Page 34 of Lord of Mischief
Chapter Nineteen
“Iwish you every success on your journey and I hope to be sharing your good news upon your return,” said Caroline.
Eve looked up from her travel trunk.She rose and approached her sister, taking her by the hand.“Thank you.I know I have been horrid to you lately, but I promise when I come back everything will change,” said Eve.
She felt a prick of guilt over her sister’s good wishes.It would hurt Caroline to know Eve had initially pursued Freddie out of spite over her own popularity.
One day, when they were both long settled in their own marriages, she would confess her guilty secret to her sister.Today, however, was the day to seize her future.
A tearful Caroline hugged her.
“You had better get your cloak.Mama has already said goodbye to Papa three times.”
Freddie left London the day before Eve and Adelaide.His mother was insistent on him being home and settled before his prospective new bride arrived.
With Lady Rosemount having returned home in the Strathmore travel coach straight after Will and Hattie’s wedding, Freddie was left to take the main public coach to Peterborough.There he was met by one of his father’s grooms who brought a spare horse.
The ride back home through the countryside was invigorating.The feeling of wind in his hair and the thud of the horse’s hooves on the country lanes had the blood in his body pumping.Reaching the top of a rise a half mile from his home, he reined the horse in and sat for a moment looking down on his family estate.
It was good to be home.
Below him, at the top of another small rise sat Rosemount Abbey.The main house dated from the mid-sixteenth-century.The first Viscount Rosemount had been one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite courtiers.
Over the ensuing centuries the house had been extended and elaborate gardens created around three sides.While the Rosemount family had only risen to the rank of viscount over the years, they had been astute enough in their business dealings to be near the top of the list of wealthiest families in England.
London was full of life and distraction but here, in the Northamptonshire countryside, he could breath.The fields before him were full of sheep, covered in their coats of wool for the oncoming winter.Beyond them were the red coats of his father’s prized herd of Sussex cattle.
The main fields closest to the long, stone stables were reserved for the highly prized horses of the Rosemount breeding program.Every nobleman in England owned at least one horse from the Rosemount stables.
He sat back in the saddle and thought of the unopened letter sitting in the pocket of his coat.Membership of the Bachelor Board would afford him the opportunity to carve out his own piece of England for himself and his heirs.
His son would not be merely the cousin of the future Viscount Rosemount.He would hold his own place in society, his father’s new wealth behind him.
He spurred his horse on.Two more days and he could open the letter and find out the very last challenge.With Eve by his side, he would successfully complete it and head back to London ready to claim his future.Frederick Rosemount was ready to take his place as a first among equals in the rarefied air of English high society.
Eve climbed down from the travel coach, laughing with joy as she saw Freddie approaching from the stables.He hurried to meet her.
“I am so sorry I am not properly dressed to greet you.I only got word your coach was arriving as it reached the top of the drive,” he said.
The drive was long, some two thirds of a mile from the main Peterborough road.Eve had struggled to stay in her seat when they had finally turned off the main road and she’d caught sight of the house.
Her gaze now was fixed firmly on Freddie’s open-necked shirt, and she was too busy thinking wicked thoughts of what he could to do to her to be concerned about his lack of suitable attire.He had awoken a near constant, sexual hunger within her, and keeping to society’s social expectations was becoming increasingly difficult whenever he was near.She hoped he had already chosen some perfect private places for them to finish the business they started at Vauxhall.
“Lady Adelaide Saunders.Miss Saunders.How wonderful for you to visit with us.”
Eve turned at the sound of her mother’s formal title and saw Lord and Lady Rosemount coming toward them.Eve dipped into a respectful curtsey.Adelaide would be expecting the utmost of impeccable behavior this week.Eve intended to be the perfect, innocent daughter around her mother and the viscount and viscountess.It was Freddie she intended to practice being disgraceful with during their stay.Practice that she intended would make her perfect material for his wife.
A second couple emerged from the house.The man, who Eve assumed was Freddie’s older brother, Thomas, was carrying a young boy.The woman beside him held a baby in her arms.
“Welcome, I’m Thomas Rosemount, and this is my wife, Cecily.This curly haired rascal is James, my heir, and the baby is Jonathan,” said Thomas.
“Yes, I had to convince them not to call the baby Frederick.One Freddie in the family is quite enough,” added Freddie, with a smile.A polite laugh rippled through the gathering.
They climbed the steps into the main house, while the household servants unloaded Adelaide and Eve’s trunks from the coach.
Eve glanced around as they entered the main foyer.A magnificent marble staircase hugged the wall to the left of the entrance.It rose several floors into the air.When she looked up, she quickly understood the need for the staircase to have been built to one side.
A huge white dome dominated the roof of the entrance.Her mouth dropped open as she stood under the center of it.
