The Arrangement (16 page)

I said to my son, “Hurry up and eat, sweetheart. His lordship has things to do, and we need to get back home.”

Nicky, who was like a tuning fork when it came to my feelings, immediately put down his fork. “I’m not hungry, Mama,” he said. “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

I looked at his full plate and felt a sharp pang of conscience. I promised myself that I would have Mrs. Macintosh cook him an immense meal as soon as we reached Deepcote.

I said to Savile, “Nicky and I will wait upon your convenience, my lord.”

Savile looked at Nicky’s plate and a muscle jumped in the corner of his jaw.

“I will order the chaise, then,” he said.

I stood up. “That will be splendid. We shall be waiting in the front hall in fifteen minutes.”

Savile stood up. “All right.”

I forced myself to hold out my hand. “Thank you, my lord, for your generosity.”

He seemed to hesitate, then he took my hand into his much larger grip.

It was as if a streak of lightning leaped from his fingers into mine. We both disconnected the handshake, as if we had been burned.

“Gail…” he said, and the businesslike tone was quite gone from his voice.

But I backed away from him. “Goodbye, my lord,” I said firmly. Then I took Nicky’s safe little hand into mine, turned, and walked out of that room.

The lilac trees in the garden at Deepcote were in flower when I got the notice from my landlord that would change my life.

My dear Mrs. Saunders,

I have just completed the sale of Deepcote to a Mr. William Northrup. Mr. Northrup and his family wish to take possession of the house as soon as possible, therefore I will not be renewing your lease.

I will appreciate it if you will have vacated the premises by the thirtieth of June.

Your devoted servant,

John Mar

I sat staring at the letter before me in a state of shock. June thirtieth was exactly four weeks away. How on earth was I supposed to relocate myself and my business, which included seven horses, within such a short period of time?

I went immediately to get my copy of the lease, to make certain that Mr. Mar could in fact do this to me. After fifteen minutes of closely perusing the document, it became brutally clear to me that he could.

In exactly twenty-eight days I would be out of a home.

I stood at the morning-room window, looking out at the lilac trees in all their misty beauty, and tried to think rationally about how I should approach this disaster.

As I saw it, the most immediate problem was the horses. If I wanted to continue my business in a new location, I had to hold on to them. A good school horse is worth his weight in gold, and I had four of them: two ponies and two geldings. Then there was my beloved old Noah; Squirt, Nicky’s pony; and Maria.

Maria!
At least I could do something about her, I thought. I would write to Savile and ask him to keep her at Rayleigh until I had a place for her. She was still there because she had not been successfully bred on her first try with Centurion, and Savile was keeping her until she came into season again so that they could try once more. I was certain that he would not mind keeping her until I had found a home to bring her to.

That left me with three horses and three ponies. Not to mention Nicky, myself, and the Macintoshes.

It would be nothing short of a miracle if I could find a new establishment within a month’s time, I thought. I didn’t even know how to go about looking for something. Tommy had been the one who found Deepcote for us all those years ago.

Inevitably, the name Sam Watson popped into my head. I knew that if I asked Sam, he would take in my horses. I knew that he would also take in Nicky and me and the Macintoshes.

Last week Sam Watson had asked me to marry him. I had put him off, not saying
yes
but not exactly saying
no
either. In fact, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about Sam Watson.

I liked Sam. Equally as important, Nicky liked Sam. And I had begun to think of late that Nicky would benefit from having a father.

So said part of me.

The other part of me remembered a pair of golden eyes and a kiss that had scalded me to the innermost part of my being.

I shook my head as if to clear it, and the lilac trees blurred before my eyes. When I could once more see them clearly again, I made some decisions:

I would write the letter to Savile asking him to keep Maria.

I would consult my solicitor in Highgate to see if he had any advice for me about securing a new establishment.

Sam was away from Edgerton at the moment, but he had told me he would return sometime next week. If my solicitor told me that he would be unable to find me a new establishment within the allotted period of time, I would tell Sam that I would marry him.

Let fate decide,
I thought recklessly, and went off to write the letter to Savile.

* * * *

Four days after I had received notice that my lease was being terminated, the Earl of Savile drove his phaeton into my stable yard. My traitorous heart leaped when I saw him give the reins to Grove and jump down to greet Nicky, who had come racing from his vegetable garden when he saw who it was.

I watched from my bedroom window as Savile ruffled Nicky’s hair and gave him a light punch upon his arm, and I saw my son’s face light up like a candle. Then Savile rested a friendly hand upon Nicky’s shoulder and the two of them began to walk toward the house, the boy craning his neck to look up into the face of the tall man beside him.

Two minutes later, Mrs. Macintosh was knocking excitedly at my door.

“Lassie, lassie, ye’ll niver guess who is here!”

I opened my door. Her apple-round face was glowing as brightly at Nicky’s. “ ‘Tis none other than his lordship himself!”

Part of me was so eager to see him that I wanted to race down the stairs, and part of me didn’t want to leave the safety of my bedroom. “Did he say why he is here, Mrs. Macintosh?” I asked.

“Not to me. But he wants to see you, lassie. Did you not write to him? Perhaps he knows a place that we can lease!”

“Perhaps he does,” I replied slowly.

“Comb your hair, lassie, before you go down,” the little Scotswoman ordered. Obediently, I went to my dressing table, picked up my old bone comb, and ran it through my hair. Mrs. Macintosh followed me and with her fingers she softly brushed the hair away from my ears.

“That’s better. Come along with ye now, and don’t keep his lordship waiting.”

She had put him in the drawing room. She beamed at me as I walked slowly from the stairs toward the door. There was no doubt that she regarded Savile as our savior. I didn’t know what to think. All I knew was that I was much too glad that he had come, and that my gladness had nothing at all to do with my lease.

The door was slightly ajar, and with sudden resolution I pushed it all the way open. He was there, standing alone in front of the window, his back to the room. He turned as I came in, and even from across the room I could see the gold of his eyes. I wondered how I could ever have thought they were brown. His slightly disordered hair and his unfashionably tanned skin also glowed warmly golden in the sun that streamed in through the window.

I stepped into the room but remained close to the safety of the door. “Why are you here?” I asked in a voice that was slightly deeper than my normal tone.

“I’m here because you’ve lost your lease, of course,” he replied. He moved away from the window and crossed the tattered carpet in my direction. “I’ve come to bring you and Nicky back to Savile Castle with me. All the horses can go to Rayleigh until we find you another place to live.”

I stared at him in absolute shock. I had not expected this.

He stopped in front of me and looked down.

“I’ve told my cousin John to start making inquiries. He’ll find you something, Gail. You don’t have to worry about that. In the meantime, however, you need a place to live.”

“I don’t have to be out of Deepcote for almost another month,” I said, “and I have clients scheduled during that time.”

“Cancel the clients,” he commanded. “Tell them that you will reschedule them when you have found a new establishment.”

His lordliness was beginning to get my back up. I encouraged the feeling. It was much easier for me to deal with him when I was angry. “And why should I do that?”

“Because it will be much better for you and Nicky to come to Savile. My sister is staying with me for the summer, and her three children—two of whom are boys Nicky’s age—are staying with me as well. It will be a wonderful opportunity for Nicky to have some normal companionship, Gail.”

I bristled at the ‘normal.’ “I’ll have you know that Nicky knows several boys his own age, my lord.”

I folded my arms across my chest defensively. “The sons of some of our local farmers.”

The aristocratic eyebrows rose. “I meant boys of his own class.”

“Nicky and I are not of the nobility, my lord.”

“Neither are my nephews. They are the sons of a gentleman, as Nicky is.”

I clasped my elbows with my hands and shook my head. “Lady Regina was present at the reading of George’s will, and I simply can’t take a chance that one of her sons will tell Nicky what was in it.”

“Good God, Gail,” Savile said. “Ginny has said nothing to her children on the subject of George’s will.”

“How can you be sure of that?” I demanded.

“First of all, parents do not confide that sort of thing to their underage children, and second of all, I asked her.”

I scowled.

“Charlie and Theo will be delighted to have a friend to stay for the summer. They’ll take Nicky swimming and fishing, they’ll play knights and pirates and ride their ponies all over the estate and play ball and fly kites…you know, all the things that boys do during their summer vacation.”

I had to admit that it sounded like a heaven-sent opportunity for Nicky, who had never had much chance to do any of those things.

I wasn’t so sure about how heaven-sent staying in the same house with Savile was going to be for me, however. He stirred something in me that no other man had ever touched.

“Are you certain that Lady Regina will not object to my presence?” I procrastinated.

“Savile Castle belongs to me, not to my sister,” Savile said a trifle grimly.

“Yes, but if she is acting as your hostess…”

“Ginny is staying with me for the summer because her husband has gone to a scientific conference in Heidelberg and she is expecting another child and did not feel up to accompanying him. She will be very happy to have you to augment my own boring company, I assure you.”

“And you think that Mr. Melville will be able to find me another establishment?”

“I do not promise that he will find something within a month, but by the end of the summer he should certainly have located something for you. You will have to discuss with him what it is that you are willing to pay.”

I drew a deep breath. His logic was perfect, I thought. I would be a fool to turn down such an opportunity.

“Well then,” I said, “I do not see how I can refuse your offer, my lord.” I gave him a slightly unsteady smile. “You must know that I have been worried to death. Your generosity has lifted a burden from my shoulders.”

“I am glad to hear that,” he said, his face inscrutable.

I thought of Sam, who was to return to Edgerton the following day, and then I looked once more at Savile.

Two more days and I would probably have opted to marry Sam.

I looked once more at the golden-haired earl standing before me.

Fate,
I thought,
had decided.

* * * *

Savile decided to leave Mr. and Mrs. Macintosh at Deepcote until the final month of my occupancy was up. If I didn’t have a new place by then, Savile said he would send them to his hunting box in Leicestershire, where they could live until our future was resolved.

“If I bring you to Savile Castle and allow you and your superior cooking into my kitchen, my own cook is certain to resign,” the earl told Mr. Macintosh humorously. “And, since I fear that nothing I can offer will ever lure you away from Mrs. Saunders, that will leave me in quite a quandary.”

“Ye’re right, my lord. Nothing will iver induce me to leave my lassie and the wee Nicholas. We will be happy to do whativer ye suggest,” the flattered Mr. Macintosh replied.

Several hours after Savile’s arrival, Grove pulled into my stable yard with the earl’s chaise and a handful of postillions who were going to transport my horses to Rayleigh.

One of the postillions was a small, thin youngster whose task was to ride Squirt to Savile Castle so that Nicky would have his own pony for the summer.

The chaise was for our baggage, and for Nicky and me if the weather should turn ugly.

Savile had thought of everything.

I had to admit, it was pleasant to have all my arrangements made so easily. All Nicky and I had to do was pack.

Before I went to bed that night, I made my usual trip down to the stable to check on the horses. Savile offered to come with me, but I shook my head.

“I’ve lived here for eight years,” I said to him. “I need to be alone to make my goodbyes.”

The summer sky was still not completely dark as I left the house. I stopped for a moment in the middle of the stable yard to gaze around me at the familiar scene. I had come here with such happiness, a young wife and mother, and then had come the terrible grief of my husband’s death. Deepcote was inextricably linked with my greatest joy and with my deepest sorrow. Deepcote would always mean Tommy to me.

I leaned against the paddock fence, and Fancy and Polly, turned out of their stalls once more by the need to stable Savile’s animals, came over to nuzzle my hands, looking for treats.

Tommy’s voice sounded in my ears: “
I
think I’ve found the perfect place for us, Gail. It’s got a good-size stable and two well-fenced paddocks and the house ain’t that bad. Well
—
at least the roof don’t leak!”