When they came to a tidy farmhouse, Ash rode in and dismounted.
The door flew open. “You came!” Thea ran out and threw herself into his arms.
“Thea!” Ash swung her around. He set her carefully on her feet and studied her from head to toe. She looked tired and disheveled but apparently quite well. And never more lovely. He removed his handkerchief and gently wiped a dirty smudge from her cheek.
“Did you find my hat and my handkerchief?” she asked, her eyes sparkling.
“I did, sweetheart. Your hat led me to the hunting lodge.”
She sniffed and drew back. “What is that you are wearing?”
The weight he’d carried vanished from his shoulders. Ash laughed. He loved this incredible girl. If anything had happened to her! He smiled down at the sweet face of his once betrothed, who still held his hand. Damn it, she would marry him if he had anything to say about it. He would win her over. Light-hearted, he grinned. “That’s a long story, sweetheart, but I’m sure you have a better one of your own to tell.”
The baby wriggling in her arms, Maggie glared at her brother from the porch.
“Should we take Miss Maggie to the Parish constable as well, milord?” Phillips asked.
“No need,” Ash said. “Let’s get the ladies home.”
Chapter Eighteen
Did Ash stillwant her? Thea wondered continually as she sat behind him on his horse, her arms around his slim waist and her cheek resting against his back. She remained uncertain and on tenterhooks, even when their homecoming set the entire house in an uproar of celebration. And was still unsure as she and Julia went upstairs to bathe and change from their soiled riding clothes. He had hugged her so hard she’d lost her breath. As if he claimed her as his own. She preferred to believe that rather than merely pure relief to find them safe. But no amount of conjecture made her confident he wanted passionately to marry her.
Ash’s grandfather had recovered from the worrying episode. He had them all laughing during dinner while he recounted some antics of their ancestors. Apparently, Barrett John, 3rd Earl Highworth, loved all creatures, especially rats. He instructed his servants to leave out bowls of water in the corn ricks for the creatures. Staff were not permitted to harm the rats living on his estates. Footmen constantly rescued them and set them free in the woods to scamper back to the corn ricks.
Julia gave an exaggerated shiver. “I’m not sure I could befriend a rat.”
The earl laughed. “Then we shan’t ask you to, dear child.”
Thea glanced at Ash, and he grinned, obviously relieved to find his grandfather in good spirits. How much he loved the old man.
After the meal, the four enjoyed a party-like atmosphere, playing whist, while Whisky seldom stirred from beside Ash’s grandfather’s feet.
Then the earl and Julia retired to their respective bedchambers, leaving Thea and Ash to have coffee in the salon.
“It is good of Grandfather to ignore conventions and allow us some time together,” Ash said.
“He is a wise man,” she said with a soft smile.
“You like him,” Ash said.
“I have grown enormously fond of him.”
He sobered. “He is my family. I shall be desolate losing him from my life, although I must accept it one day.”
She felt such compassion for Ash at that moment, it was all she could do not to reach out to him. So appealing in his fawn coat and pale blue waistcoat, the snug pantaloons emphasized his muscled thighs. He smelled of fresh linens and soap, which she considered a delightful improvement, as was she after a long, perfumed bath.
“It was the highlight of the evening to see Julia so happy, wasn’t it,” Ash said, perhaps preferring a change of subject. They had faced enough today.
“How her eyes danced when you told her you had her aunt’s address. But then, moments later, she sobbed.”
“They were happy tears,” Ash said. “I only hope this jaunt to Cambridgeshire will end well.”
“Yes,” Thea said heavily.
When Julia cried, Thea had put her arm around the girl’s slim shoulders. She wanted to warn her not to put too much hope in finding her mother alive, but she couldn’t spoil the exhausted girl’s joy.
They were to set out for Cambridgeshire first thing tomorrow.
