“Rowan,” she said, chewing her lip and still playing with the skirt.
“Well, Rowan. Perhaps you and your mother could show me around? I’d love to learn more about the tenants’ cottages.” She held out her hand to Rowan who eagerly took it, now beaming. Her mother, too, had a smile similar to her daughter’s, now looking even more shocked than before.
Alaina walked off with the women, speaking to each one in turn and quite forgetting why she was here. Suddenly, she was one of many women again, at ease in her surroundings and eager to know about their troubles.
***
“We’ll get it sorted, Tobias. At once.” Marcus ran a hand along the broken cart. He cursed at the sign of the breakage, for it would cost money to fix, money that was not yet at hand, but it didn’t matter. The tenants’ livelihoods were as important as his own. He’d plunged what remained of his money into the rest of the estate, improving the farmlands and increasing the occupancy of the village in the hope that the rent would provide more income. Yet he was still waiting on the next month’s rent to come in, and it would mean the breakage could not be fixed at once if the tenants didn’t have the money to hand themselves. He planned to do a temporary fix for now, sending up one of his trusted carpenters to do the job.
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Tobias said as behind him on the other side of the stable there was a commotion and a chuckle. “What’s wrong with you, boy?” he called to one of the younger men behind him.
“Nothing.” The short, red-haired lad shook his head, but under the scrutiny of old Tobias’ intense gaze, he hastily revealed his thoughts. “It’s the new lady,” he whispered, though it was loud enough for Marcus to hear. “Look.” He pointed somewhere at a distance.
Marcus jerked forward, worried for a second that Callie was being laughed at. He reached the front of the stable to see the women from the tenants’ houses gathered together in a small circle at the edge of the fields. They were sitting together on the ground, and some of the children were with them. They were making shawls and dresses, enjoying the hot sun of the day, and laughing together as they did so.
Callie sat on the earth with the rest of them, a young girl at her side playing with the hem of her gown. She was sewing a cloth, too, talking with one of the women beside her. It was no fine embroidery but a working dress she was making, quite expertly, as if she had done it before.
“She sits with them,” the red-haired lad hissed to Tobias in surprise. “Not many ladies would do that.”
Marcus couldn’t stop smiling as he watched Callie laughing with the women beside her.
“Indeed, they would not,” he agreed, yet Callie was entirely different from who he had expected to turn up at his door.
Then something else shocked him. Another young girl tottered towards the group, carrying a bucket of water. She struggled under the weight of it, and when she nearly dropped it, Callie leapt to her feet to help her and heaved the bucket over her shoulder.
Marcus watched, openmouthed, stunned, as Callie helped the girl deliver the bucket of water to its intended destination inside one of the houses.
“She’s like no other lady of the ton I’ve ever seen before,” old Tobias chuckled at Marcus’ side.
Marcus smiled a little more. It was possible he had found the one woman in the ton who knew something of what it was like for those who lived without land and money to their name.
“A good woman you’ve found there, Your Grace,” Tobias added with a whisper. “A beauty too, eh?”
Marcus didn’t answer, though his smile could not possibly hide his thoughts.
***
“Who is he exactly?” Caroline asked the maid who had become her friend below stairs, Marianne. With a giggle, Marianne pushed her blonde hair back behind her ears and lowered her voice to a whisper as they tidied away the cleaned crockery in the kitchen.
“David Barton,” Marianne said quietly. “The duke says that David wishes to start his own horse breeding business. The duke has even suggested he might consider investing in it. A word to the wise, though, my friend. Do not stare so openly at him if you do not want others to talk. Oh yes, I’ve seen you staring at him over dinner.”
“I don’t stare,” Caroline said defensively.
“Of course you don’t.” Marianne rolled her eyes and planted another of the teacups down heavily on the tray. “You do not need to feel bad about it. He’s the most handsome man around these parts, other than the duke, of course. It would be rare for a woman not to stare. I used to.” Marianne had a somewhat dreamy look in her eye before she sighed. “That was before I met my sweet Alfie, though.”
Caroline followed Marianne, carrying the tray, rather struggling under the weight of it.
No wonder Alaina got so strong.
“How long have you been married?” Caroline asked.
“A year, now.” Marianne added the teapot to the tray, too. “The valet to the duke. A kinder man you will never meet,” she said with that dreamy look in her eyes again. “If you have your eyes on David Barton, though, you should hurry to get his attention. Many other young ladies are trying to catch him.”
“He’s not a fish to catch,” Caroline protested. “And I don’t remember saying I wanted to catch him.”
Marianne gave her a look that reminded her so much of Alaina that she looked away, biting her lip.
“Where is Lady Caroline, by the way?” she said hurriedly.
