Adam watched him move. The horses liked his handling, and one kept nibbling at his hair. “It was not me. She just told her sister.”
Jason paused. Then he lifted a hoof and inspected it. “Who then?”
“A married man. There will be no more abductions.”
Jason cursed. “Not much life for her now. I was at that fete. I should have watched her better.”
“Don’t blame yourself. She could have a good life if another man marries her. One who cares for her, and would not hold one mistake against her.”
“If you find that man, you send him to me.”
Adam strolled over to the horse while Jason went around the other side to inspect another hoof. “Why not you?”
Silence. No sound. No movement. Then a blond head rose and looked over the horse. “She is a gentleman’s daughter. I am a servant. That is all we are in truth. We may all eat at that table together, but we are not of the same place in life.”
“No one knows all the places better than I do. However, you are well spoken and hardly a typical servant. As this farm rebuilds you will have more responsibilities. I expect in five years you will be a steward. That is a servant, too, but of a different sort entirely. More like a solicitor is a servant.”
He laughed, shook his head, and moved back to the horse’s rear hooves.
“How did you come to be educated?” Adam asked.
“Mr. Dunham had me take lessons with Caro—with Miss Dunham. We’re about the same age. He told my parents to send me over in the mornings when the tutor held lessons. I wasn’t the best student.”
“Neither was I.”
His head popped up again. “No? Well, we’ve something in common.”
“Several things. That and horses. I have wondered about something. Would you have shot me that first day?”
“I am sorry to say I probably would have. I was wanting to, so if you had given me the excuse—” He looked up again. “My apologies for all of that, seeing as how you were innocent.”
“Jason, is there any other woman you have ever met for whom you would shoot a peer? Would you have done that for Caroline? For the girl you first kissed?”
Jason smiled roguishly. “One and the same, ain’t they? Don’t tell her I told you. We were fifteen and curious. Wasn’t much to it. I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was, but she is like my sister, ain’t she? Now Amelia—never kissed her. Wouldn’t dare even when she was old enough. I just knew it would have been different, though.”
“If you are in love with her, perhaps you should consider what I said about a marriage. If you do not see her as a sister, she may not see you as a brother. Raise the possibility with her, and give her time to think about it.”
Adam waited for Jason to deny being in love. When it did not come he patted the horse’s flank and left the stable.
Chapter 10
They had a feast that night with the hare and pheasant and even used the real dining room. Mrs. Hoover made a honey cake now that she had enough flour. Amelia ate sparingly. Most of the time she kept her gaze on her plate, although on occasion Caroline saw her send resentful glares at Thornhill. He noticed, too, but his spirits were so high he didn’t seem to care. He showed the humor of a man just spared from the gallows.
“A gentleman would have married me anyway,” Amelia said that night while Caroline brushed out her hair. “Then I’d be a lady and live in London and go to grand balls. Now I’ll just be a fallen woman with a baby who has no father.”
“Of course he has a father. You named the wrong man, but you know the right one. If you tell me—”
“I can’t. Thornhill made me promise not to tell you.”
“He did, did he? I’m your sister. If you can’t tell me, whom can you tell?”
Amelia sealed her lips closed hard. Caroline guessed the answer. She could tell Thornhill, which she had. So he knew, but her own sister did not. That would never do.
After tucking Amelia into bed, Caroline marched to the stairway and went above to the attic chambers. Thornhill’s door stood open. She peered around the threshold to see him sliding something under the bed. His coats were off and his shirt sleeves rolled up. A pail of water warmed on the small fireplace hearthstone.
He looked over and saw her. “Why do I think you did not come up here to give me a kiss?”
She stayed at the threshold and crossed her arms. “I want to know his name.”
