Page 42 of His Spirited Lady
Richard flexed his fingers against the blanket and shook his head. “She’s no trouble.”
“Enough sadness,” she said. “How was your day?”
“I’m glad this party is almost over.” The incongruity ofhimdreading a party wasn’t lost. “Between croquet and fending off insults, I’m exhausted.”
Not to mention kissing Amelia.Even after a ride, in this kitchen, by the fire, he could close his eyes and catch her scent on his coat. He didn’t want his tea because he could still taste her.
Richard snatched his teacup and downed the drink in one lukewarm gulp.
“Insults?” Thea asked. “About you having a profession?”
“Some of them, yes. I swear but I’ve never seen a group of people so opinionated about their own laziness.” He looked to her. “How do you manage it?”
“It helps that Oliver hates town, so we only go for lords and bolt for home whenever possible.” She relaxed in her chair, stroked a frayed and faded ribbon on her cuff. “I suppose, too, that I’ve never tried to live down my past. I won’t apologize for having made a living, or a life, before Oliver returned. Just as he had a life in trade before he had a title. Those experiences made us suited for the future now in front of us.” She sipped her tea. “But be wary of branding them all lazy, Richard.”
“What?” Surely she, of all people, wasn’t going to perpetuate the myth that men with no calluses on their hands were somehow better simply due to the luck of birth.
“There is good and bad in every class,” Thea said. “You’ve seen it. Some peoplearelazy, but others work in different ways, the ways they are allowed, to ensure the lives of the people dependent upon them. And, like Oliver, some choose that.”
Amelia was doing the same thing, in her own way. She’d been passionate this afternoon at the picnic, explaining how her whiskey had been sourced from local ingredients. Even now, her still was full of the apples she’d stealthily advised Fletcher to buy from a farmer Richard now suspected was a tenant of the Chitesters.
“He didn’t know what he was getting into,” Richard argued. Oliver had left Canada as a black-sheep second son and had landed in Britain as the heir to a title. Amelia knew what she was choosing.
Just like you know it’s a waste.
“But he didn’t have to come at all,” Thea said. “He could have remained in Canada. He could have returned and run his estate by proxy. I could have refused his proposal and stayed an innkeeper. In some ways, those lives would have been simpler. But the fact that we chose this life, that we work together, makes it easier to withstand any gossip.”
What if the gossip was true? “It’s not just about my profession,” Richard confessed. “Fiona Allen—” How on earth did he explain that he’d spent so much time avoiding society ladies that he hadn’t recognized one when she’d caught him? At best, it made him sound naïve; at worst, it conveyed how much time he spent in bad company. “She’s quite forward.”
Fiona had approached him aboard ship, on her own. She’d introduced herself by her Christian name and struck up a conversation. But it said something about him that he’d equated those behaviors to a doxy. Didn’t it?
“I dislike that word,” Thea said. “It just means she’s bold. You and Oliver were bold, and no one criticized you. Thetonconsiders you odd, but, if pressed, those men would have to admit they admire your accomplishments. Fiona is considered bold, but Mr. Raymond is considered determined. Maybe stubborn. I’m bold.” She shot him a sideways glance. “So is your betrothed.”
His coat sleeve had smoothed out quickly, but it was easy to recall Amelia’s grip on it.It’s very boring to sit, smile, and drink tea.“Perhaps indiscreet is more accurate. Fiona seems to delight in making Amelia uncomfortable.”
Richard couldn’t totally fault her, though. Fiona’s persistence had led to that unexpected kiss in the dark. On the face of it, Amelia’s behavior wasn’t that much different than Fiona’s. His reaction, however, was.
He couldn’t wait to kiss Amelia again, and that eagerness told him he’d be safer kissing Fiona.
Life was complicated.
“I have not told you, but I am thrilled you and Amelia are marrying,” Thea said. “Though all of Norfolk will miss her—and her whiskey. Whether they know it or not.”
And all of Quebec would miss getting acquainted.Even if they didn’t know it, he did.
As he’d said—complicated.
*
Amelia disliked shooting.She saw no point in getting up early only to stand around and do nothing but wait for an animal to wander by. She dreaded the noise and the cold, for it was always dismal during hunting season. Most of all, she hated the animal’s panic if the shot was missed or they sensed their killer, when they knew they were being hunted.
This morning, she added an extra reason. She was going to be trapped in a blind with Ethan Raymond.
It wasn’t on purpose, though he was acting as if she’d chosen him deliberately. It was really more of a consequence. He’d chosen Anthony Ashton, heir to the Viscount Burwell, as his partner. Amelia believed Tony, a good-looking rather serious fellow, would make a good match for Annabel Pearce. To do the matching, she needed to be in the blind with them.
Across the carriage, Annabel hid a yawn behind her hand. “Do forgive me.”
“It’s far too early,” Amelia said. “I should have devised an indoor activity for the ladies, but it seemed fair play to watch the men shoot if they are going to join us for archery.”
