Page 86 of The Best-Kept Secrets
“Mybehavior?”
Mother’s expression turned mildly reproachful. “You were embarrassingly dramatic.”
I won’t have to live with this every day.There was some comfort in that.
“But,” Father said in placating tones, “we also acknowledge that we ought to have been more courteous. And I could have been more firm with your grandmother when she began making unkind remarks.”
It was an unexpected concession. “Both of those things would have helped.”
“We are not unreasonable people, Dubhán.” Father undermined the declaration a little with the defensiveness of that response.
“We cannot guarantee your grandmother will be courteous, but we will be.” Mother managed to sound even more defensive than Father had.
They weren’t doing much to convince Duke to believe them. But he hoped they really did mean to try. Changing his residence wouldn’t entirely sever his connection to his parents, so having them choose to be less hurtful would be a very helpful thing.
“And if Grandmother does choose to be unkind again,” Duke said, “will you befirmwith her this time?”
“Do you intend to ask your aunt ifshewill be firm with our mother?” Father asked.
“My aunt is not the one I am talking to at the moment.”
Mother set a hand on Father’s arm, apparently stopping whatever he was about to say. “We will not cause you further distress, Dubhán. We promise.”
Promise.He would believe that if it actually proved true.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“I’d hoped the weather wouldbe more cooperative,” Duke said as he guided the hooded gig Eve was riding in with him carefully around a bend in the muddy road. “At least the rain’s not pouring down any longer.”
Eve wasn’t uncomfortable nor overly bothered by the weather. She was, though, extremely curious. “The weather isn’t ideal for a leisurely jaunt, which leads me to suspect you’ve a destination in mind.”
He kept his expression a little too neutral. “Perhaps.”
“And you’re not meaning to tell me where?”
He shook his head. “I’ve exerted far too much effort since yesterday afternoon arranging this without your discovering the secret. I won’t be tricked into spilling it now.”
It was, perhaps, a bit of a bending of propriety, the two of them alone in a gig. But truly only a bit. Such a thing was not unheard of at a country house party. And no one atthiscountry house party would lob accusations or start whispers. Almost no one.
“Do your parents know about this secretive outing?” She hadn’t missed the disapproval in their eyes when they’d looked her over the day before in the library.
“Definitely not.”
As quickly as she’d grown nervous, she felt relieved. “Is there a reason you planned a mysterious outing?”
“I realized, talking with you in the library yesterday, that you’ve spent far too much of this house party unable to claim even a moment’s calm. I think you deserve to spend a little time enjoying yourself.”
“We’re aiming for another abandoned inn, aren’t we?” She laughed.
“Better even than that,” he said. “The washed-out bridge.”
He pulled the gig to the side of a quaint cottage and beneath an overhang attached to the side of it, precisely the right size for the gig and the horse. They weren’t more than a five-minute drive from the house, yet Eve hadn’t seen this building before.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“When buyers come to Fairfield to undertake business, they generally bring quite a few of their own stablehands, horse handlers, and drivers. My aunt came to the realization ages ago that providing the visiting stable staff their own accommodations separate from the extensive staff at Fairfield was far less disruptive. This is where they stay so they can make their way to the stables when asked to do so by their employer.”
That was rather ingenious. And as there were no buyers at Fairfield at the moment, the cottage would not be in use. But puffs of smoke emerged from the chimney. Someone was there.
