Chapter 12 #2
“I believe they will do a fine job at hiding from me either way. They have been playing the game since they were babes and they have always been superior at it.”
Miss Alden leaned against a tree and eyed him with distrust. “Well, I would think that they should get good at hiding when they have you for a brother.”
“And the barbs commence once more. Do they never cease with you?”
“I would think they would if you had done anything worth more than my being cordial at best.” Miss Alden looked at him with those sharp eyes and blood rushed in his ears.
His shoulders slumped. The apology for what he had said at dinner the previous night floated on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It felt as if there was a blockade in his throat that prevented any sound from getting out.
“Are you choking, my lord?” Miss Alden looked positively pleased with the idea, although there was a hint of worry pulling the corners of her full lips downward.
“I am not.” Felix scowled at her and pushed away from the tree. “Have you stalled long enough?”
Thunder rolled overhead and Miss Alden jumped, her body crashing into his.
His arms looped around her, steadying her.
She looked up at him and, for a moment, it felt like time had come to a standstill.
In the time it took Felix to blink she was gone, already walking in the direction his sisters and Milton had run.
Felix let out a deep breath and followed behind her, but as he did, he kept an eye out for his siblings.
It weas easy to find Victoria hiding behind a statue in the gardens.
Hyacinth had taken to hiding in the goat shed on the north side of the property.
Milton had been just outside, hidden in the middle of a pile of hay.
However, when it came time to find Evangeline, the sky opened and thunder boomed. Lightning shot through the sky, lighting up a world that had suddenly turned black.
He lifted his jacket over his head and shouted to his sisters. “Where is Evangeline?”
“She said she was going to head to the staff section of the property.” Milton took off his coat and handed it to Victoria so she could protect herself from the cold rain that had begun to pour from the sky.
Felix looked to Miss Alden to see her reaction, but she didn’t seem to care, instead heading to the staff quarters on the property. He looked to Milton again. “Take the other two and get them inside. I shall find Evangeline.”
Milton nodded and took Victoria and Hyacinth inside while Felix jogged to catch up with Miss Alden.
She had her skirts hiked high as she hurried down to the forest. The staff quarters were all located on the other side of the trees, but if Evangeline had veered from the path at all, there could be any number of things waiting for her.
There were holes all over the woods where animals lived.
Ditches rose high on either side of a rushing ravine.
The ravine.
Felix let his jacket fall and broke into a sprint, running for the woods as fast as he could. To his surprise, Miss Alden kept up with him, only trailing a few feet behind from the weight of her skirts.
“Where do we look first?” she asked, her breath coming in short bursts as they stopped just inside the tree line.
“You should go back to the house, and I will look for Evangeline on my own. It is not safe out here for you.”
Miss Alden scoffed and rolled up her sleeves. “It is not safe out here for you either, but I assure you that I will be quite fine.”
“I shall go that way, to the ravine. You go the opposite way. Yell if you find her.”
Though he wanted to force Miss Alden back to the house, Evangeline could be in the ravine. If she was, there might not be enough time to save her if an argument broke out.
And having another set of eyes will be good.
Felix turned and ran toward the ravine. “Eva! Eva!”
No sound came back except the rushing of the water as it rose with the onslaught of rain. His heart seized in his chest as he moved some of the underbrush out of the way.
Perhaps she had fallen and hit her head. If she did, there was a possibility that she was unconscious and couldn’t hear him. Still, he kept calling her name as loud as he could.
“I have her!” Miss Alden’s voice rang through the trees. Though it was distant, it was clear. “We need help!”
His heart dropped to his feet as he ran through the mud. His legs shot out either way, slipping and sliding as he tried to get as much purchase as possible. By some miracle he stayed upright.
“Eva!”
“Over here!” Evangeline yelled, though there was something off about her voice.
Felix broke through the trees and his heart plummeted to his stomach. Evangeline was on the ground and covered in mud, her ankle tangled in some of the roots that crawled along the ground.
Miss Alden crouched near her, nearly as smeared in the mud as Evangeline. Even as dirty as Miss Alden was, there was something fiercely beautiful about her. “I have not been able to free her. I think we need to lift her straight up and untangle her at the same time, but I cannot do so alone.”
Felix rolled up his sleeves, giving him more room to move. “I will lift her a little at a time. You work on the roots.”
He crouched down and looked at Evangeline with a warm smile.
There were tears shining in her eyes and clear tracks down her muddy cheeks where they had fallen.
She held up her arms and he scooped her up beneath them, lifting her high enough to keep the roots loose but still allowing Miss Alden room to crawl around and remove them.
She made quick work of the roots. As soon as she was done, Felix lifted Evangeline free and set her on her feet. Evangeline threw her arms around him in a tight hug, pressing her face into his shoulder as her tears fell.
Felix held her. “Everything is fine now. You are safe. We are going to take you back to the house and get you warmed up.”
He kept one arm around Evangeline and led their way back to the path. Or at least he tried to. It seemed like it was taking far too long to go back the way they came, but he had lost the position of the ravine at the same time.
“Are we lost?” Miss Alden asked, breaking the longest stretch of silence the two of them had ever shared.
Squinting, he tried to see through the pouring rain, but it was of no use. Thunder kept rolling and the lightning flashes came more frequently. They needed to find somewhere safe as quickly as possible to wait out the storm.
“We are not lost,” he said as he finally caught sight of a path. “We must go this way.”
Evangeline reached back and took Miss Alden’s hand, linking the three of them together as they journeyed through the forest. Each time the thunder boomed, Evangeline jumped and drew closer to Felix.
Before he knew it, they were standing outside a little stone cottage. He had no clue where they were but as he knocked on the door all he could do was hope that the people inside were kind and accommodating.
The door opened and an older woman appeared in the doorway. She took one look at them before opening the door wide. “You must come in and get dry. Hurry now.”
Felix towed the other two into the house and the door shut behind them. “Thank you. Would you be so kind as to allow us to stay with you for the duration of the storm? I seem to have lost my way trying to get back to the Viscount of Tewers’ estate.”
The woman’s thin lips pursed. “I know him well. You may stay here. Sit by the fire. I will make something to warm you.”
A man came lumbering down the hall and looked at them from beneath bushy brows. “Who are they?”
“Felix Berrymore, Duke of Windham. This is my sister, Lady Evangeline, and my ward, Miss Alden, daughter of the Baron of Elington.”
The man inclined his head. “Mr. and Mrs. Peregrine, Your Grace.”
“None of that, please. We are guests in your home, and I will not have formalities. You can call me Windham.” Felix ushered Evangeline past him and to the fire. He turned to Mrs. Peregrine. “You say you know Lord Milton?”
“I was the cook at the estate until his father passed.” Mrs. Peregrine shuffled into the kitchen where a pot of what smelled like pork stew was already bubbling on the wood stove. “I was let go after the late lord’s passing.”
Miss Alden smiled as Mr. Peregrine brought her a cloth and a basin of warm water to wash some of the mud from her skin. “Thank you, Sir.”
“Miss Alden.”
“Isabelle, please.” Miss Alden began to wipe the mud from her face. “In America I was simply Isabelle, and yet I come here, and everyone believes that I must be Miss Alden. I cannot bear it.”
“Well, Isabelle,” Mrs. Peregrine said as she turned and wiped her hands on her apron, “I shall make a chicken pie to go with the stew. I am afraid I do not know any of the fancy French recipes that have been making their way through England, but you do not seem the type to mind.”
Miss Alden shook her head and finished cleaning up. “May I help you? I miss cooking. We had a chef at home, and she always allowed me to cook with her.”
“It would be a joy.” Mrs. Peregrine pulled another apron from a peg on the wall and handed it to Miss Alden. “Windham, you will get comfortable, won’t you? My husband will fetch some blankets before he goes out to secure the few animals we have left.”
“You are a farmer?” Felix asked, looking to Mr. Peregrine as he opened a cabinet and pulled out thick blankets.
Mr. Peregrine nodded. “For many years. Lord Milton decided that he no longer had use for us, but he did allow us to stay in this cottage. It has been our home since our daughter was a babe.”
His statement left a bitter taste in Felix’s mouth. The last day had shown him that the man he had once considered a close friend was not the man Felix had always perceived him to be.
Perhaps after this visit it would be best to keep the acquaintanceship as distant as possible.
“I am in need of a cook and a farmer at my estate,” Felix said, stepping into the kitchen so he could speak with Mrs. Peregrine. “I have a cottage at my estate that is slightly larger than this one. It would be yours and you could bring your livestock as well, as it has its own private pasture.”
Miss Alden looked at him, her brows knitting together. “You have positions open?”
He stepped to the side and straight onto her toes, silencing her though it earned him an icy glare in return.
Mrs. Peregrine’s eyes watered. “You are too kind, Your Grace.”
“I do not think it too kind at all. You are both in need of work and if your food tastes half as good as it smells, I suspect I shall have the best chef in England.”
Miss Alden gave him a small smile that made him think that, for once, she approved of something he had done.
A man could get addicted to a smile like that.