“Yes, milord.”
Was that a deliberate reminder that they were overheard? The man thought of everything. Unfair to cavil at that, but it set Kitty on edge. The groom had to be aware of the complex situation, so she asked, “What’s the reaction at the Abbey to our marriage?”
“Guarded, for the most part,” Braydon said. “Hostile from the dowager and Isabella.”
“She could be sent to school.”
“She thinks herself too old for that at sixteen, and it might be unkind. It’s only a few months since the deaths of her father and brother.”
“Of course. I forget. Perhaps she and the dowager will mellow in time.”
“An optimist, I see.”
“They will have to change. I won’t live in a battlefield.”
He glanced at her. “I’m not sure whether to anticipate or dread the future.”
“Always best to anticipate, don’t you think?”
He gave a short laugh. “You’re as changeable as the sea, Lady Dauntry.”
Kitty’s stomach clenched at the implied criticism, but she saw it could be justified. She’d not presented a consistent picture in their brief encounters. Hoyden, sober, firm, now brisk. She wasn’t even sure herself which was the true Kitty. A change of circumstance could change a person as powerfully as wounds or illness, or a restoration to health.
They rolled between hedges with countryside beyond. Some fields were pasture holding sheep or cows. Some were empty. Did pasture need to rest? Many fields were stubble left after harvest earlier in the year. Others were plowed.
A bird burst out of a hedge to cross the road in front of them. The horses jibbed, but Dauntry controlled them with ease. Kitty realized that even at this leisurely pace, his whole body was involved, including his fine mind. Something about that was arousing, as was the thought of his hands, despite their being covered by leather gloves. The seat held them close enough to brush against each other if the vehicle swayed. Kitty’s thoughts slid again toward the coming night. Perhaps a stranger would be exciting. True or not, it would happen....
She launched into a mundane subject. “How much of the land hereabouts belongs to the viscountcy?”
“Most of it. I can show you maps. There are freehold properties, such as Duncott Manor, the squire’s place, but most people are tenants. It’s good land, well tended. My predecessor did a good job there.”
“But a less good one with his family.”
“Unfair, perhaps, to criticize a man for being indulgent to his widowed mother and then to his motherless daughter.”
“If the result is unhappiness, someone is at fault.”
“How very trenchant you are. We could lay all the blame on the errant Lady Dauntry.”
“We could, but I’d like to meet her.”
“Why?”
“To hear her side of the story.”
He looked at her. “If I prove intolerable, will you run?”
Kitty gave that a moment’s serious thought. “No.”
“Good.”
They went through a crossroads and began to follow a high stone wall that must surround the estate. Kitty could see nothing beyond it until they turned left toward great wrought-iron gates. Beyond, the drive ran arrow straight toward a pale rectangle of a house.
The gatekeeper and his family came out to bow and curtsy.
“Franklin and his family,” Braydon said to Kitty.
The man, helped by an older child, hurried to open the gates. Braydon paused the carriage as they went through. He dug in his pocket and brought out some silver coins. “I saved a few for your children, Mrs. Franklin.”
