14. Chapter 14 #2
It was Brant and Sarah that captured my attention the most. Brant looked genuinely interested in whatever Sarah was telling him as they stood next to a booth selling lace.
She was very expressive, her eyes shining as she used her hands to describe whatever she was saying to him. He was smiling, fully engaged.
But something niggled at my conscience as a person caught my attention on the other side of the green.
Molly.
She had come with the other servants, enjoying a much-needed day off amid the busyness of the house party. She watched Brant and Sarah, her face crestfallen, though she squared her shoulders, as if in defiance of her feelings.
The dance was an informal affair with a local fiddler who played lively music as he tapped his toes.
Evening had begun to fall over Ravenscar, with a bit of color in the western sky.
We enjoyed a picnic supper not far from the green with our house guests and purchased pies and sweet treats from a vendor for our dessert as the fiddler played and several villagers began to dance.
Thankfully, the young men who had tussled with the Welby brothers at Aunt Eliza’s dance had kept their distance all day, each of them sporting their own bruises. I hoped and prayed we would not get a second act from that group of men.
“This will be fun,” Sarah said as she moved a tendril of her blond hair away from her face and turned her focus on the dance that had already begun. “My only experience with England has been London society and our short time at Pickering Castle. I’m eager to dance with country folk.”
“Sarah,” Mrs. Danby said in a grave, disappointed voice. “Really.”
Sarah frowned. “What?”
“Country folk?” Mrs. Danby lifted her nose at the term. “How vulgar.”
“You forget your grandfather came from Cornwall, Mother. He was a miner, or do you not recall? If your father hadn’t immigrated to New York, you would be considered country folk yourself.”
“But he did immigrate,” Mrs. Danby said, as if that explained everything.
Sarah’s sigh was part exasperation and part tolerance.
Brant watched her, a curious look on his face—but his attention was divided and it had been all afternoon. I was certain he knew exactly where Molly was at any given moment, and she knew where he was, too. They stayed within sight of each other and I’d caught several shared glances.
Davis stood and extended his hand to Alice. “Would you like to dance, Miss Ackerman?”
She nodded and accepted his hand. They wandered off to the dance floor as Collins asked Ruth and Everett asked Martha.
Sarah didn’t look at Brant, but I knew she was hoping he’d invite her to dance.
He didn’t.
“Do you know, Your Grace,” Mrs. Talmadge said to me as she watched the young people walk away, “I have an idea.”
“Oh?”
Ames sat next to me on the blanket. I was thankful we’d spoken to one another and cleared the air—yet the news about the smugglers and their threat to Pickering Castle cast a pall over my good feelings.
“I’ve been to Scarborough many times and stayed at the Grand Hotel,” Mrs. Talmadge said.
“I’ve gathered that Scarborough isn’t far from here.”
“I’ve gone there for their sea-bathing machines,” she continued. “It was magnificent but overcrowded since the trains began to run there.”
“That is—unfortunate.” I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to say.
“When we went to the Ravenscar Beach,” she said, “I realized there is great potential at Pickering Castle. You are close enough to the train, yet remote enough that there are no crowds here, and you have all the amenities of Scarborough.”
“I suppose we do.”
“What if—” Mrs. Talmadge looked between Ames and me.
“What if you turned Pickering Castle into a resort? I know of no other castle hotel you can stay in, and that alone would bring in vacationers. You could utilize the beach nearby and bring in a few bathing machines. My father was a hotelier and there is a lot of money to be made, I can assure you.”
“Mrs. Talmadge,” Ames interrupted, a bit of reproval in his tone, “I must stop you there. Pickering Castle is our home, our heritage. It is not a resort.”
“Of course, Your Grace, and I mean no disrespect. But the potential is there, and if you are willing to use the land to make money with tenant farmers, why would you not be willing to use the land to make money as a resort? You could build a modern home on the property and let the castle make you an income.”
Ames and I stared at her. Not only was it an outrageous idea, but women rarely spoke to men about finances—especially not to dukes. In moments like this, I couldn’t deny why the English thought of Americans as a bit vulgar.
“I assume Her Grace brought a substantial inheritance with her into your marriage,” Mrs. Talmadge said, her voice concerned, but also sincere.
“You want to make an investment in the property that will return dividends, not use it to dump into a pit that will eat everything you own. I know what a financial burden these big, old houses can be.”
“Thank you for your idea.” Ames was curt. “But I believe we shall keep Pickering Castle as it is.”
“Suit yourself.” Mrs. Talmadge let her face soften into its peaceful smile.
The idea was a fascinating one, but it seemed an impossible one too, especially since Ames was so opposed.
Yet—Mrs. Talmadge was correct. I didn’t want to lose all my father’s hard-earned money on the castle.
We had to find a way for it to generate an income, and from the little I’d learned of the tenant farmers, it wasn’t coming from there.
I set the ideas aside to mull over later.
Instead, I watched the dancers. It was fun to see Davis and Alice moving gently to the music, quiet smiles on their faces, and to watch Everett and Martha, who were deep in conversation.
Collins danced with Ruth, but his gaze slid from Sarah to Martha and back from time to time, and I wondered if he was attracted to all of them or simply didn’t want to be bested by his brothers.
Several children played nearby, tossing a ball. When one of the little boys missed the ball and it flew onto our blanket, he ran up to our group, his cheeks red and his eyes bright with an apology.
It was one of Lord Torrington’s children, the child who stuck out his tongue at the governess.
“Hello, Curtis,” Ames said as he grabbed the ball and tossed it back to the child.
“Hello, Cousin Ames.” When Curtis smiled, he revealed two missing teeth and identical dimples in his cheeks.
“You’re getting tall.” Ames tussled his hair. It was the first time I’d seen him interact with a child. He seemed relaxed, comfortable—unlike when he interacted with adults.
“I’ll be taller than my father, I wager,” the child said with pride.
“Lord Curtis!” The woman in the gray dress appeared, her hands clasped in front of her gown. “Are you bothering His Grace?”
“No, indeed, Miss Smith,” Curtis said. “The ball landed here and I came to retrieve it. I’m not bothering no one.”
“I told you not to play with the village children.” She grabbed the ball from his hand. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Come with me. We’re going home.”
Disappointment filled Curtis’s blue eyes. “But the game’s not done!”
“I care not.” She dropped the ball and rub her fingers together with a disgusted look. “Physical activity with commoners is beneath the heir of an earldom. Let us go.”
Anger burned bright red in Curtis’s cheeks as he planted his feet. “No.”
The governess narrowed her eyes as she gave us a quick, embarrassed glance. “Do you dare challenge me?”
They stared at one another for a moment. The governess’s face grew more severe as Curtis swallowed and then finally shook his head.
The governess snapped her fingers at him. He lowered his eyes and joined her, all spark and joy gone.
When he was at her side, the governess bowed her head at us. “I do apologize.”
“There is no need to apologize,” Ames told her, his voice stiff. “The child was not bothering us. On the contrary.”
She gave a stiff curtsey and then strode away with Curtis following, while Lord Torrington’s four other children stood quietly nearby. They followed the governess toward a waiting carriage and climbed in, subdued.
“How very sad,” I said without realizing I’d spoken out loud.
“They need a mother.” Ames’s voice held certainty. “And the sooner, the better. When Fannie was alive, the children were carefree and always playing games outside.”
“Do you think George will remarry?”
“I don’t know. Losing Fannie nearly destroyed him. It would take a very special woman to convince him.”
“In the meantime, they need a governess who could love them.” I wished I knew someone I could recommend to Lord Torrington.
Brant rose from the blanket, pulling my attention to him. He bypassed Sarah and stopped in front of me. “May I have this dance, Lily?”
Surprised, all I could do was nod.
He offered me his hand and helped me from the blanket, then escorted me to the dance floor.
The song was a lively country tune. Brant was just as skilled at dancing as Ames, though he was sullen today.
“I was surprised you didn’t ask Sarah to dance,” I said to him.
“I need to speak to you.”
I studied him as we moved around the dance floor. “Can this not wait until we’re back at the castle?”
“It cannot. I’ve wanted to speak to you for days about this, but you’re never alone.”
“You’re starting to worry me, Brant.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but his gaze moved to the edge of the green, where Molly stood with some of the other staff, including a handsome footman she often spoke to.
When he returned his attention to me, he said, “I’m going to ask Molly to marry me.”
I tripped over his feet and would have fallen had he not held me upright.
When I’d regained my balance, I said, “You cannot be serious, Brant.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” His voice and eyes suggested he was telling the truth.
“But you—you hardly know each other.”
“You and Ames knew each other less.”
“That’s different.”
“How? Because you have money and she does not?”
“Brant!”
“I love her, Lily. I do not want anything in this life more than to make Molly my bride.”
I could no longer dance, so I stopped abruptly. “We cannot speak of this now, Brant. I cannot talk sense into you when—”
Without a word, he led me off the dance floor and over to where there were fewer people. He spoke softly as he said, “I am not looking for you to change my mind.”
“Then I will have Ames talk—”
“You cannot tell Ames.”
“I must tell him.”
“We will run away and elope if you do.”
“Brant.” I stared at him. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because.” He swallowed. “I trust you, and I know you understand, better than anyone, that love doesn’t respect money or status. At some point, Ames will have to know, and I want you to be on our side when he does.”
“Ames is my husband.”
“Exactly. You’re the only person who can make him understand.”
“I do not want to continue hiding this from him.”
“It is not your news to tell. Please, Lily. I love Molly with all my heart and soul, and I want to spend my life with her, but we need your help.”
“Oh, Brant.” I shook my head, pain and understanding tugging at my heartstrings.
“Will you help us?”
I continued to shake my head, but I sensed that he knew he’d won me over. “What can I possibly do?”
“Start slowly with Ames. Drop hints now and again about true love and remind him of your own family past. I do not believe people should be kept from one another because of the circumstances of their birth, and I don’t think you do either.”
I placed my hand on his arm. “I will try to make him understand, but I cannot make you any promises.”
“Thank you, Lily!”
“I said I cannot make any promises. You know your brother better than I do, and I’m certain he will never agree, no matter how many hints I drop.”
“But you will try, and that’s all I ask.”
Before I could say another word, he left me and my heart sank.