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What was one supposed to do about that?

Somehow she smiled, and it was then that she felt she truly saw Benj Steele, just as she had the other day, through the new image that was Lord Hillier.

There was something perfect and profound in that.

And something almost magical about Benj.

“Will you show me Pontcaster?” Martha asked, when she could find her voice. “Perhaps I can help you see what might be done. Unless you must get back to tilling this field.”

“The field can wait,” Benj said without hesitation. “I’m rather interested in seeing the place through your eyes. I have no doubt you will change my mind on that score too.” He glanced behind them quickly. “What of your friend there? She’s more than welcome to join us.”

Heavens. She’d forgotten all about Cassie.

Martha looked back, and saw Cassie smiling widely in return. She waved them on, climbed out of the wagon, and moved to the head of the horse, rubbing his nose gently, then waved insistently again.

There would never be another friend like Cassandra Holmes in all the world.

“She’ll be along,” Martha told him, returning her attention to the fascinating darkness of his eyes. “Miss Holmes is a sensible girl with excellent manners and a healthy appreciation of the time. And she is very clear-sighted, I find, which must always be admired.”

Benj raised a brow, his smile crinkling his eyes. “Miss Holmes must be very useful as a friend.”

“You have no idea.”

They walked towards the house without much haste, Benj pointing out the fascinating details of the exterior as well as the failing ones. Martha asked what he thought to do about the repairs and the landscaping, and he confessed to not having given much thought to the thing, his mind being more full of the land itself than the house.

“Perhaps if you look at the house as what it could become rather than what it is, it will not seem so very dreadful,” Martha suggested with a smile as they moved to the dark entrance. “I think it could be charming. It’s already a lovely, stately home. Imagine its luster when you’ve done away with the decay!”

Benj laughed, glancing over his shoulder as they entered the cavernous entry. “Lovely and stately, eh? Martha Smith, I think you will need to see this entire house so I know exactly where you find luster.”

There was something rather ticklish in what he said, a compliment without so many words, and there was no help returning his smile as she did her best to find beauty around her.

It really was not so very hard, once the signs of neglect were passed over. The western wing had rooms that still bore something resembling furniture, but all were beneath sheets that Benj said he dared not remove. He was certain that at least two animals had died in the western wing, especially in the old ballroom, and that a new species of moss had taken over the gallery. Combined with the general fragrance of moth, dust, and various animal products, a venture into that part of the house was an experience in nasal distress unlike any other.

Even Martha could agree with that, though she laughed about the experience more than anything else. She was positive, she told him, that there were places in London that smelled far worse.

She could not name any, of course, but there had to be some.

The eastern wing had less furniture, and less cobwebs, and was generally in better condition. The family rooms had no beds apart from one, and it was there that Benj had made his bed. It was a tragic sort of establishment, the one moderately lived-in room in the entire house, but Martha was impressed by it all the same. There were not many men who could live and breathe in such a space, without furnishings, finery, or true comfort. Yet he was sleeping in a bed that had no frame, a room with no curtains, and using half of a bureau, as the other half was missing.

This room, at least, had no cobwebs at all, and bore an almost charming simplicity.

Rather like Benj, actually.

The main of the house was somewhere between the condition of the two wings. Relatively inhabitable, though sparse in setting and furniture, it did not have any known animal inhabitants, and did not smell of any particularly foul stench. There was no obvious damage in this area, and a hardy bit of cleaning and refurbishing would surely set it to rights.

Something about that made Benj laugh, when Martha gave him that opinion. When she demanded to know the humor in it, he only shook his head and smiled at her in a way that twisted her stomach and curled her toes.

She would need to spend more time with Benjamin Steele, Lord Hillier, Martha decided as Cassie joined them at last.

A great deal more.

If only to feel her toes curl in such a way again.