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