Part 20 (1/2)
She nodded.
He smiled a little lopsidedly. ”I am personally informing you,” he added, and sat on the edge of her bed. He leaned close to her and looked her in the eye. ”You are not to walk to Broderick, madam.”
Ava sighed and rolled her eyes, but she smiled. ”I am very well aware of that. You've mentioned it more than once.”
Middleton's gaze roamed over her once more. He lifted his hand, brushed her bare collarbone, then trailed his fingers into the gap of her nightgown, between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. When he lifted his gaze again, it seemed to be simmering, and Ava suppressed a s.h.i.+ver. He looked as if he intended to speak, as if he wanted to speak...but he pressed his lips together, put his hand to her cheek, and kissed her.
Carefully, achingly, he kissed her.
Ava wrapped her hand around his wrist, sought to put her other hand on his chest. But Middleton stopped her by covering her hand with his and lifting his head. He said nothing; he stood, put his hand to the crown of her head, and caressed her hair. ”Good day,” he said, and strode out, his cloak snapping around his ankles.
When he'd gone out, Ava grabbed her pillow tightly to her, sank back into the feather mattress, and wished again that he would love her, if only a little.
All day long, Ava felt she was being watched by a chicken hawk. Wherever she went, Mr. Dawson or Miss Hillier seemed to be nearby.
Miss Hillier, Ava was learning, was a very disapproving woman. She kept rattling off all the things a marchioness would never do, such as walk to town. Or feed the chickens. Or tidy up her own room. Or inquire after a footman and his ankle, which, Miss Hillier a.s.sured her, was doing perfectly well.
It was as if Lady Purnam's spirit had come to reside in Miss Hillier.
With the constant watching after her, Ava felt trapped inside the enormous Broderick Abbey. It was old and drafty and quite damp, but worse than anything, there was absolutely no life there. It seemed as if everyone just toiled in their daily labors.
After luncheon, Ava walked outside. The day was warm and bright, and she wandered in the direction of the lake she'd seen the first day she had come to Broderick Abbey. It was near the entrance to the estate, she recalled, and indeed, she found it within a mile of the house. She stood at the edge of the water, breathing in the fresh air.
A flock of swans swimming furiously to the middle of the lake caught her attention, and she saw the reason for their distress: On the left bank was Edmond Foote. Ava lifted her hand high above her head and waved. Edmond waved back.
He was fis.h.i.+ng, she realized, and she decided to have a look at what he'd caught. She walked around the lake, finally reaching him. ”Any luck?” she asked as she made her way down to the water's edge.
”No, mu'um. I think my line is caught,” he said, and tugged at the string. He started to move toward the water's edge, but Ava quickly stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.
”Your father would not approve of you going into the lake, young man. I'll fetch it for you,” she said, and sat down on the rock next to him to pull off her stockings and shoes.
”You mustn't put bare feet in lake water, mu'um. My mother said cold water on cold feet will catch your death. Didn't your mother ever tell you so?”
She laughed as she rolled off her stockings. ”My mother told me many things, but never that.”
”Where is your mother?” he asked curiously.
”In heaven, like yours.”He regarded her thoughtfully. ”Does she know you've been sent to Broderick Abbey?”He made it sound as if she'd been sent against her will, but she smiled and winked at him. ”In a way, I think she does.”
”I think mine does, too,” he said with a firm nod of his head.
Ava stood up, picked up her skirts so that her legs were exposed from the knees down, and waded into
the lake. The water was clear but frigid, and she winced with each step. The fis.h.i.+ng line had caught on some debris, and with a bit of a tug, Ava was able to free it, much to the delight of young Edmond. He pulled in the line as Ava waded back to the sh.o.r.e.
”Thank you, marchioness!” he said, picking up his bucket.”Wait!” she cried, still wading in. ”Where are you off to?””Home!” he shouted, and skipped off.”That's a fine how do you do,” she muttered to herself, and took a step, sinking into mud up to her ankle.
Drat. She pulled her foot free and stepped out of the water.
”Good day!”
With a gasp, Ava inadvertently dropped her skirt and looked up. A woman in a very fetching riding habit
was atop her horse, on the rise above the lake, waving a gloved hand at Ava.
”Oh dear G.o.d,” Ava whispered, and glanced down at her skirt. The hem was soaked and stained brownnow.”Good day, good day!” the woman said again as she sent her horse down the slope. She was a dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty-the sort, Ava thought, that was often painted around London.”May I introduce myself? I am Lady Kettle. My late husband's estate borders yours.””How do you do,” Ava said. ”I am-””Oh my goodness, I know who you are!” she cried cheerfully. ”I would have made proper introduction at your wedding, but I only just yesterday returned from Scotland.””Ah,” Ava said.Lady Kettle's horse stopped just above Ava, and Lady Kettle smiled down at her, her gaze taking in Ava's gown.”You will forgive me,” Ava said hastily. ”I was helping the gamekeeper's son free his fis.h.i.+ng line.””Who?” Lady Kettle asked, peering around the lake.”The gamekeeper's son,” Ava said, and glanced over her shoulder. Around a bend in the lake, Edmond had stopped to throw rocks at the swans.”I wasn't aware the gamekeeper had a son,” Lady Kettle said absently. ”I hope you won't mind myintrusion, Lady Middleton,” she said, turning her attention to Ava again, ”but I saw your handsome husband this morning and he urged me to come and make your acquaintance.”
Ava put a hand over her eyes to s.h.i.+eld them from the sun as she looked up at Lady Kettle. ”You sawhim this morning?””Mmm, we breakfasted,” she said, nodding, and at Ava's look of confusion, she flicked her wrist and said cheerfully, ”Oh, I've known him for ages, since we were children. We were often in one another's
company coming up.”
Ava was still having trouble comprehending that her husband had left her this morning to breakfast with Lady Kettle. To breakfast with beautiful Lady Kettle.
”Oh, I mustn't forget, I've some medicinals from the surgeon for your footman. They should ease his paina bit.””Oh,” Ava said, trying to hide her embarra.s.sment. ”He told you of our accident.””I heard of it in Broderick,” Lady Kettle corrected her.
”You did?”Lady Kettle laughed at her astonishment. ”We are a small parish, Lady Middleton. Word travels veryfast. Almost as fast, I suppose, as it does in London.”
”How remarkable,” Ava said, meaning it.
”Poor Middleton is quite worried about you. 'She walked all the way to Broderick,' ” she said, mimicking him.
Ava tried to smile, but there was something unsettling about Lady Kettle. Perhaps it was that her husband
found time to call and breakfast with her when he might have breakfasted with his wife. Perhaps it was that during their breakfast, he talked to Lady Kettle of his worry about his wife. Whatever it was, Ava suddenly felt very much the outsider.
”I thought to invite you to have a ride in the near future. The weather has been glorious and there are so
many pleasing vistas around the abbey.”
Of course Lady Kettle would know of the vistas around the abbey. Ava, on the other hand, was hardly allowed to walk to the lake unescorted.
”Would you like that?”
”I would,” Ava said, but then remembered that her husband had yet to teach her. ”That is, when myhusband teaches me how to ride.””You could have no better instructor. I speak from experience-he taught me,” Lady Kettle said, and laughed gaily. ”And he still insists on instructing me, even though I am an accomplished rider.”
Ava's laugh sounded forced. She could well imagine that he had taught Lady Kettle. She was beautiful,and quite cheerful. And her riding habit, Ava thought, was to be envied.”Well, then, I will leave you to your fis.h.i.+ng, Lady Middleton. May I call again?””Of course.”