“Sir Slimy hasn’t been hanging around, has he?” Reese asked.
“That name, Miss Clarisse!” Ellen giggled. “But no. He has returned to London, and even were he still here, he could not visit when my brother is away.”
“Well, that’s good,” Jem said.
“Would you like to ride with us?” Reese asked.
“I would love to.” Ellen joined them, and her groom took a place beside Walter.
“What do you do with your time?” Reese asked.
“I love the gardens. With the help of the head gardener, we have them looking quite lovely now,” she said. “When my brother returns, he is likely to bring guests with him. The gardens provide them a pleasant place to stroll when they tire of being indoors.”
Jem went on to ask the girl questions about her favorite flowers, and she chatted happily. Reese wondered who else lived at Kellworth besides Ellen and her servants.
The path they had been following joined a road.
“Where does this lead, Walter?” Reese asked.
“To Aunt Nellie’s village,” he said.
“She has a village?” Jem asked.
“It’s where her tenants live,” Ellen said. “My brother has several, though I have never been to one.”
“Them there are cottiers,” Walter said.
“Cottiers?” Reese thought the word sounded vaguely familiar.
“Some as call themselves cottagers,” Walter said. “They farm Aunt Nellie’s lands.”
“They don’t live on separate farms?” Jem asked.
“Them are her tenants who farm larger sections of land,” Walter said. “These people work small patches of land, and some are the families of staff.”
Ellen had signaled her groom to come to her. While her ladyship was busy talking to her servant, Reese drew her horse closer to Walter.
“Yourpeople live here?” Reese asked softly.
“A few.” The older man gave a little smile.
Reese found it interesting that some of the faerie staff lived in the same village as regular people. Did that ever lead to romances between the two races?
“Can we talk with them?” she whispered. A village like this was where the real living was going on, with these people who worked the land for the benefit of the property owners. And here was a chance to talk with real people and not all those spoiled rich brats at Nellie’s.
The groom considered her, stroking his chin in thought. “Aunt Nellie has instructed me to keep watch on you, Miss Clarisse,” he said, his voice low, almost apologetic. “She said when something tests your sense of injustice, you tend to forget yourself.”
“I promise to be good.” Reese put her hands together as though in prayer.
Jem gave a low snort. “That’s like trying to catch the wind in your fingers.”
“Oh, stop it.” Reese dropped her hands, scowling at them both. “I’m getting better, and I only go a little crazy when I’m around the entitled nobility.”
“Please understand I have the power to make you behave.” Walter leaned in, his expression serious. He looked like much more than a head groom.
“Are you threatening me?” A chill went down Reese’s back.
“Merely speaking plain, miss.” He reminded her of Kaitlyn’s father at his sternest, that day when he had gone after the two girls for not caring for their horses first thing after a ride. “We have a responsibility that requires us to reside here. It is important to protect Aunt Nellie’s reputation. Have no fear that I would harm you. You would simply forget what you wished to say.”
