Page 37 of Lady Audacious
He frowned at her. ‘What on earth makes you suppose that my behaviour has anything to do with Miss Farquhar?’
She waved a hand to brush his question aside, worried that she had overstepped some invisible line. Absolutely sure that she should not have mentioned anything about his private life. Dealing with the aristocracy was baffling. They lived by their own set of rules; rules with which Odile was not familiar and she didn’t want to offend him. ‘It was something someone said to me about her being your intended.’
‘God give me strength!’ He ran a hand abstractedly through his hair. ‘You have only been here for a few days but you already seem to be in possession of the latest gossip.’
‘Have I said something out of turn?’ she asked.
He sighed. ‘You have not. Rest assured that Miss Farquhar and I are not engaged to be married, nor are we ever likely to be. There, does that set your mind at rest?’
‘My mind had not been dwelling upon thoughts of your marital aspirations, or anything directly concerning you,’ she thought it important to point out. ‘I was simply attempting to be considerate.’
He chuckled, a deep, earthy sound that vibrated through his chest and for some reason, caused Odile to blush. The equally deep, probing look that he fixed upon her caused her cheeks to flame even brighter. He was being most unfair, she decided, toying with her for his own amusement when she had absolutely no idea how to respond. Gentlemen visitors to Miss Mackenzie’s establishment were restricted to the annual prize giving, and even then the men in question were not nearly so sophisticated or well-born as the prime specimen standing in front of her, looking lazily amused by her discomfort.
Odile decided that she wasn’t about to put up with it. If he wasn’t prepared to keep their relationship, such as it was, on a formal footing then nor was she. She was a fast learner and would figure out soon enough how to give as good as she got.
‘Well then, if you have no further objections to make, I shall call in the morning as agreed. I will leave it to you to decide whether you are willing to give the village something to gossip about by joining me unchaperoned.’ He sent her another of his assessing looks and then winked. ‘Best wear a gown if you don’t want to shock the parish clerk rigid.’
With that, he lifted his hat to her, whistled to Chase and was gone.
Odile took a moment to gather her wits and her breath. Lord Amberley was so full of energy that his speed of thought made her feel giddy and disadvantaged. He had just set down a challenge, defying her to…well, defy convention and join him alone. And the devil in Odile had already decided that she would rise to that challenge. It came as something of a shock to realise that she actuallyhada devilish side to her character. If it had been there all along, Miss Mackenzie’s strict regime had obviously succeeded in suppressing it.
Now that she was alone the ability to think rationally had been restored to her, and she was perfectly sure that their excursion wouldn’t create the gossip she had first supposed. It wasn’t as though she was an actual lady and if they were seen together, no one would bat an eyelid.
Would they?
‘Oh, you’re back.’ Odile had put Willow on the ground and wandered from the tack room with the puppy at her heels, where she almost ran into Mrs Blaine. Harris was busying himself taking Patrick’s harness off while Albert and Jed carried the supplies they had collected into the house. ‘I did not hear you.’
‘Evidently not. You and the earl appeared to be in deep conversation.’
‘He came looking for Willow, whom he has given to me.’ She bent to pet the puppy. ‘Isn’t that kind of him?’
‘Kind, right enough, but he isn’t the only visitor you had. Doris tells me the earl saw off some rogue.’
‘Doris? How did she…’
‘I just caught her letting herself out of the stables directly behind the tack room. She said she went to see if there were any eggs, but since they were collected this morning that would be both an optimistic hope and a convenient excuse to neglect her duties. Besides, there is a more direct route to the hen coop.’
‘That girl is out to make trouble,’ Odile replied, annoyed to think that she had been eavesdropping and wondering what mischief she intended to make with what she had overheard. ‘She is a hard worker whenshe deigns to apply herself, but she doesn’t seem to know how to mind her own business. I may not be able to keep her on unless she mends her ways. I will not have her tattling about my activities.’
‘I will have a word with her. She’s testing your strength of will, Miss Aspen, which is to be expected I suppose, given your youth. She still feels bitter about the way she was treated by her intended, even though she has no one to blame other than herself. It’s why I thought we should give her an opportunity to prove herself. I hope I shan’t live to regret it. She promised me most faithfully that she wouldn’t let me down. Anyway, it won’t take her long to accept that she’s met her match in you, that you will not stand for her nonsense, and to realise that she is better off in a situation where she is treated with consideration rather than depending upon her family’s charity.’
‘I hope you are right about that.’ But Odile’s unsettled feeling regarding the girl’s intentions endured. ‘I am more accustomed to obeying orders than to issuing them, so perhaps I am seeing problems where none exist.’
‘Come into the kitchen,’ Mrs Blaine said, ‘and I’ll make us a nice cup of tea. Then you can tell me about your other, less welcome visitor.’
Willow ran into the kitchen ahead of them and settled down in front of the range.
‘That one knows when she’s well off,’ Mrs Blaine said as she filled the kettle and set it to boil.
She produced a lard cake which she sliced, setting a generous portion in front of Odile before sitting across from her and listening to her account of Mr Brigstock’s astonishing aspirations. As she spoke, Odile realised that in a very short space of time she had gone from having no one to confide in to having two people whom she trusted as though she had known them for years rather than days. The relief of a burden shared energised her, making her ready to face the ghosts from a past that was a complete blank.
‘Well, it seems to me that the earl has thought of some interesting ways to get more information,’ Mrs Blaine said, getting up when the kettle came to the boil and pouring hot water over the tea leaves. She left the tea to steep and returned to her stool.
‘It seems so obvious, and I ought to have thought of it myself.’
‘Well, even if you had, I doubt whether the county clerk would have allowed you to trawl through his records—but he won’t say no to a belted earl, so you might as well make the most of his offer.’
Odile beamed when Mrs Blaine placed her tea in front of her. She added a little precious sugar to it, feeling decadent, and stirred vigorously. ‘You know, Mrs Blaine, I rather think that I shall.’
