He isn’t, scoffed her heart.He is my love and my heart’s desire. He wasalso just a trifle smug. His expression at the end of his confession of love had made it clear he was sure of her.
“Flowers would be nice,” she commented. No one but Jacob had ever brought her flowers. He used to seek out the first primroses, the first violets, the first of every sort of wildflower that grew in the fields or woods around the Miller home. Once, when he had run an urgent message for Lord Miller and had been rewarded with a penny, he had spent it on a rose from the village.
“Roses,” he said. “I bought you a rose, once.”
Ignoring the melting of her heart at this evidence the memory was precious to them both, Kat repeated, “Flowers. I shall leave the choice to you.”
“May I have a kiss?” Jacob asked, reaching for her as if her agreement was assured.
“Out in the open like this when I am dressed as a man?” Kat demanded. He must have completely forgotten, for her refusal had him blinking in surprise.
“Oh. That’s right,” he said. “Later then? When we have some privacy?”
How did such a masculine man—a tough, hardened warrior—manage to make puppy eyes? Kat took advantage of her masculine persona to punch his shoulder. “Definitely later,” she promised. “Come on. Let’s also walk around the lake. Tell me about your adventures, Jacob.”
He moved his elbow as if to offer her an arm and stopped. He must have once again forgotten that she was masquerading as a man.
“And you shall tell me about yours,” he said. “Lady Miller is dead, you said, and the baron. What of Miss Clara and Miss Francine? Is Miss Clara as nasty as ever? Does Miss Francine yet think of anything but horses?”
Kat found she was talking as much as him, though she’d had no adventures to speak of until she and Miss Ellen left home.Still, Jacob seemed interested at her domestic tales of what had, after all, been his home for four years, and she was enthralled by his stories of life in His Majesty’s army.
When they reunited with their employers, they discovered that Captain Harraway and Miss Ellen had been far more practical in their discussions.
Captain Harraway opened the topic. “My betrothed and I have been talking about introducing me to the household as its master,” he said. “Rather than disclose your deception, we think we should just announce that Lady Ellen is my betrothed and that we are to be married in a few days, after which I shall join her in the manor.”
“Phil…” Miss Ellen looked up at her captain and blushed, “that is, Captain Harraway suggests that the staff and the neighbors should be given to understand that I needed a place to live until the wedding, and that—when people called me the Lady of Carr Abbas—I did not like to correct them. Especially since it will be true next week.”
Jacob was nodding, but he said, “We shall have to make certain that Mrs. Kirby knows our cover story. Does anyone know of your true identities, my lady? Kat?”
“My housekeeper,” grumbled Captain Harraway. “Your accomplice.”
Miss Ellen nudged him with the elbow. “An old friend and a loyal one. Your steward knows I am not the Lady of Carr Abbas, too. We had to take him into our confidence, for he was insistent that, though he did not know the heir’s name, the lawyers had talked of a nephew.”
“He would not give me permission to trap your game or pick your vegetables and fruit while he was suspicious of our identity,” Kat explained. “But when he knew of my lady’s plight, he agreed that taking the surplus could do no harm.”
“I am pleased,” said the captain, looking anything but pleased, “that some of my servants remembered their duty to the man who pays them.”
That fetched him another nudge from Miss Ellen, and he could not maintain his sour face, but chuckled. “Peace, Ellen. Peace, my love. I am just teasing your handmaiden. Speaking of which, I suspect the biggest shock to the household will be the revelation thatheis ashe. What is your plan for that, Miss Fivepence?”
Kat had not considered it. She had assumed they would be leaving when Miss Ellen married, and since they discovered that Captain Harraway was the owner of the estate, her mind had been too full of Jacob.
“I suggest telling the truth,” she decided, and ignored the captain’s muttered, “Unexpected,” since he wasn’t addressing the remark to anyone.
“I chose to pretend to be a man, because we were traveling and then staying in a strange house, and Miss Ellen needed a manservant to discourage those who might have attempted to take advantage,” she said.
“I would have provided a footman for my betrothed,” Captain Harraway protested. “What I mean is, if we are saying she was already my betrothed, then why did I not provide a footman?”
“He would have been a stranger to me,” Miss Ellen pointed out. “As it is, Phil, may we leave things as they are until after the wedding? And then we can explain to the household that Kat Fivepence is, in fact, my maid.”
And so it was decided.
Chapter Ten
“Captain Harraway,” saidMrs. Kirby, after they had explained the situation to her and the steward, “the house is going to wonder why you came here as an artist, not as the owner of Carr Abbas and the lady’s betrothed.”
“True,” agreed the steward. “The village will also ask questions. Everyone has been talking about the gentleman artist and his servant.”
Jake’s captain didn’t hesitate. “I have not been to Ealing since I was a small lad. I had no idea how the people might be treating my betrothed. I wanted to keep my identity secret at least until I had been to the house and met the servants. Will that do it, do you think?”
