Whispers at Midnight (17 page)

Gardner could have wrung the bird’s neck and
his brother’s too. Ryne had trained the bird to pester him by
teasing it with strands cut from a red-haired wig of his mother’s.
And that devilish bird never forgot a thing.

His eyes angrily followed the bird’s
movements, as if he expected another attack. Instead he spotted
Amanda on the stairs and the smile quickly returned to his lips. He
watched intently as she descended, his eyes on the slender hands
that tied a pair of pink ribbons under her neck as she secured the
straw bonnet to her head.

Amanda glanced over her shoulder at Ezra.
His small eyes, like two rolling beads, followed her steps. Quickly
she turned back to Gardner and gave a wide smile.

“I’m ready,” she called gaily, the lightness
in her voice masking the questions in her mind.
He knows.
Had there been any meaning to Ezra’s words?

Gardner came up the stairs to meet her. If
Ezra’s attack had bothered him for more than a moment, it did not
show. Now an easy smile played upon his lips and a faint light
shone in the blue depths of his eyes.

He offered Amanda his arm. “It’s a splendid
day for a drive,” he said. “You’ll not be sorry to have come.”

The carriage awaited them but Groom had left
the horses tethered at a hitching post and had returned to the
stable. They were a fine pair of bays but were no equal to the
grays that pulled Ryne’s carriage.

It occurred to Amanda as Gardner helped her
into the seat that she had not yet talked with Groom. And as
Gardner had told her there were horses in the stable which now
belonged to her, she made a note to speak with the man soon. She
hoped there would be a good saddle horse. She was fond of riding
and looked forward to exploring the countryside around Wicklow.

“The house is the dividing point, you see,”
Gardner was saying in a serious voice as he urged the bays to a
trot. She had been lost in her own thoughts but quickly gave him
her attention. “The land below Wicklow is mine and that above it
belongs to Ryne. More than a thousand acres each, and fairly evenly
divided. My mother was wise enough to have deeded it to us some
years ago.”

Amanda looked at him inquisitively. What was
she seeing in the intense gaze he was giving the land? Was it pride
of ownership, or did he wish all of Wicklow had remained intact and
belonged solely to him? What an odd thought, because if she knew
anything about Gardner it was that he would be extremely fair.

Amanda dipped her head slightly so that the
wind would not pull so at her bonnet.

“I had assumed you spent most of your time
in Williamsburg,” she remarked. “Ryne said you recently built a
distillery.”

Gardner allowed the reins to go slack and
let the horses set their own pace. His handsome face was reserved
as he glanced toward her.

“Indeed I do and I have. The distillery is
what interests me most and I am there much of the time. It is a
venture on which I have risked a great sum of money, but one I feel
will soon pay all and more than I have invested.”

“But what of the estate? Do you still
cultivate the land? And how can you manage both interests without
neglecting one or the other?”

Gardner offered a smile at her onslaught of
questions.

“Oh, but I do neglect the estate and I
daresay it fares better for the lack of my attention. I am no
farmer but I challenge anyone in Williamsburg to show a better
business head. I have hired an overseer to produce the crops and
manage the running of the estate. I do best at finding the most
profitable markets.”

Her brows flickered a little. How different
he was from Ryne.

“It is a wise man who knows his own
talents,” she said with a smile.

The carriage wheels crunched into a gravelly
bed of rocks as Gardner turned the horses off the main road and
onto a narrow lane that led through a copse of trees and to the top
of a hill. They had traveled only part of the distance to
Williamsburg and Amanda wondered why he had made the detour. But
with Gardner she had no doubt it would be an agreeable experience.
He was charming, though perhaps a bit too serious and sober at
times. But weren’t those qualities important in a man?

Inevitably it would have been Gardner on
whom Aunt Elise had depended and gone to for advice. Though it
would most assuredly have been Ryne who put a twinkle in her eyes.
Ryne was the kind of son a mother would dote on, while being far
less mindful of an earnest one like Gardner. Possibly it had been
Gardner’s suggestion that she divide her property and turn her
holdings over to her sons when she had. A wise move to assure his
inheritance and prevent Ryne from dissipating his mother’s fortune
with an unsparing hand.

Soon they had drawn up to the crest of the
hill. She decided it must be the highest point in the area, for
from it she could see below the winding strip of water that was the
James River and in the distance the slate tiles of Wicklow’s
roof.

A few trees made a sparse covering for the
grassy hillside. Gardner pulled the horses into the shade of their
branches and hopped down quickly to tie them to the nearest tree.
Amanda stared wordlessly as he reached behind the seat and drew out
a basket covered with checkered cloth.

She was surprised but pleased by his
foresight. It seemed such a terribly long time since anyone had
treated her specially. He helped her down and led her to a spot
where the view was best but which was comfortably shaded from the
afternoon sun.

“I wanted you to see this place. It was my
father’s favorite.” He shook out the cloth he had taken from the
basket and spread it on the ground. Amanda caught hold of her
skirts and took a seat on the checkered cloth. Gardner knelt beside
her. “He wasn’t as fascinated by Wicklow as my mother. I think in
those years it must have had even a more overpowering ring of
Grandfather Jubal. A few years after they were married, my father
started to build a house here. You can see where the foundations
were started just below us.” He pointed to a large rectangle that
had been dug out and filled in with stone. “But then he died—a fall
from a horse—before the work progressed beyond a dream.”

For a long moment her eyes followed the
markings that in places had been filled in with dirt and brush. It
would have been a large house, though not nearly the size of
Wicklow. She glanced back at Gardner and saw that his eyes had
darkened with emotion.

“You must have been very young,” she said
with a gentle softness in her voice.

Gardner pulled the hat from his head and ran
his hand through the copper-colored curls. A half-smile crossed his
lips.

“Yes. Too young to remember,” he said
quietly. “But Mother made it a point that I should know my father,
if only through her own memory. She brought me here often as a lad.
She’d pack a picnic and spend the afternoon telling me about him.
I’ve not been here in many years.” His voice faded but he smiled
reminiscently and she could tell he was looking back on those times
with a blend of pain and joy.

It touched her heart to see that he had been
so close to his mother. Before she knew it, her eyes glowed with a
look of tenderness and she placed her hand lightly on his arm.

“I shall consider it most special that you
have shared this place and this memory with me.”

Gardner covered her hand with his as his
face brightened with pleasure.

“And I shall consider it most special that
you have made me want to come here again.”

A few seconds later he was unpacking cheese
and a small loaf of bread that she was sure had come from Gussie’s
oven. He had checkered napkins, two stemmed silver goblets, and a
bottle of wine, which he quickly uncorked and poured.

It was more than an hour later when they
repacked the basket and returned to the carriage. Amanda had
enjoyed the talk. It had been a comfortable conversation and she
had found Gardner pleasant to be with, even though she suspected he
had brought her out to assure himself she could manage all she had
undertaken.

Had he felt she had placed herself in a
situation of undue hardship, she was certain he would have offered
his assistance. And she would have refused. It was important to
Amanda to make a success of her life on her own merit. Gardner, she
knew, understood, and though he had adopted a brotherly manner
toward her, would not hamper her from pursuing her dream.

“It has been delightful here, Gardner. I am
happy you insisted I come.”

“I am pleased to have made you happy. But
this day has only begun for us. I have guests for dinner tonight
and I would like very much for you to join us.”

“Oh, Gardner, I haven’t come prepared to
dress for dinner. Had you told me, I could have—”

He laughed. “Had I told you, you would have
refused and said you had scrubbing to do. I had Gussie pack a bag
with a suitable dress for you. You’ll enjoy the Wellers. They have
come in from Weller Hall and are staying at my house while in
Williamsburg. Now, say that you will stay too. I can drive you back
to Wicklow tomorrow.”

Amanda laughed lightly. “I wonder if I have
a choice at all. I believe you have kidnapped me.”

“Perhaps I have. But you must not shut
yourself away at Wicklow. People have heard of your arrival and are
anxious to meet you. I consider it my duty to introduce you, and I
will not be refused.”

As he talked, Gardner slipped the basket
into its hiding place under the seat and there beside it Amanda
could see the bag Gussie had packed. Amanda gave Gardner a fond
smile as he untied the horses. Her cheeks had grown flushed and
warm from the wine and her thoughts drowsily slow.

She had been placidly happy here with
Gardner, telling him of her plans for Wicklow, of her hopes for the
future, and having him encourage all her aspirations. Now he had
decided to take her under his wing until she had made friends of
her own. She could only adore him for his thoughtfulness.

Only a few times had she found herself
contrasting him to his brother. Had she talked for an hour with
Ryne they would no doubt have locked horns a dozen times and ended
up furious at each other. But not so with Gardner. And if it were
Ryne who had brought her to this place, where they were as alone as
they might be anywhere in the world, she could not have trusted him
to be the gentleman Gardner had been.

No. If Ryne were the one gripping her waist,
about to lift her into the carriage, he would lock her in his arms
and cover her mouth with his hungry kisses.

She felt Gardner’s hands tighten around her
waist. He saw the smoldering fire deep in her eyes even as she
sighed and lowered her lids. A ripple of surprise and excitement
ran through him. He hesitated a moment, unsure of what she wanted.
But an instant later he gathered her gently in his arms and touched
his mouth lightly to hers.

Amanda’s lips formed a name, but he could
not hear that it was not his. As he held her closer, she was lost
for a moment in a dizzying spin of emotion that blotted out her
reasoning.

As if she were in a dream, her arms came up
and locked around Gardner’s waist and she returned his kiss. He
felt the fervor of her response and deepened the demand of his lips
on hers. His hands were on her shoulders, sliding the puffed
sleeves away from her silken flesh as their bodies strained
together.

“Amanda, my sweet,” he whispered.

She was glad for his voice. It broke her
reverie. Suddenly she felt she was smothering and pushed away from
him, gasping for breath. She tried to speak but her voice
wavered.

From the look on Gardner’s face, he was as
surprised as she was at what had happened between them. But unlike
her, he showed no desire to end what had begun.

Amanda gasped and felt a stab of alarm that
she might have started a wildfire she could not control.

They had driven so far without speaking that
the moment shared had become an awkward barrier between them.
Gardner’s face was too serious and Amanda wondered if there weren’t
more on his mind than an unexpected kiss.

She stirred uneasily and lifted her eyes to
the sky. It was clear and blue with patches of white drifting
slowly across like the questions in her mind. What had made her
behave in that abominable manner? What did Gardner think of her
now?

She hated shattering his pristine image of
her and she fancied that was exactly what she had done. He had been
like a brother to her since her arrival, protective and helpful,
someone she had felt she could turn to if the need arose. It was
her fault if that had ended. Her frown deepened and she knew by the
feeling of emptiness in her heart that she would be sad if it
did.

Sadly Amanda dipped her head so that the
edge of her bonnet hid the melancholy look on her face. What had
gotten into her? She glanced apprehensively at Gardner as he
cleared his throat, wondering what he was about to say.

“I was all set to warn you to be wary of my
brother because he is a master at appealing to the emotions of
young ladies and then taking advantage of them. Now I believe the
warning must apply to me as well.” Amanda noticed the overly firm
set of his jaw and the intensity of his blue eyes as Gardner pulled
the black cocked hat from his head and dropped it in the seat
beside them. “I do feel I should apologize, Amanda. I was far too
forward.”

“Oh, no,” Amanda said quickly. “You must not
apologize. I fear I precipitated the whole thing by getting swept
up in my emotions. I felt very close to you when you told me the
story of your father.”

She noticed a softening of the line of his
jaw. His voice smoothed out like that of a man suddenly relieved of
a worrisome burden.

“Then I will not apologize,” he said,
smiling slightly. “I will simply say it was a pleasurable
experience and I too was swept up in a rise of emotion.”