Page 71 of The Heir
“You are quiet,” the earl remarked as they tooled along toward Willow Bend.
“If I am quiet enough, I can fool myself into thinking I am still abed, dreaming on my nice cool sheets.” Dreaming of him, most nights.
“Am I working you too hard?” the earl asked, glancing over.
“You are not. The heat can disturb one’s rest.”
“Are my brothers behaving? Dev is tidy, but Val can be a slob.”
“Lord Val’s only crime is that he commandeers Morgan for a couple of hours each afternoon and lets her join him in the music room while he works on his repertoire.”
“You can trust Val to be a gentleman with her.”
“And can I trust you to be a gentleman?”
“You can trust me,” the earl replied, “to stop when you tell me to, to never intentionally hurt you, to listen before I judge, and to tell you the truth as far as I know it. Will that do?” It was all he was going to give her, but Anna reflected on how much more he offered than other men in her life were willing to.
“It will do.” It would have to.
He turned the conversation to the practicalities of the situation at Willow Bend. There was a temporary crew of day laborers on hand from the local village, and they’d been busily moving furniture, hanging drapes, unpacking the crates of linens and flatware. The scene was very different from their previous visit to the place, with wagons, people, and noise everywhere.
A young boy emerged from the stables to take Pericles, and the earl escorted Anna to the front door.
“I want you to see it the way my sister might,” he said, “not as the servants and tradesmen do. So…” He opened the front door, and led her through. “Welcome to Willow Bend, Mrs. Seaton.”
She appreciated the public nature of the greeting and appreciated even more that there was a public on hand to witness it. Carpenters, glaziers, laborers, and apprentices were bustling to and fro; hammers banged, the occasional yell sounded above stairs, and boys were scurrying everywhere with tools and supplies.
“Yer lordship!” A stocky man of medium height made his way to their side.
“Mr. Albertson, our pleasure. Mrs. Seaton, my foreman here, Allen Albertson. Mr. Albertson, Mrs. Seaton is the lady in charge of putting the finishing touches on all your work.”
“Ma’am.” Albertson smiled and tugged his forelock. “You been finishing the daylights out of this place, if I do say so. Where shall we start, milord?”
“Ma’am?” The earl turned to her, his deference bringing an inconvenient blush to her cheeks.
“The kitchen,” Anna said. “It’s the first room you’ll want functional and a very important room to people both upstairs and below.”
“To the kitchen, Mr. Albertson.” Westhaven waved a hand and offered Anna his arm.
Room by room, floor by floor, they toured the house. Shelves that had been bare now held neat rows of cups and glasses, or stacks of dishes, toweling, table linen, and candles. Anna asked that the spice rack be moved closer to the work table and suggested a bench be added along the inside kitchen wall. She had a bench put into the back hallway, as well, and a pegged board nailed to the wall for jackets, capes, and coats.
“You need a boot scrape, too,” she pointed out, “since this is the entrance closest to the stables and gardens.”
“You will make a note, Mr. Albertson?” the earl prompted.
“Aye.” Albertson nodded, rolling his eyes good-naturedly to show what he thought of feminine notions.
They went on through the house as the morning got under way, finding a set of drapes needing to be switched, some tables that had ended up in the wrong parlors, and a pair of carpets that should have gone in opposite bedrooms. In the music room, she had the harp covered and the piano’s lid closed.
“You may leave us now, Mr. Albertson,” Westhaven said as they approached the last bedroom. “I take it the men will soon break for their nooning?”
“They will. It be getting too hot to do the heavy work, but we’ll be back when it cools. Ma’am.” He bowed and took his leave, bellowing for the water dipper before he’d gained the stairs.
“He may lack a certain subtlety,” the earl said, “but he’s honest, and he’s getting the job done.”
“And a lovely job it is,” Anna said. “The place is looking wonderful.”
“I wanted to save this for last,” the earl said, opening the door to the final bedroom. It was the room where they’d passed the night, and Anna felt her heart stutter as the earl ushered her over the threshold.
