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Caring for an orphaned lamb was no easy task. Sebastian sat on a three-legged stool in the small pen he’d built for Shadow, feeding the little lamb milk from the Breckin family’s milk goat by means of a very narrow-spouted bottle. Shadow was beginning to outgrow her need for milk, having already begun eating grass. Soon enough, these time-consuming feedings would no longer be needed. To Sebastian’s surprise, he suspected he would miss them. He wouldn’t miss the time they took, nor how much he had to scramble to make up for that time, but there was something very peaceful about offering something so simple but so necessary to the little creature.

It sometimes felt like he had nothing of significance to offer anyone else. He’d given some thought to what Miss Wakefield had said while painting Loch Tev. Taking time to know an area made it feel more like home. Could not the same be said for the people who called that place home? If he dedicated more time and effort to knowing the people of Teviotbrae better, he could be more useful and feel more like he belonged among them.

Archie McCrory approached from the direction his younger brother had gone only a few minutes earlier. The two had likely passed each other. Sebastian rose and met him just on the other side of the pen.

“What brings you ’round, Archie?”

“I heard Burnwick House is needing a groundskeeper. Wondered what you knew of it.”

“I gave the place a look over,” Sebastian said. “They need a groundskeeper, for sure and certain.” Archie’s sister had suggested he’d make a good groundskeeper. Sebastian ought to have acted on that suggestion sooner. He meant to rectify that now. “I’ll walk with you over there, and you can inquire after the position.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Archie said.

Shadow bleated, quite as if she knew Sebastian had just committed himself to leaving the farm for a time.

“The odd little creature seems to think I’m its mother.” Sebastian shook his head.

“Connall thinks it the grandest thing that you’ve taken in the poor thing.”

Sebastian offered a rueful smile. “I assume that by ‘grandest,’ he means ‘strangest.’”

But Archie shook his head. “Not many who aren’t shepherds have the patience to nurse a lamb through infancy. Says a lot for you that you’ve cared for the poor creature.”

Perhaps he wasn’t doing so terrible a job of winning the approval of the local people as he feared.

The two of them made their way to Burnwick House.

“I can’t say if Mr. Wakefield does, in fact, mean to hire on a groundskeeper,” Sebastian warned. Miss Wakefield, after all, had indicated her family was not so flush in the pocket as they’d like to be. “One is needed, but …”

Archie didn’t need him to finish the warning. “What’s needed most on the grounds?”

The man had a knack for looking after gardens and such things. It was no surprise that he had enough foresight to ask for information.

“The most needed things are pruning overgrown shrubbery and hedgerows and replanting the flowerbeds. The kitchen garden is in need of rethinking, as it’s not producing like it ought. After that’s all seen to, the Wakefields will likely eventually want to make improvements in drainage and beautification.”

“The field maple on the south edge is growing well,” Archie said. “Could do with a wee bit of pruning, though.”

“You’ll find that’s true of most of the estate. Little of it is dying. Overgrowth is far more the matter of the day.”

“I can certainly see to that,” Archie said.

He prayed he wasn’t getting the man’s hopes up only to have them dashed. The McCrorys’ finances were better since the father of the family had begun work as the butler at Burnwick House. But being butler meant living at the house where he worked and not at home with his family. Connall had mentioned more than once that the family mourned their father being away. If Archie found work there, Mr. McCrory might be able to return home.

They approached the servants’ entrance at Burnwick House and gave a quick rap on the door. It was answered by a kitchen maid, a cousin of Archie’s.

“Would you ask Mrs. Calhoun if she would inquire of Mr. Wakefield if he’s available to speak with Archie, here, about the possibility of working as groundskeeper?”

“Oh, Archie’d be grand,” the maid declared. “But why not have your father make the suggestion? He’s the butler, after all.”

Archie shook his head. “I’ll not trade on that connection. I’ll earn a place by m’own merits.”

The young maid hurried off to relay the request, leaving Sebastian and Archie to wait in the small vestibule just inside the doorway. He heard no indication of chaos or unhappiness. It would not, of course, be his place to interfere with Burnwick House, even if he were the laird, but he listened in the hope that if there were difficulties here, he might prove in some way helpful.

They were not made to wait long. The housekeeper arrived where they stood. “Mr. Wakefield has asked you to meet him on the east lawn.” She gave Archie an encouraging smile. The area was small, and the people were closely connected. Mrs. Calhoun likely knew the lad was in search of employment.

Archie looked nervous as he approached his potential employer at the designated meeting spot. Mr. Wakefield looked him over but gave no indication of what impression the younger man made on him.

Sebastian undertook the introduction. “Mr. Wakefield, this is Archie McCrory. I know you have expressed a need for a groundskeeper, and that is his area of expertise.” With that, he vowed to leave the remainder of the interview to be undertaken between the other two. He didn’t leave, however. He wanted first to make certain things began on a good footing.