“Of course.” Giles was non-committal, his voice level. “We’ll not look for you today, Jeremy. Miss Brockford,” he bowed. “Please take all the time you need.”
“Thank you, my Lady.” Jeremy bowed back, but in his eyes Adalyn could see something unusual. A look of pain, perhaps. Or unhappiness. She wasn’t sure.
“Daniel can ride back with us, I believe,” Giles commented. “It will be a bit snug, but since it’s a short trip, we’ll all manage. That will leave you the gig, Jeremy.”
“I’ll get the carriage,” nodded Daniel.
“My Lady.” Miss Brockford curtsied. “Thank you for your kindness.”
Adalyn smiled and bowed, then watched as she tucked her arm into Jeremy’s and allowed him to lead her away.
Climbing up into the carriage, she looked at Giles. “They know each other well, I’m guessing.”
He followed her, leaving room for Daniel to join them. “I agree.”
“I hope Jeremy’s all right,” she spoke aloud, realising that his situation was uppermost in her mind. “I would have expected him to be more pleased at the arrival of a friend from his past.”
“I did not hear him say friend, though, Adalyn.” Daniel glanced at her. “Did you?”
She turned over their earlier conversation. “Well, no. Now you come to mention it, he didn’t. He called her anacquaintance.”
“He’s never mentioned her before?” Giles asked Daniel.
“No. But we don’t talk much about our pasts, Giles, even amongst ourselves. Our job is to focus on the present. There here and now. And on Lady Adalyn.”
“Of course,” he nodded.
Adalyn listened, busy with her own thoughts. Uppermost amongst them was a certain amount of confusion. She was puzzled at Jeremy’s reaction to Miss Brockford. Also by Daniel’s comment. Why did they not share their pasts? She could easily have believed that it would be part of the close relationship everyone exhibited. There was a bond there, without a doubt, but was it only Wolfbridge?
She remembered her first days at the Manor and her desire to learn more about her gentlemen. She had not, thus far, given it much more thought, but perhaps now she could elicit some information that would help her understand these men and their devotion to the mistress of Wolfbridge.
She shifted closer to Daniel, enjoying the slight warmth that heated her side. But turned her head toward Giles. “I think it may be time to speak of matters we’ve left untouched, Giles.”
He raised his eyebrows in question. “My Lady?”
She smiled. “You have a habit of calling me my Lady when you’re not ready to answer my questions or words, Giles. But when you’re relaxed you call me Adalyn. It’s quite endearing, but I am wise to your little slips now.” She reached out her hand and touched his arm. “I know so little about you all, but you know everything there is to know about me. If we are to move forward together, to wherever fate has determined, I would like to work toward a balance between us.”
Giles looked at Daniel, then sighed. “We’ll see.”
“Humph.” She narrowed her eyes and watched the lane ahead. She vowed to make sure that information was forthcoming. Otherwise the mistress of Wolfbridge Manor would bemostdispleased.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeremy arrived back at Wolfbridge late in the evening, just as Adalyn was about to retire.
His demeanour was calm, his face betrayed no untoward emotions—but Adalyn was convinced that he was not himself. That little sparkle in his eye had vanished and his lighthearted wit had left him.
So she readied herself for bed, accepted Daniel’s offer of assistance, and the two of them talked briefly about their day. But even he seemed disinclined to linger, and she blew out the last candle knowing her room was devoid of her gentlemen. She felt rather lonely, and frowned at their unwillingness to talk about important matters. Personal matters.
If they had been women, there would still be a deep and emotional conversation taking place downstairs. On that somewhat amusing thought she fell asleep.
The whisper of the curtains being pulled back to admit the daylight, and the rattle of a teacup on a tray awoke her, and she yawned and stretched.
“Good morning, my Lady,” Jane Barnsley curtseyed. “I’ve your tea steeping, and hot water in the ewer. If you’ve a preference for your dress today, I’ll be happy to take it downstairs and give it a quick iron…”
Adalyn’s heart lifted. “Jane, how lovely. You and I are going to get on so well. The men are extremely efficient, but there’s just something comfortable about hearing a woman’s voice first thing.”
Jane smiled. “I’ll pour the tea then, shall I?”
