Page 46 of His Spirited Lady
“And I have a shotgun.” Her father was deadly serious. “Though it would be difficult to reach you in Quebec, which leads me to our other concern.”
Trade.It had to be. A baron might be the lowest rung on the social ladder, but he was stillonthe ladder. Most wanted their daughters to move up a rung or three, not step off entirely.
Oddly, Richard’s concerns over Oliver had been the reverse. Quebec had its share of titled, and entitled, Englishmen—and Frenchmen for that matter. Richard had seen them escort their wives to church on Sunday and their mistresses upstairs on any other night of the week. He’d monitored Oliver and Julia’s eventual courtship carefully.
He’d never been so glad to be wrong. And he’d make sure Augustus—
You’ll make sure of nothing.
Augustus waved away his concern. “It’s reassuring that you don’t need her dowry. But…” He faced Richard with watery eyes. “I’m ill, and Quebec is a long distance.”
Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn,damn.
Richard’s tongue itched to tell the man the truth. “Augustus—”
“I want her to be taken care of, to have—”
“Amelia has a good sense about her, sir. You know, the wine was her idea.” He tiptoed into the discussion. “I’d mentioned the arrival of my first shipment, and she introduced me to her tenant—”
“Eamon? She argued with me for days to let him build on the property. He’s your distributor?”
And your daughter.“He is. But Amelia suggested that if I brought you the case, perhaps the party would help carry the word back to London. She has a good business sense, Augustus.”
“She’s a lot like your nephew. Before Marian and I married, Amelia spent a great deal of time with me. She picked up more than I thought. But she’s not a man, Richard. You know that—”
An arrow thwacked into the carriage box, just below their feet.
“What the hell?” Richard snapped his attention to the clearing below. Jasper Warren dropped his bow to the left, pointing toward Amelia squaring off opposite Ethan Raymond.
Richard leapt from the gig. “Excuse me, Augustus,” he said without looking back.
He jogged down the hill, as much to keep his balance as to reach Amelia’s side, treading mint and thyme underfoot and dragging the scents with him. Once on level ground, he straightened his coat and cuffs, nodding his thanks as he passed by Jasper. “You’re handy with that thing.”
“I don’t want to inherit that badly,” the other man said in his typical bored drawl. It was as though he couldn’t be bothered to open his mouth properly. “Raymond’s been poking at her all morning, but it only just got heated.”
“Let me pass, Mr. Raymond.” Amelia’s command cut through the air. “I have had quite enough of this.”
Richard strode across the makeshift archery range, his stare fixed on her tormentor.
“You’vehad?” Raymond sneered, his arms crossed like any schoolyard bully. “You flirt with me endlessly in London, vanish into the countryside so I had to chase you, and then spend the weekend playing hard to get. Only to turn around and invite me to house party where you announce your betrothal to atradesmanwho is only after your dowry.” He pointed behind them. “He is likely up the hill now, scheming how to separate you from your funds and your home.”
Amelia raised a fist, and Richard hesitated, hoping he’d see her lay into the man.
Instead, she raised her index finger. “I danced with you, and we rode in the park. Just like half a dozen other girls.” Another finger. “We returned to the country because the Season was over.” Another. “You arrived without invitation and without notice.” Another. “I’ll give you that point. Though I dare say none of the other young men considered it an invitation to a proposal.”
Her thumb. “Richard could buy and sell you if he so chose, but he has better breeding. You will cease these tasteless remarks or you are welcome to pack your bags.”
She stopped just short of stamping her foot, but her skirt twitched. Her glove was taut over her knuckles as she gripped her bow.
Richard went to her side and tugged the weapon free before she bashed Raymond over the head. “And sixth, I don’t need another home. I have two fine ones, along with two businesses, on two separate continents.” He curved his hand to Amelia’s waist, coaxing her to look up at him. Her blue eyes were full of sparks. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been talking to your father about us staying in France for a few months after the wedding. What do you think, darling?”
He could imagine her at Rosnay, surrounded by sunshine and flowers, the sea breeze catching her hair. She’d be pestering the winemaker about his process, no doubt.
The image was still in his brain when she grasped his shoulder and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Her fine cotton dress did little to mask her body heat as she lingered, her hair tickling his nose and her breath warming his ear. “I think that would be lovely. Thank you for asking.”
Even if this was just for the other man’s benefit, Richard wasn’t going to complain. Instead, he flexed his fingers against the ridges of her stays and turned enough to inhale her sweet scent. After a few days away from the distillery, she smelled of flowers and sunshine instead of fruit and sugar.
He didn’t know which he preferred.
