Now that was extravagance and she said to the man, “In the daytime?”
The old fellow chuckled at her. “Only on dark days like this, miss.”
Katey sat down on one of the benches that had been set near the coach. The servant soon finished his task and left her alone there. The coach was an amazing sight. The wheels had been removed, making it seem as if it were planted in the ground! Flowers and vines surrounded it. But it certainly didn’t need any extra light. Entirely white and gold, it was probably blinding when sun came through the windows. But the chandeliers did give it a unique glow, making it look almost ethereal, and bringing fairy tales to mind.
She felt her nervous stomach settling down. Even her agitation from last night went away. The setting was so peaceful, and she felt some of that peace flowing through her.
She didn’t even stiffen or jump up to leave when Boyd appeared and sat down next to her. Their talk last night had aroused some powerful emotions in her, but she wasn’t the least bit aggravated by his presence now. As she looked at him, she thought, why did he have to be so handsome? He was dressed as he’d usually been on his ship in an open-collared shirt and an unbuttoned jacket. He wasn’t fashionably attired with a cravat, yet his clothes fit him splendidly, too splendidly, hugging his lean, muscular body.
“So you don’t really mind the rain after all?” he asked.
She’d wiped her face off on her long sleeves, but beads of water still clung to her braid, and wet patches dotted her lime green dress everywhere. She saw that he was just as wet as she was, and he hadn’t wiped his face yet. She had an urge to remove the raindrops from his cheeks with her…tongue…
She blushed immediately at the direction her thoughts had taken, but he probably assumed it was because of his question. She tried hard to keep her tone conversational, just as his had been. “Not when it’s my choice to go out in it,” she answered.
He grinned. “I get the point.”
“Not so dumb after all?” She grinned back at him.
Good grief, was she teasing him? Well, it certainly felt better than yelling at him, but where had her anger gone? She hadn’t forgiven him, not even a little. Maybe it was the setting? It was making her feel as if she were in a fairy tale…or one of her fantasies…where Boyd Anderson often appeared.
“I thought you were visiting your relatives this morning. I didn’t expect to find you still here.”
“How did you know I was visiting relatives?”
“I asked Roslynn. I’d rather not leave things to chance where you’re concerned.”
She blushed again, and her whole body suddenly felt warm. She was reminded why she’d told him she was married to begin with. He disturbed her on a level she just wasn’t familiar with. He had revealed his feelings, or rather, desires, when he’d thought she was a criminal. And he wasn’t hiding them now when he knew better, because he also knew she wasn’t really married. Could she withstand his flirtations this time? Or was she still too attracted to him to enjoy just a little romance and then move on?
“Cat got your tongue, Katey?”
She blinked away her thoughts. “I’m not going visiting in the rain. It can wait until tomorrow.”
He grinned and reminded her, “You just admitted you don’t mind rain. Dare I hope you were reluctant to leave Haverston without seeing me again?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Not a chance. I’ve just never met my mother’s family, so I want this first meeting to be perfect.”
“Ah, understood. Did you let them know you’d be delayed?”
“They don’t even know I’m in England.”
He raised a brow. “You’re not going to let them know you’re in the area before you appear at their door?”
“So they can pack up and leave?”
It was obvious she wasn’t joking now, which made Boyd frown. “Why would you say that?”
She’d never mentioned the Millards to him. They certainly hadn’t come up in any of their conversations aboard his ship.
She didn’t want to explain the situation now, either, so she said, “They’re my mother’s family, but they disowned her when she married my father and moved to America. They may not want to meet me. In fact, I almost didn’t come here.”
He started to reach for her hand. It would have been a natural thing for him to do—if they’d been friends and didn’t have his blunder standing between them. He put his hand back on his knee, but she knew what he’d almost done, and those warm, sparkly sensations were filling her again…. What the devil?
“Did you consider they might not even be in residence now?” he inquired.
“We stopped in Havers Town on the way here and made inquiries at several shops. The Millards are here.”
“Would you like an escort? I would be very pleased to accompany you. Moral support if you need it.”
Was he just trying to make amends, or did he really want to offer his support? It was hard to tell what was on his mind—other than lust, which was easy to recognize with him. But his eyes weren’t filled with it just now, and he was being cordial and—nice.
Katey groaned to herself. What was she thinking? It didn’t matter how he was behaving now, she’d seen him at his worst—arrogant, stubborn, deaf to reason, and she’d had to suffer all that plus a lot more that she did blame him for. He might not have put her in jail, but she wouldn’t have ended up there if he hadn’t forcibly removed her from Northampton that day.
She stood up abruptly. “Thank you, but this is something I have to do alone. And I believe I’m ready for breakfast now.”
He called her name, but she hurried off without stopping. And she wouldn’t have stopped at the breakfast room either if it had been empty, because she heard Boyd right behind her. But it wasn’t empty.
The smaller, more casual room for eating had a wall of windows that caught the morning sun when it wasn’t overcast or raining like today. It was set up for a buffet today. Judith and her mother were already seated at the table, and Katey took a seat between them. That kept her from having any more private words with Boyd for the moment, and she was determined to try to keep it that way for the remainder of her visit.
Chapter 23
KATEY SKIPPED LUNCHEON, but realized how silly she was being trying to avoid Boyd. He was stalking her, anyway, at least that’s how it seemed when she couldn’t turn around without finding him nearby. Somehow he got her to agree to a game of chess. Did Boyd bring out a competitive streak in her? She’d been unable to lay him low with words so she was going to demolish him with a board game?
It turned out to be an enjoyable experience that lasted most of the afternoon. Judith stood by her side and whispered moves she could make. Boyd accused Katey of cheating because of it! “Who’s playing against me?” he asked at one point. “You or Judy?”
“Getting nervous?” Katey smirked as she captured his second knight, leaving him with no move for retaliation unless he wanted to lose his queen, too. “Judith’s just confirming for me that my strategy is working. She and I seem to think alike.”
Glancing from Katey to Judith, he exclaimed, “My God, you two even smirk alike. How about helping me instead, Judy? I’m the one who’s losing here.”
The child giggled, but stayed right where she was. And Boyd proved he wasn’t losing at all when he captured Katey’s queen four moves later. And that about ended that round. When the queen goes, all hope goes with her.
Boyd played so aggressively! Katey wasn’t used to that. All of her prior games of chess had been with her mother, and played leisurely as an enjoyable means of passing the time. But she shouldn’t have been surprised by Boyd’s style of play.
She’d sensed his aggressive nature the first day she’d met him when it had been so obvious that he was going to pursue her. The man had overwhelmed her then, so much so that she’d had to put a stop to it by inventing a husband. She had thought she’d be better able to handle flirtations of that sort with time, but apparently not, at least
not with Boyd.
But for the moment his aggression was centered on a game, and Katey was enjoying herself too much to end it. He won that first game and they immediately started another. And he continued to go out of his way to distract her and keep her from concentrating, all deliberately. There was a lot of laughter, and she realized later that there shouldn’t have been. Chess was a serious game, but he’d turned it into more fun than Katey had ever had playing it.
She didn’t exactly demolish him at only one win out of three, but his victories had been difficult, so the games had been close enough to suit her.
“Who taught you to play?” he finally asked her when they put the chess pieces away.
Dinner had been announced, and he offered his arm to escort her to the dining room. She took his arm without thinking, too relaxed in his company to remember that she shouldn’t be touching him.
“My mother,” she said. “We used to play once or twice a week in the evenings.”
“Did you lose to her so easily?”
She sputtered a laugh. “You call that easy? I nearly had you all three games!”
“Nearly never counts—except like this.”
He demonstrated what “this” was when he pulled her aside next to the doorway, out of view from anyone in the hall, and trapped her there with an arm on either side of her, her back to the wall. Judith had run ahead. They were alone in the room now. And while he wasn’t actually touching her, she sensed he would be at any moment.
“Don’t,” she said—or did she? She was staring at his mouth, breathlessly waiting for his kiss as he slowly leaned in closer to her.
“Katey?”
It was Judith calling from the hall to see what was keeping her. Boyd sighed and stepped away from her. Then he put her hand back on his arm and continued to escort her to the dining room as if he hadn’t almost kissed her.
Katey was incredulous. Did he think she’d forgiven him? He certainly seemed to be acting as if it were a foregone conclusion. Not once today had he mentioned his regret, but then she hadn’t once mentioned the incident either, so he could be basing assumptions on that. He did make assumptions too easily, she reminded herself, including ridiculous ones….
“Boyd,” she began.
But they’d reached the dining room, and what she would have said couldn’t be said now with the Malorys already gathered there. But he got another word in.
“Sit next to me?” he whispered.
Katey took her hand from his arm and said simply, “No,” as she moved to the seat next to Judith again, rather than the two empty seats on the other side of the table. She saw that Boyd was slightly frowning now as he took one of those seats across from her. That was too bad. He needed to remember what she’d told him last night in this very room, and now that they were back in it, maybe he would. Just because she had been somewhat sociable with him today for the Malorys’ sake didn’t mean anything had changed.
She vowed to ignore him for the rest of the evening. That would make her point. And it would have worked well if her eyes weren’t drawn to him so often. So she started a conversation with Jason Malory, to keep her attention directed away from Boyd.
She hadn’t had the nerve last night to ask Jason about his neighbors. The large man had intimidated her too much with his serious looks and reticence yesterday. He was blond and green-eyed like his brothers James and Edward—only Anthony had the dark Gypsy looks. Judith had tried to assure her that Jason was only a tyrant where his brothers were concerned, that he was like a big, cuddly bear with the rest of the family. Whether that was true or not, he was much more friendly today, had spoken to her several times, and had even stood with his arm around Judith and watched the chess game for a while.
So she asked him what he could tell her about the Millard family. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much.
“They were never very sociable here in the country,” he told her, then added with a grin, “Not that we’ve ever been a whirl of parties out here. But they weren’t part of the London circle either. Neither was I, but my younger brothers all were, and I don’t recall them ever mentioning the Millards being part of that crowd. I think the Millards favored Gloucester, at least that’s where I heard your grandmother Sophie was from, before she married the earl, so they did most of their socializing in that city.”
“Did you know my mother, Adeline?”
“I’m afraid I can’t recall ever meeting Lady Adeline. There was a rumor that she’d married some baron on the Continent. Not so?”
“No.”
“Her older sister, Letitia, I vaguely recall seeing in Havers Town from time to time when I was much younger. Actually, now that I think of it, I used to see her there quite often. Seemed like every time I went to town back then, there she was, doing some sort of shopping or other. She used to be a friendly girl. Always stopped to have a few words with me.”
“Used to be?”
“If I happen to come across her these days, she completely snubs me. For whatever reason, she never married. It turned her quite disagreeable, or that seems to be the general consensus. Oddly, I have few memories of the friendly girl, but the bitter one I recall clearly. I suppose an unpleasant person tends to stand out in one’s mind.”
That little bit of information was more than Katey’s mother had ever given her, including the names of her relatives. “My father” or “the earl” or “my mother” was how Adeline had always referred to them, and she’d never even mentioned a sister! And Katey would meet them tomorrow. Hopefully.
Chapter 24
KATEY HADN’T PLANNED on taking Grace with her to the Millard estate. Her maid had a way of either attempting to bolster Katey’s courage with her sarcastic remarks, which could goad Katey into showing her maid that she was wrong, or adding to any nervousness that was besetting her. But Boyd’s appearance at Haverston changed Katey’s mind about leaving Grace behind. Returning to the marquis’s estate after her visit to the Millards’ just to collect her maid was the worse of two evils—with Boyd still there.
But Grace surprised her. She barely said a word on the short drive to the Millard home, and it really was a short drive. Haverston was in the country on one side of the small town of Havers, and the Millards lived out in the country on the other side. The drive between the two estates was less than twenty minutes. It seemed odd to Katey that with such proximity the two families didn’t know each other better, but as Jason had said, this part of Gloucestershire wasn’t known for much socializing.
“I’ll wait here in the coach,” Grace said when they pulled up in front of the stately country manor. “Just don’t forget I’m out here if you plan on a long visit.”
Grace’s reticence was almost palpable now. She had pretty much pushed this visit down Katey’s throat, but now she was obviously just as worried about the outcome as Katey. If it didn’t go well, Grace would be blaming herself.
But that was only in the back of Katey’s mind as she stood at the front door of the large country manor. The estate wasn’t nearly as big as Haverston, but it was still imposing, and in the forefront of her mind was a fear she’d never known. No, that wasn’t so. She’d felt the same fear the first time she’d come to Havers Town. She’d succumbed to it then and hadn’t got this far, right to her relatives’ door. She was about to do the same thing again, to turn around and race off in any direction other than here…
“Can I help you, miss?”
The door had opened. An old fellow stood there in the kind of meticulous black suit that servants usually wore. The Millard butler? No, her family’s butler. Damnit, it was her family who lived here. They might have disowned her mother, but that didn’t negate her being a part of them. And that disowning had happened long ago. Adeline might never have forgiven them for it, but perhaps her family now regreted their actions. And Katey would never know either way if she didn’t tell them who she was.
“I’m Katey Tyler.”
The old fellow’s look was completely blank. He didn?
??t recognize the name Tyler at all. Well, perhaps he was new to the household, or more likely, perhaps the family didn’t discuss personal matters with their servants. Or perhaps a name like Tyler simply wouldn’t be remembered twenty-three years later.
“I would like to speak to the lady of the house, if she’s available?”
“Come inside, miss.” He extended an arm. “That wind is a bit chilly.”
She hadn’t noticed the wind until he mentioned it. The rain had stopped at some point in the night, but a solid bank of clouds kept the sun from shining this morning.
The butler showed her to a large room furnished as a parlor. That she’d even been let inside meant that her grandmother must be at home. And her queasy stomach worsened. But mixed in with that uncomfortable feeling was a good deal of awe that tightened her throat with emotion. This was the house her mother had grown up in! Had she sat on that brown and rose brocaded sofa? Had she warmed her hands at the fireplace? Who was the man in the portrait above the cherrywood mantel? Brown-haired and distinguished-looking, he was not tall, but was quite handsome. Adeline’s father? Her grandfather? An even older ancestor?
God, how much family history must be in this house! And the stories. Would they tell them to her? Would they share their memories?
“My mother is sleeping. She hasn’t been feeling well. Can I help you?”
Katey swung around. The woman was middle-aged with faded brown hair and emerald eyes. Katey’s eyes. Her mother’s eyes. She could feel some moisture gathering in her own. This had to be her aunt. She had only a vague facial resemblance to Adeline, but those eyes…
“Letitia?”
The woman frowned. It changed her appearance dramatically, adding a sternness that was actually intimidating. At least Katey found it so. Someone else might not be impressed at all, but this was Katey’s aunt, one of her few remaining relatives, and the woman didn’t know that yet.
“It’s Lady Letitia,” the woman said with a heavy dose of condescension, as if she were speaking to someone she was sure was far below her own class. “Do I know you?”