Finding some warmth in the sun, she pushed her bonnet back onto her shoulders to enjoy the summer afternoon. Her mother would have been cross with her and warned her about freckles, but dear Mama wasn’t here. During summer’s long twilight, Laura judged she could walk to the lake, see the gazebo, and be back in time to change for dinner. She wondered if Lord Debnam looked for her. If he missed her. Should she have told him where she was headed? But then he would have insisted she take a maid, and she enjoyed her own company.
Wishing she wore her half-boots and not thin-soled shoes, she set off on a path leading through the trees in the general direction of the lake.
A woof made her spin around. Hunter, tongue lolling, ran to join her.
She bent down to pat his soft fur. Then she gave him a gentle push. “Go back, Hunter. If you bark, his lordship will know I’m alone.” She pointed to the house. Once she’d continued on, Hunter followed at her heels. “Very well. We shall walk together, but don’t run off and get lost.” She could imagine Lord Debnam’s steely expression if the dog should disappear. But Hunter stuck by her. He appeared to know his way around the estate and would be better at finding his way home than she was.
Familiar woodland smells greeted her as she ventured deeper into the trees. Hunter darted off in pursuit of some small animal. Alarmed, she called to him, and when he didn’t return, she made her way through the bushes. A squirrel he’d been chasing had run up a tree and sat looking down at the dog as he scratched at the bark and whined. “Never mind, come along,” Laura ordered him, and thankfully, the dog obeyed her as they returned to the path.
Her tight shoulders eased. Away from the tension she felt at the house, she enjoyed the quiet and being alone. But as she trudged on, the worry that the lake was farther away than she’d first thought began to alarm her. It would now take her much longer than she’d estimated to return to the house. Laura didn’t want to cause any anxiety among the servants, or, heaven help her, the earl. She should start back. But the dog rushed ahead, and she followed.
Laura walked out from the trees. Before her, the magnificent, wide lake sparkled in the sunlight and illuminated the small temple overlooking the water from a small rise. She simply couldn’t go back until she’d entered it. The marble-columned building would offer a splendid view of the lake and the distant shore, where tall, flowering trees grew.
Laura followed the path bordered by rhododendrons and flowering shrubs to the elegant structure. Climbing the steps, she leaned against a cool, hard column, Hunter panting beside her. A pair of elegant, snow-white swans serenely crossed the lake in front of her, the water rippling in their wake. “Heavenly,” she murmured.
“A pleasant scene, is it not?” a man said behind her.
Startled, Laura swung around.
“And who might you be, little miss?” he asked.
The man was likely in his mid-forties, his fair hair threaded with gray. He stood at the bottom of the steps with a shotgun resting on his broad shoulder. His stance, with legs a little apart, suggested power and self-confidence, and although his manner was avuncular, his eyes roaming over her said otherwise.
She swallowed, suddenly vulnerable. “How do you do? I’m Miss Peyton. A guest of the earl.”
His autocratic features pulled into a smile, but a calculating one. “Don’t believe I have met your parents, Miss Peyton.”
“No, you would not have, sir.” If he fished for information, he would not hear it from her.
He rested a booted foot on the step. “I can’t recall Brendan ever having guests. He’s a lone wolf.”
“He is a gracious host,” Laura said crisply to dissuade him from further discussion about Lord Debnam. “Might you be the gamekeeper?” Surely, it would be audacious for the gamekeeper to call the earl by his Christian name. But who else would wander the estate with a gun?
He chuckled and offered a belated half-bow, which seemed to mock her. “Ralph Mather, Viscount Gaylord. Debnam’s neighbor. Well, whatever my relative gets up to is of no interest to me.”
“Then I shall go on my way, sir.” It was unlike her to take an instant dislike to anyone, and yet she had. He was a lord, but there was something unrestrained about him which put her on edge. She had the absurd desire to flee. He had insinuated himself into her thoughts and spoiled her enjoyable contemplation of the lake. She began down the steps to where he stood, blocking her. When he did not try to move, she frowned and dropped any pretense of politeness. “You stand in my way, sir.”
Beside her, the fur rose on Hunter’s neck, and the dog growled.
He hastily stepped aside. “That blasted animal scares the birds away. Totally useless on a shoot.”
Laura eyed his shotgun, fearing for the dog. Surely, he wouldn’t shoot Lord Debnam’s dog? But she didn’t trust him. “Hunter is most obedient. Hunter, come.” Hoping the dog would obey her, she edged past the man. She had only taken a step when she felt a light touch from his gloved hand on her nape.
“You should wear your bonnet. You’ll ruin your lovely skin.”
She recoiled in alarm but didn’t acknowledge him, walking on, her hat bouncing on her shoulders, held by its ribbons. Fortunately, Hunter followed. Laura retraced her steps to the wood while putting on her bonnet and firmly tying a bow at the side of her chin.
“Charmed to meet you, Miss Peyton,” he called after her. “I trust we’ll cross paths again.” He chuckled. Laura’s heart thudded in her chest, and she fought the urge to break into a run, not willing to give him the satisfaction. How curious. He was Lord Debnam’s relative, and he roamed this estate as if it were his own, yet his manner toward the earl had been rude and dismissive. There was something about Lord Gaylord she didn’t trust. What did Lord Debnam think of him?
When Laura reached the trees on the rim of woodland, she allowed herself a quick glance back over her shoulder and was relieved to see Gaylord had not followed. He stood holding his gun, watching her. Something about his stillness, like a man stalking an animal, struck her. Chilled, she called the dog to her side.
While telling herself she’d reacted hastily, she still broke into a half-run, the delighted dog bounding along ahead of her. Gaylord was probably just an arrogant, bad-mannered lord. But if he wished to frighten her, to put her off-balance, he had certainly succeeded. When her breath shortened to gasps, she stopped. Gazing around, she tried to get her bearings. It grew late. The last rays of sunlight struggled to penetrate the leaf canopy. The trees seemed to crowd around her. Nothing seemed familiar, but then, she hadn’t thought to mark her way when she’d come, keen to discover the lake and the Grecian temple. She remembered admiring clumps of dainty rock orchids which grew over the mossy rocks. But were they the same plants? Could she have taken a wrong turn? She’d been so preoccupied with getting herself and Hunter away safely, she’d scarcely noticed.
Somewhere close, footsteps approached. Muffled by the soft, leaf-strewn ground, she was unsure from which direction they came. Was it Gaylord? She spun around and dithered, searching for a place to hide. There was nowhere among the tall trunks and low scrub. Her throat dried as Hunter abandoned her, racing ahead. She called after him, her voice thready, but he didn’t come back. Head down to watch for potholes, she ran after the dog.
Laura banged up against a hard chest and shrieked.
“I told you not to wander around on your own.” Big, firm hands on her shoulders steadied her. “Why were you running?”
