Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Georgie pushed away from Hugh. Bad enough she had been about to confess all and lose his admiration forever. Now someone must be hurt!
“Where are Pip and Oliver?” she cried.
Hugh grabbed her shoulders, his gaze resolute. “Stay here. I’ll find out what’s happening.”
“But the others might need me,” she protested.
She thought he would argue. The men she’d known were terribly protective that way. But Hugh took her hand, and together they hurried around the stones.
“Claudia!” she called, wincing at the desperation in her voice. “Sophia!”
“Here!”
Georgie blew out a breath and led him around the edge of another pile to where Sophia was helping Max to his feet while the maid worried her hands. Beside the duke, one of the stones sat on its edge, sides crumbling and grass sticking out from under it.
“Here, now,” Sir Winfred said, puffing up to them. “What’s happened?”
Ben and Claudia came from the other direction, the architect immediately studying the towers around them. A chorus of barks at the other corner assured Georgie that the dogs, Morrigan, and Bailey were on their way as well.
Beside her, Hugh turned in a circle. “Pip! Oliver!”
Pip’s face appeared down the row of stones, higher than it ought to have been. “Here, guvnor. What’s the to-do?” His eyes widened as he took in the duke. Max’s coat was crooked, his top hat had been knocked off, and pebbles stood out like gold in the russet of his hair.
“Weren’t us!” Pip declared before ducking out of sight again.
“I’ll get them,” Hugh offered just as the dogs dragged Morrigan and Bailey to their sides. Georgie nodded and hoped the movement didn’t look as shaky as it felt, then turned her attention to the duke.
Sophia was ashen as she clung to his arm, her gaze roaming over his body as if she feared to find pieces hanging loose.
Max patted her hand and removed himself from her grip. “There’s no need for concern. I imagine these stones fall on occasion.”
“Under certain conditions,” Ben agreed. “Weathering, sheer…” He trailed off with a frown.
Sir Winfred shrugged. “Well, they are ruins, after all. Have to expect some instability.”
Hugh had said as much, but Georgie had hardly expected a stone to topple over like that. Why, the duke might have been crushed!
Sophia had clearly come to the same conclusion, for she rounded on the baronet. “I would never have taken your suggestion for this outing if I’d thought it was dangerous!”
Sir Winfred stepped back, face paling. Ben and Claudia exchanged glances.
Max put a hand on Sophia’s shoulder. “Sophia, I’m fine.”
Her lips tightened into a thin line, and she turned and stalked away.
“I’ll see to her,” Georgie promised. She hurried after.
Sophia had only gone a little way. She stood back from the stones, facing the steep hill that ran down to the cottages below. Her slender frame was as stiff as it had been when her husband, the previous duke, had been in one of his rages.
“That was frightening,” Georgie offered, afraid to even touch Sophia lest she break.
Sophia spun to face her. Her green eyes snapped fire, and her breath came fast. “That was horrible! What if he hadn’t reacted in time? What if that had fallen on him?”
Sophia had survived marriage to the greatest scoundrel Georgie had ever known with far greater aplomb than this.
“But it didn’t fall on him, dearest,” she said gently. “He said he’s fine. Everyone is fine. You have no need to berate yourself.”
Sophia shook her head. “Perhaps not, but I allowed myself to be convinced that this was a suitable entertainment. You can be sure I’ll be more careful in future.” She squared her shoulders and managed a smile. “And how are you and Mr. Caddington getting along?”
Georgie rolled her eyes at the change in subject. “Not again! I’m not ready to remarry.”
“Why?” Sophia demanded. “You loved Mr. Caddington once by your own admission. He clearly still cares for you.”
Georgie couldn’t help glancing back, though the stones blocked her view of Hugh and the boys from this angle. Sir Winfred was waving a hand at the ruins as if to convince Max it was perfectly safe to continue exploring. “Hugh cares for me as a member of his flock. I won’t expand on that.”
Sophia put her hands on her hips. “I’ve had ministers show care before. They didn’t look longingly into my eyes. They didn’t watch my every move when they thought I wasn’t noticing. And they didn’t smile so softly, so charmingly in my direction.”
“I should certainly hope not!” Georgie said, then they looked at each other and laughed.
Sophia moved closer and set a hand on Georgie’s arm. “He cares, dearest. If you still care, you should tell him how you feel.”
Georgie dropped her gaze. “It’s not so simple. I would not be unfaithful to Freddie.”
“Freddie is dead,” Sophia said, and Georgie couldn’t help her flinch. “I’m sorry, Georgie, but it’s been more than a year. I didn’t mourn my duke half that time.”
Georgie smiled at her sadly. “You never said you loved your duke.”
“I didn’t. My parents insisted on the match, he managed to be civilized during our courtship, and, once again, I allowed myself to be persuaded.
We all lived to regret it.” She gave Georgie’s arm a shake.
“That’s why I say carpe diem! Seize the day, Georgie!
If you want your chance at happiness, take it!
Tyneham Manor has seen its share of tragedy.
Claudia showed us a better way. Follow your heart, like she did. ”
If only Georgie could believe it was that easy.
* * *
The outing hadn’t gone as planned. Morrigan sat in the coach with the boys beside her. Pip’s head was against the cushioned wall; Oliver’s head was against her arm. Both slept like the babes they were. Even the dogs slumbered on the floor, Anastasia grumbling as King Saul rolled over on her.
And across from Morrigan, Her Grace the Second and the vicar sat pasted to opposite sides of the coach. Mr. Caddington occasionally glanced her way with a frown, but Her Grace kept her gaze steadfastly out her window.
It wasn’t Morrigan’s place to speak unless she was addressed first, but surely His Grace would expect her to intervene.
“Penny for your thoughts, sir,” she murmured, mindful of the slumbering boys.
Her Grace turned to face him.
He gave her a smile before answering Morrigan. “Just considering my sermon for Sunday. I promised a member of the congregation to emphasize certain points.”
“Good for you for accommodating,” she said. She looked to the duchess. “Don’t you think so, Your Grace?”
“We are very fortunate to have such a conscientious gentleman as Mr. Caddington as vicar,” the duchess said.
Then they both sighed and returned their gazes out their windows.
So much for His Grace’s plan to bring the two together!
Of course, His Grace had hardly expected to be nearly flattened by that stone.
“Would have crushed him,” Bailey had confirmed to Morrigan as the others were dispersing. He frowned up at the wall above them. “Doesn’t seem likely, does it?”
Morrigan followed his gaze. The stones were piled to form an arch, as if they’d once sheltered a window looking out on the countryside.
“They’re old,” she said with a shrug. “They fall. You can see the evidence of that all around.”
“Yes, but I’d wager they fall for a reason,” Bailey insisted. “You heard Mr. Warden. A storm off the Channel brings a wind howling; rain seeps in where it shouldn’t. It’s been calm, with little rain of late. Why did it fall exactly when His Grace was positioned below?”
Morrigan stared at him. “You can’t think it was deliberate!”
Bailey spread his hands. “Why not? He wouldn’t be the first duke to have someone envy his position.”
“Not this lot,” Morrigan argued, shocked he’d even suggest such a thing. “They’re too happy to have a duke making decisions.”
Bailey dropped his gaze to hers at last. “That’s the truth. You weren’t here during the dark days of the last duke. Everyone wants this one to stick around.”
She saw it too. Each member of the staff, from Mr. Kinsle to the newest members like her, was pleased and proud to serve under the Seventh Duke of Tyneham.
He might be unconventional, but he cared.
Bailey and the others had just dealt with a difficult time, that’s why he was seeing danger when none existed.
“But something happened in those ruins,” she told him when they reached the manor safely late that afternoon.
Their Graces were all heading for their rooms to change for dinner, and Morrigan and the others had gathered in the kitchen around the staff table with Mrs. Carmichael and Mr. Kinsle.
“Her Grace the Second and Mr. Caddington barely spoke two words to each other on the trip home.”
Mr. Kinsle shook his head. “We need to do something more to bring them together. His Grace is counting on us.”
“Like what?” Dorcus asked from her place beside Morrigan.
On her other side, Bailey glanced at her for some reason. “What do courting couples usually do?”
Morrigan threw up her hands, bumping him in the process. “How should I know? I’ve never been courted.”
He bent closer. “I’d say it’s time to change that.”
The look in his eyes stopped all thought.
“And there,” Mrs. Carmichael said, smile in her voice. “You see how Bailey and Morrigan are looking at each other? We’d like to get Her Grace the Second and Mr. Caddington doing the same. That’s why we’re here. Ideas?”
Morrigan’s cheeks heated. Bailey sat taller and focused on the housekeeper, but his hand found Morrigan’s under the table and squeezed.
“She’s still wearing half-mourning,” Maisy put in from across the table with a wink to Morrigan. “She talks a great deal about Pip, as if she’d like to be his mother.”
“She has to be Mr. Caddington’s wife first,” Mrs. Carmichael reminded her.