Could she live here after that wedding took place? Watch him and Amelia together? Be the strange older sister who donned pantaloons to help with the animals? Thornhill would never tell anyone that for a day or so, before he married, he had kissed a different Dunham woman. She would never tell anyone either. It would remain a fond memory of grabbing a little joy before it became wrong to do so.
It all sounded so reasonable when she lined it up that way. So honest. Only in her heart she knew it had been wrong. She also knew that she would not be able to be the old friend of the husband, and sister to the wife. Her heart would break every time she saw them together.
She might have to leave, if her heart did not take the next few days in stride. Leave this land and the horses. She could go to Aunt Elizabeth in Carlisle, she supposed, just as Amelia had visited so often. Only Amelia had been a marriageable young woman whose beauty compensated for her lack of fortune. Caroline would be the spinster relative with no prospects and no money.
It did not sound like an appealing life, but she would accept it if it meant Amelia could be happy in her marriage. It would be wrong, so very wrong, to in any way interfere with that, even through old memories.
“You must admit he is a fine-looking man.” Mrs. Hoover leaned over to murmur into Caroline’s ear while the men talked on.
Caroline looked at the fine-looking man in question. “Yes, I suppose so.”
“Suppose so, do you? As if any woman would not notice. Of course he knows it. Men that look like that always do.”
“Yes, he does.” And yet she did not think him especially vain. He knew his advantages but also his own flaws from what she had seen of him so far. He was no saint, but at least he did not pretend his weaknesses were virtues.
“I don’t think Jason will come around to liking him much for a long time. He may even leave here once we are done. He said as much to me last week. Said he didn’t want to serve a lying scoundrel who took advantage of innocent girls. I’m hoping you will talk some sense into him.”
Thornhill kept glancing at their whispered exchange, even while he still regaled Old Tom with stories of races he had witnessed. He probably guessed they discussed him. She didn’t think she could convince Jason that this was not a lying scoundrel, much as she now disagreed with that description.
Perhaps she would leave with Jason. She would take a few of the horses as her birthright and find a small plot of land to rent and start over with Jason’s help. She would not have to give up all she knew then or be a dependent relative.
Old Tom began struggling to stand. Thornhill rose to help him.
“I should walk him back,” Mrs. Hoover said. “I’ll come back and clean up.”
“I can clean up. You take care of Tom.”
“I will walk with you,” Thornhill said. “You can lean on me, Mr. Smith.”
Mr. Hoover drew himself straight. He gave Caroline a long look, then faced the baron. “My name is Tom Hoover, not Mr. Smith. My wife there is not a Smith either, nor is my son, Jason. We have been here since before horses roamed this land and if you marry Miss Amelia you are stuck with us, too.”
“Tom—” Caroline began.
“Na, don’t, Caro. I’ll have my say. There’s things I want to know from this man before I accept his shoulder for support.”
“What do you need to know, Mr. Hoover?” Thornhill asked.
“Caro here has run this place for over a year now, and done a fine job of it. She ran it the year before when her father was not himself. After you marry into the family, what are your intentions here? Do you intend to displace us all?”
“He can’t do that, Tom,” Caroline said. “There won’t be enough money to displace anyone for a number of years still.”
“And what of her?” Tom angled his head toward her without acknowledging her comment. “Will you be expecting her to leave and you run the place?”
“A lot would depend on Mr. Dunham’s will,” Thornhill said. “However, it would be my intention that Miss Dunham never leave this land, and have a hand in its management as long as she chooses.”
Caroline was astonished by the ease with which he said that, as if he had thought it out already and decided her hand in the continued management was important.
A big smile broke on Tom’s face. He beamed a grin at his wife. “I told you I should come tonight. Share a pint with a man and it clears the air. You can stop worrying now, see?”
Shaking her head, Mrs. Hoover threw on her cape and tucked a basket over one arm. “Share a pint with a man and there’s a lot of fool talk, seems to me. Come on now, and watch your way so you don’t break something with a fall.”
Thornhill pulled his greatcoat off its peg, slid it on, then walked beside Tom. As they left the kitchen and began up the stone stairs, Caroline saw Thornhill’s arm go around the older man to ensure he did not fall on the steps.
She closed the door behind them, then turned to the sink. Water already warmed on the hearthstone, and she poured it into two basins. She made quick work of the dishes and cups, then began scouring the cauldron.
She was drying it over the fire when the door opened and Thornhill returned. He hung his coat and paced through the kitchen while she finished. The house all but quaked with its emptiness. The air grew heavy with their mutual awareness that they were alone here now and would be until early morning.
“Am I going to have to bar you into that chamber again?” she asked while she straightened the crockery.
