Dash it all.Felicity did her very best to keep her nose from twitching again. “I am not lying.”
Merry snickered, covering her mouth and pointing as she danced down the roadway. “Now you look as though you are trying to dislodge something stuck up your nose!”
“Oh, stop, Merry. Do!” Felicity halted in the middle of the road. “I refuse to take another step until you promise to be nice.”
Merry made her way back and assumed an almost convincing expression of contrition. “I am sorry.” She held out her hand. “Come along now. I promise to be nice, if you promise to peep over the Wakefield garden wall with me.”
“What if someone sees us?” Felicity couldn’t believe her sister’s brazenness. Here they were, two young ladies in their twenties, acting like—or at least threatening to act like—a pair of childish hoydens.
“We are out in the country and no one is around.” Merry twirled in a slow circle with her arms extended. “I see no one for miles. The day is quiet as can be.”
“A Wakefield servant might see us. Then what?”
Merry shrugged. “We run.”
“Run? Are you serious?”
“Quite.”
“What would Mama say?” Felicity asked in a last attempt at curbing her sister’s enthusiasm that would surely be her undoing. She had to admit, maybe a little sneak peek over the garden wall wouldn’t hurt. “And Papa?”
“They would say, ‘Do not get caught.’” Merry gave her a wicked grin. “You know Mama and Papa always loved a good lark themselves.”
Felicity closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly feeling quite sorry for Chance and Serendipity in their roles of trying to maintain order in the Broadmere household. With a resignedsigh, she dropped her hand away. “Fine. I give up.”
Merry hopped in place, beaming with excitement. “Yes?”
“Yes.”
Merry caught hold of her and tugged. “Come along, then. I believe it is just a little farther and down this lane to the right.”
Caught up in Merry’s sense of adventure, Felicity scurried alongside her, unable to keep from giggling. “If we get caught and word gets back to Seri…”
“We won’t, and it won’t,” Merry said. “We are much too sly, you and I.” She pointed at a modest stone manor house at the end of the lane. “There. I believe that is it.”
“You believe? I thought you were certain.” Felicity halted again, eyeing the home that seemed unusually quiet. It was much smaller than Broadmere Hall, and no gardeners or other servants could be seen moving around the grounds tending to their duties. For lack of a better word, the place looked deserted. “This cannot be it. There is no one about, and the shutters are still closed on some of the windows. I do not believe anyone is in residence.”
Merry insisted on pulling her off to the side while pressing a finger to her lips. “Shh…look at the nameplate.Wakefield.See? And where else would he live? If he had a room at the inn, we would have heard about him long before Chance and Seri spoke up.”
There was no denying the name on the gatepost. Felicity ducked lower as they moved along the solid stone wall, even though it was taller than both of them. “How are we to see over it when it is higher than we are tall?”
“We shall find a rock or something on which to stand.” Merry stretched and hooked her fingers along the top stone block but couldn’t pull herself any higher. “Drat. I have snagged my gloves. Promise not to tell.”
“How in heaven’s name could I tell when it would incriminate me along with you?”
Merry grinned as she scampered farther down the wall. “Here. A rock that should just do the trick.” She climbed onto what amounted to a small boulder that should have been cleared away by the gardener or sentry long ago. A fit young thief would have no problem at all using it to vault over into the garden. That is, a fit young man not tangled in muslin and petticoat skirts.
“Well, what do you see?” Heart pounding in fear that they might get caught, Felicity pressed a hand to her chest. “Merry? What do you see?”
Frowning, Merry hopped down and reached for Felicity’s reticule and parasol. “Have a look for yourself.”
“You do not sound the least bit impressed.”
Merry wrinkled her nose and tipped a nod at the wall. “Have a look.”
Dreading what she was about to see, Felicity stepped up onto the rock and cautiously peeped over the wall. “Oh dear,” she said under her breath. Choking in weeds and vines, the dilapidated garden had suffered badly from neglect. Weeks and weeks of neglect. The only part appearing to have been tended to in the least was a patch of ground closest to the back entrance of the home. Vegetables and herbs thrived in a sunny spot cleared of weeds and the unwanted encroachment of the ivy that had taken over the remainder of the garden. A table with its paint peeling and a bench that had seen better days sat nearby. One of the back windows with a broken pane had been repaired by boarding it up.
Felicity almost choked on the pity that made her heart swell. Poor Lord Wakefield. Such a kind man, and look what he had inherited. It would take months of work and a team of servants to return the Wakefield estate to its former glory—if it had ever possessed any. Hadn’t Serendipity mentioned that the old earl had lost everything in the gaming hells and the new earl sought to restore honor to the Wakefield name? This was so sad. The place cried out for care and attention.
