The Fall of Lord Drayson (Tanglewood Book 1) (12 page)

Collins watched her in confusion. “I am almost afraid to inquire as to what is going through that pretty head of yours.”

She blushed slightly but grinned, holding up the hairpin for his inspection. “Do you recall my youthful friend, Ben? The one who convinced me to bury my toad with a snake?”

“Yes,” he said the word slowly.

“He also instructed me on how to pick locks with a hairpin.”

Collins blinked, staring at her. Good gads, the woman was serious. She could pick a lock, or at least believed she could, and she was contemplating breaking into the outbuilding.

“That is a highly unusual skill set for a vicar’s daughter,” Collins said.

Merriment filled her expression, and she linked her arm through his and began pulling him toward the manor house. “Not to worry, Collins. We are only borrowing the wagon, not stealing it.”

“Why do I find no comfort in that?”

She gave his arm a pat. “Take comfort in this then. If you are anxious about borrowing a wagon from an absentee owner, it is highly unlikely you were a thief in your former life.”

“Just in my new life, it seems,” he muttered, pulling her to a stop. “Before you drag me across the overgrown meadow, might I ask a question?”

“Certainly.”

“How do you propose we remove the wagon from the building without the aid of a horse or two?”

She bit down on her lower lip and glanced back toward the stables. “Drat, you are right. We will need Zeus and Athena, won’t we?”

“Unless you are planning to add ‘horse’ to my list of responsibilities and hitch
me
to the wagon, then yes.”

Her lips twitched before settling back in a straight line, and she nodded. “Perhaps you can fetch the horses while I pick the lock?”

Was she that frightened of horses that she would not even lead one across a meadow? How a woman as adventurous as she did not wish to learn to ride completely baffled him. Somehow, someway, Collins vowed, he would find a way to get Miss Lucy Beresford on the back of a horse and show her exactly how glorious it felt to ride with the wind.

Collins released her arm and gestured toward the outbuilding. “Very well, Miss Beresford, go ahead and pick your lock. But should we get caught, I ought to warn you that I can play deaf, dumb, and incredibly thick. The constable will have no one to point the finger at but you.”

“Ah,” she said. “So you are an actor then. Tell me, does the name Drury Lane sound familiar? What about Haymarket or Covent Garden? Do you sing, perchance? Opera? I think you should try a few notes so that we might see.”

The girl was incorrigible and, though he hated to admit it, irresistible. He could not help but play along. “I am not an actor nor an opera singer, though apparently I can play the part of a hero rather well.”

“To which heroic acts are you referring?” she asked as her hair whipped about her face.

“Rescuing a damsel in distress, of course.”

“What damsel?”

“You, of course.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I am no damsel in distress.”

“Are you quite certain?” he said, challenging her with his eyes. “Because I believe you only just asked me to save you from having to lead a horse across a meadow to that outbuilding.”

Lucy’s fingers clutched the lead rope, as though a tight grip would somehow keep the horse from nearing her. She soon learned that she had nothing to fear. Athena did not intend to chase Lucy down and trample her underfoot because Athena, as it turned out, did not intend to do anything. The horse merely sniffed the ground and occasionally flipped her tail.

Lucy tentatively pulled on the rope. When the horse did not budge, she pulled harder. Still, no movement.

“What is wrong with her?” Lucy asked the earl, annoyed at how easily he had swung onto Zeus’s bare back and was now guiding the horse around.

“You simply need to show Athena who is in charge,” he said. “I think you would find it an easier thing to do if you mounted the animal. I can toss a saddle on her, if you’d like.”

“No, I would not like.” Lucy frowned at the horse, wondering how one went about showing an animal who was in charge and who wasn’t. She cleared her throat. “Athena, we are going to steal—I mean
borrow
—a wagon from that building across the meadow, and I’m afraid I need your help.”

Athena raised her head for a moment only to drop it back down and continue sniffing.

“Apparently this horse does not wish to break into the building any more than you do, Collins.”

He chuckled. “Perhaps I was a bit hasty in suggesting a vegetable garden.”

“Perhaps you were,” Lucy agreed. “But it is too late to retract the suggestion now. It has already taken root in my mind and will not budge. We will plow that spot of ground, we will plant seeds, and we will watch vegetables grow.” Although the idea of a garden did excite Lucy, her desire to proceed with the plan wasn’t necessarily fueled by her desire to see vegetables grow. Rather, the garden gave her conscience something to think about that did not weigh her down with guilt.

“We could begin smaller, you know,” Lord Drayson said. “We can remove the weeds in the existing area and plant only a few things. If all goes well, then perhaps next year . . .” His words trailed off quickly, for they both knew that next year would be very different from this year.

“No,” said Lucy firmly. “If we are going to do this, we are going to do it right. We will get these stubborn animals to the shed, hitch them to the wagon, and collect that plow.”

“You left out the part about picking the lock,” he said.

“If you continue to be impertinent,” said Lucy, “I shall send you to collect the plow without a wagon or horses and make you drag the thing back on your own.”

“It might be the faster option,” he said, his lips twitching at her continued struggle to coerce Athena into moving.

“Oh, do be quiet,” said Lucy crossly.

Lord Drayson laughed, and Lucy glared at him. The man could irritate her as no else had ever been able to do. He seemed to take great delight in teasing her, and why she continued to allow him to bait her, she couldn’t say.

“Stay there.” He directed Zeus over to her and chuckled when Lucy dropped the rope and skittered away.

“He is not going to eat you.” The earl used that commanding voice he often used which irritated her almost as much as his teasing.

“I know,” Lucy spoke without conviction. She watched the horse’s rather large mouth, thinking it could easily take a chunk out of her shoulder if he chose to give it a try. The closer the horse came, the more Lucy’s body trembled. Goodness, what was wrong with her?

Collins pulled Zeus’s head to the left, turning the animal until the earl’s leg brushed against Lucy. Her body still trembled, but not because of fear.

Lord Drayson leaned down and held out his hand. “Ride with me,” he said, his voice gentle. “I give you my word that nothing bad will happen to you.”

“But—”

“Lucy.” This time his use of her Christian name did not irritate her. The way he spoke it in a soft, hushed tone made it sound more like an endearment. It softened her heart and ignited it at the same time.

“Trust me,” he said, holding out his hand.

Lucy found that she did trust him, this man who gone from being an odious evictor to her friend in a matter of days. She trusted him enough to place her hand in his and allow him to swing her up on the horse in front of him as though she weighed nothing more than a kitten. Her legs dangled off to the side, and the horse felt uncomfortable beneath her, but as soon as the earl tucked her body tight against his, Lucy felt safe. Actually, she felt more than safe. A delightful sensation began in her chest and radiated through the rest of her body, warming her in a way that the sun or a blazing fire never could.

Lord Drayson maneuvered Zeus around so that he could retrieve Athena’s lead rope. Once he had it firmly in his hand all it took was a click of his tongue to get both horses moving slowly toward the outbuilding.

“I told you it helps to be on top.” Lord Drayson’s breath tickled Lucy’s neck, sending shivers down her back. Aside from her father, Lucy had never been this close to a man before, at least not like this. After the earl’s fall, she and Georgy had to wrap their arms around his chest to get him on the bed, but that had been different. Lord Drayson had been the despised enemy then. Now, however . . . well, Lucy wasn’t quite sure what to think anymore.

She no longer felt animosity toward him, except when he teased her, but even then it wasn’t true animosity. Lucy couldn’t deny that he continually surprised her, either. She had expected him to complain about all the chores, or at the very least, complete them in a sluggish, half-hearted manner. But Lord Drayson had cleaned the chimney flue, scoured the yellow salon, worked wonders in the stables and the yard, and had tackled every other job given him with alacrity. Now he was even willing to aid her in breaking into an outbuilding and plowing a new plot of ground for a vegetable garden.
Her
vegetable garden.

Not even the gardener would have agreed to such a scheme.

Lucy had once thought Lord Drayson cold and selfish, the type of person who couldn’t possibly be missed by anyone. But now she couldn’t help but wonder if someone was missing him and who that someone, or someones, might be. His family, certainly. Friends, possibly. Was there a woman in his life? Lucy’s entire body stiffened at the thought. Could the earl possibly be married or have an understanding with someone?

“Relax, Lucy,” the earl said and immediately muttered a curse under his breath. “Blast it all, I can’t seem to stop calling you that. It comes out so naturally. Why is that?”

“I do not know, Collins,” Lucy answered, speaking the truth. “Perhaps it is because you do not hold me in very high esteem.”

“On the contrary,” he answered. “I hold you in too high of esteem, which is likely my problem.”

He said it so casually, as though he was working through his thoughts aloud and didn’t mean for anyone else to hear them. But Lucy had heard his words loud and clear. They filled her soul and made her body stiffen even more. They caused her heart to race and her mind to whirl. With his arms around her waist, his solid chest against her back, and his breath on her neck, Lucy’s emotions had never been more muddled. She needed to slide off Zeus and put a stop to this. Wife or no wife, he should not be holding her this way, saying such things to her, or making her feel so . . . confused. Her plan had not included developing a partiality for one another. Such feelings would only cause additional complications when the truth finally came out.

“You’re tensing again,” said the earl in her ear. “You must learn to relax and ride
with
the horse, not against it.”

Lucy willed her body to relax, refocusing her thoughts on the movements of Zeus rather than the man seated behind her.

“That’s better,” he said. “Now take the reins.”

“Me?” Lucy gasped, shrinking against him. “Have you lost your senses?”

He chuckled, and she felt the reverberations down her spine. Lucy wanted to melt against him and leap from the animal at the same time. If only the ground wasn’t so far away.

“This animal is the most docile creature I have ever ridden,” he said. “You ought to take the reins and see for yourself.”

Lucy felt shaky and weak, though she wasn’t sure if it was the horse or Lord Drayson that caused it. Probably a combination of the two. Yet she found herself allowing the earl to thread the reins through her fingers and hold them captive beneath his.

“That’s it,” he said quietly, showing her how to guide the horse one way and then another. “That’s not so bad, is it?”

On the contrary. Lucy’s mind had never been filled with more upheaval. Everything about this was wrong, wrong, wrong. If Lord Drayson knew who he really was—who she was—he would not consider touching her this way, whispering in her ear, or holding her on any level of esteem.

When at last they reached the outbuilding, Lord Drayson gave her hand a squeeze and said, “Hold Zeus steady a moment.” Before Lucy realized what was happening, he had slid off the horse and had raised his hands with the intent to help her down. The top of the horse suddenly felt a great deal safer.

But Zeus took a step forward and Lucy panicked, lunging for the earl’s arms. He caught her with a laugh and held her tight against him for a moment before releasing her waist and holding her shoulders captive instead.

“So tell me,” he teased. “How does it feel to survive a barebacked horse ride?”

“It feels . . .” Lucy looked into his striking blue eyes and lost all coherent thought as feelings and emotions crashed and collided about inside her. Wonder, fear, confusion, desire, guilt . . . they were all there, skirmishing it out like a group of unruly farm boys.

“I couldn’t agree more,” said the earl quietly, as though Lucy had finished the sentence.

Ever so slowly, he ran the knuckles of his fingers along her cheekbone, igniting sensations Lucy had never felt before. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

With a gasp, she drew away from his touch, taking a quick step back. “What if you are married?” she blurted. “Or have an understanding with someone? Or . . . ?”