Page 19 of A Fearless Heart
“You’re goingout, my lady?” Martha asked incredulously.
“Outside in the main gardens and the meadow, yes. I’m not leaving Calderwood.” Cady laughed at the mere idea. The world beyond her gates was a terror to her now.
“Oh.” Martha sagged in relief. “The gardens, yes. I suppose that’s all right.”
“It has occurred to me that I ought to be overseeing the efforts of the new gardener if there’s any hope of getting all the necessary work done this spring. Have you spoken to him much?”
“A bit, my lady. He seems quite personable, and he always does what he’s asked, so says Mr Rundle.”
“Did he mention anything about his past or his family?” Cady asked, realizing she knew almost nothing about him.
Martha replied, “Come to think of it, I can’t recall a single thing he’s said about himself. He’s one of those types that lets others talk.”
Once dressed in a sturdy wool gown in a deep coffee shade, and wearing her usual dark cloak over it, Cady proceeded outside to find Mr Court. He was working outside the main garden shed on the north side, just past the paddock. A wheel had come off one of the carts, and he was busily repairing it.
“Good morning,” she said.
He straightened up and gave her a smile, before thinking better of it and nodding his head once. “My lady.”
“Is the cart damaged?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed. I may have to go to the village to see about a part. There’s a blacksmith there, I assume.”
“Yes, name of Lowell. He’s always done very good work. Well, I should hope he does. Perhaps don’t mention it’s for Calderwood,” Cady said, thinking that it was quite possible that no one would do any work for her or her people at all by this point.
Mr Court looked surprised. “Never met a tradesman who didn’t like getting paid.”
“You’ve yet to meet the tradespeople of Dorbridge,” she said wryly.
Before he could press her on it and bring up all sorts of awkward subjects, Cady gestured toward the small building that held the kennel. “You took the dogs out yesterday. Was it difficult? Handling them both at once, I mean. Papa never had a problem, but he got them as pups. They adored him.”
“They were very good,” he assured her. “Tried to bolt just once, but it was understandable. They got the scent of someone in the woods and wanted to chase them down.”
Cady stilled. “Someone in the woods? My woods?”
“Yes, my lady. I only glimpsed him. A man or boy wearing a reddish coat. Didn’t wonder at the time, but he was probably a poacher.”
“But there’s fencing all around the property.”
Gabe gave her an odd smile. “No fence in the world that can’t be climbed, or cut, or dug under, my lady. Your land is prime territory. All those woods and nothing to stop the deer and rabbits and birds from breeding.”
“I don’t want strangers on the estate,” Cady said. If someone was bold enough to be in the woods, they might get bold enough to reach the house, or enter the house. And who knew what damage they’d wreak then…
“My lady? Are you well?” Gabe had stepped closer to her, and half raised a hand to touch her shoulder. His form was large enough to block the sunlight for a moment, and Cady blinked in the unexpected shade.
“What? Yes, I’m perfectly well.” She was imagining scenarios of casually cruel youths trooping though the gardens or invading the glasshouses. She shivered. A few minutes ago, she’d been so secure in her belief that at least here she was safe.
“You said that yesterday. But you didn’t look well, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
She pulled herself together. “I do mind, Mr Court,” she said, striving for a more formal tone.
“Oh. Well, in that case let’s pretend I didn’t say anything.” He gave her another smile, this one half sweet, half mischievous.
Cady couldn’t stop a laugh from bubbling up. He really was rather charming. “Very well, Mr Court. Let’s simply go on. I believe you requested that I give your instructions personally.”
“It’s just that I want to do well,” he said, looking earnest now. “If you can tell me what you really need, then I’ll be able to help. In the gardens, I mean.”
“We have a prodigious amount of work. Spring is the most important season for any garden. The bulbs and roots planted last autumn need to be checked to see that they’ve made it through the winter. There are seedlings in some of the glasshouses that will soon be moved outside, so you’ll have to prepare the beds, and let’s see, oh yes, I’ll need more mulch at the front for the rose garden, and the woodland garden…”
