Chapter Thirteen
“Where have you been?” Duncan asked Aaran when Graham entered the sitting room where His Lordship was enjoying the fire. “We missed you at service. I thought perhaps your leg was bothering you, but Mr. Boone said you had gone out.”
Aaran was glad the others were not also present, for he was not prepared for a barrage of questions from all fronts, at least not yet.
He was still digesting what all he had observed and learned today, and he was smarting from Lady Freya’s rebuke.
“I attended Mr. Turner’s service. I wanted to see if all at Rayland Hall would be at church.
I purposely entered just as the door was being closed.
Stood along the wall with the servants. I thought not to be seen, but Boyde sought me out after the service, which means the Rayland household knew of my presence in the church, for Boyde is not one to keep a secret. ”
“MacAlasdair sat with the family?” Duncan asked.
“He sat closer to Lady Rayland than did His Lordship. I had expected for MacAlasdair to reach for the Lady Rayland’s hand,” Aaran explained.
“Something is no longer rotten in Denmark, but rather in Kent,” Duncan observed with a sad shake of his head. “I hate it for Benjamin who must tolerate such tomfoolery just as he is ready to settle with a wife and the hope of children.”
Aaran swallowed his unspoken comment about how everyone but him would know happiness. Instead, he said, “I was thinking of returning to London early.”
“You are to stand with Thompson,” Duncan reminded him. “Why would you consider such a bit of madness? You made a promise to your brother.”
“I wish to protect Benjamin and Miss Whitchurch,” Aaran responded. “My stepmother has apparently concocted some bizarre plan to bring me harm. After services today, Boyde informed me that Her Ladyship and Rayland are in negotiation for a marriage between Lady Rhonda Hightower and my brother.”
“Are you confident this is true?” Duncan inquired.
“The lady and her paternal grandmother arrived on Rayland’s estate shortly after services, which means they were likely housed somewhere nearby.
They were in an open landau, indicating they did not travel far in February weather, even though it has been milder than usual.
I did not view either during services, but, then again, I was not aware of this business so I was watching the others. ”
“Including Lady Freya?” Duncan asked with a lift of his brows.
“I have repeatedly said I will not pursue Cunningham’s daughter,” Aaran repeated in the same autocratic tones as he had used previously.
Even so, his pulse should not have kicked up a notch with just the mention of the woman, but it did.
“Moreover, I was speaking to Lady Freya when the Hightower carriage passed us on the main road to the estate. The dowager baroness’s driver did not slow down as he passed Lady Freya as she stepped to the verge of the road.
I had moved to a position to snatch her back if she was in danger, but other than a bit of dust, such was not necessary. ”
“And?” Duncan asked with emphasis. “There is more you are not sharing.”
Aaran swallowed his desire to bolt from the room or tell Duncan what occurred was none of his concern. Instead, he admitted, “Lady Freya noted my surprise at seeing Lady Rhonda again. I was not aware of her being in the neighborhood, just of her family’s negotiations with mine.”
“And Lady Freya saw through your explanation?” Duncan asked with a lift of his brows in obvious confirmation.
“She did. Lady Freya means to stay until Victoria and Benjamin are married. It was her promise to Miss Whitchurch. Then she will ask her uncle to return her to London.”
“Do you approve of the lady’s decision?” Duncan asked.
“I have no right to interfere with her choices,” Aaran said dutifully.
“I held no right to pursue my Elsbeth. Her father was already in negotiations with Lord Ainsworth for a match with Ainsworth’s second son. Hope does not know an end until the vows are pronounced,” Duncan declared. “Do you desire…”
“Do not ask me what I cannot answer,” Aaran instructed.
“My relationship with Lady Freya…” He sighed heavily.
“It is more than a friendship, but it must remain a friendship—both of us reaching for more, but our hopes are defined by fear. She fears her life with Sir Patrick. I fear my chance at happiness is slipping through my fingers. Neither of us can dare admit to anything like love, and we both know lust and gratitude are not the bricks upon which we should build a future.”
Despite what Aaran had said to Duncan about the necessity of avoiding Lady Freya, the next morning, he found himself riding in the direction of Rayland’s estate.
“I could always say I meant to call on Boyde and learn more of Lady Rayland’s plans to marry my brother off to Lady Rhonda.
I am not hoping to encounter Lady Freya,” he murmured under his breath, “and assure myself she is well.”
However, neither his heart nor his curiosity were prepared for the sight he encountered when he entered the open gate marking Rayland’s land.
Lady Freya was pulling hard upon the reins of an obviously stubborn donkey.
Though he should have controlled it, Aaran’s smile widened.
Every day with this particular woman would be an adventure in living, something Aaran had always wanted for his children.
Love. Adventure. He could imagine a batch of them in the cart and a woman attempting to coax such an animal.
Chaos. But what a beautiful life. He hoped he would live long enough to view a similar scene outside his manor house.
“Botheration!” the lady declared as she stormed away from the animal, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.
“You are as cantankerous as some earls I know,” she declared at the top of her lungs before she turned to where Aaran sat atop his horse and realized he had been watching her.
“Present company not excluded,” she added as her hands fisted at her waist.
“Do you require assistance, my lady?” he asked while swallowing his smile.
“Though your offer is much appreciated, my lord, you will understand why I must refuse. When the animal is hungry, he will return to my uncle’s barn. I would not wish to inconvenience Your Lordship with such trivial matters.”
Aaran both admired and objected to her response, for he knew waiting for the animal was illogical.
It truly would eventually return to its home.
However, he disapproved of her total rejection of his assistance, for he knew her refusal was based more in the explanations he shared yesterday than in her ability to handle the animal.
She gave the bridle another mighty yank: The result was the donkey did not even flick an ear while she stumbled backwards, nearly losing her balance.
“Do not jerk on the bridle. It will only annoy him,” he instructed.
“He needs to be as annoyed as I am,” she retorted.
“Steady hand,” he explained. “And no yelling! Speak to him in calm, everyday tones.”
“If you speak the animal’s language, I would gladly present you permission to do so,” she hissed. She gestured wildly for him to dismount.
However, a gig could be heard before it appeared on the lane.
Aaran knew he frowned, but he could not control his reaction.
His brother drove one of Rayland’s smaller open carriages.
Beside Boyde sat Lady Rhonda, her hand laced around Boyde’s elbow.
Aaran no longer wanted the woman, even questioned why he had thought to propose to the chit, but he did not like how she was holding onto Boyde’s arm, telling the world that they were a couple.
Boyde was too young to recognize the manipulation.
He required another couple of years to learn his responsibilities and accept his limitations.
“Trouble?” Boyde asked Lady Freya as he stopped the gig.
“No trouble,” Lady Freya said testily. “I simply thought this would be a good place to encounter my aunt’s neighbors.
“Then you do not require our assistance?” Boyde asked with a frown.
“None whatsoever,” Lady Freya said and turned back to the donkey, stroking its nose.
“Then would you mind moving the cart to the side so we might pass?” Boyde asked politely.
“I fear the donkey is enjoying himself just as he is,” Lady Freya said smartly.
“I have it,” Aaran announced as he stepped down from his horse, dropped the reins and crossed to where the donkey waited.
He wished his limp was not so pronounced today, but the long walk yesterday had played the devil with his endurance.
“Come, my lady,” he said to Lady Freya as he offered her his hand to support her on the cart’s step.
Like it or not, even through their gloves, there was a zing of recognition.
“Should you not tie off your horse?” she asked softly.
“It is trained to stay until I return,” he explained.
“All of us in my family have the horses in our stables trained thusly.” He took up the lines for the donkey.
“Hold tight, my lady,” he said with a grin as flicked the small whip he had found on the seat over the donkey’s back.
It bolted forward, and Lady Freya caught his arm in the same manner as Lady Rhonda held onto his brother.
The animal trotted off with more verve than Aaran had expected.
The fact the road held more than a few ruts and dips only made the ride more exhilarating, almost as exhilarating as the way Lady Freya clung to him.
“We’re only on one wheel!” she screeched as they rounded a curve, and she caught the reins in front of his hold and tugged with more strength than Aaran had expected for a woman of such a small stature, in an effort to stop the donkey’s mad race.