A Prince for Aunt Hetty (2 page)

“Oh? Where are you going?” The stranger raised his dark eyebrows in curiosity.

“I am expected at Hayes house.” The information spilled out before Hetty considered that she did not even know this man's name and probably should not be sharing her traveling details with him. What if he was one of the highwaymen Annabella feared?

“Hayes house? I am already on my way there. Lady and I would be happy to take you with us.”

“Lady?”

“My mare.” He gestured toward the lovely white horse standing patiently in the road.

“Oh! I couldn't possibly impose on you.” Hetty thought he looked kind enough – the smile that reached all the way to his eyes went a long way toward quelling her fears – but she should be careful. Abduction on horseback was not unheard of. And she
was
a lady of means...

“Nonsense. Rupert Henderson and his faithful steed, at your service, my lady.” He gave a gracious and surprisingly courtly bow. Hetty couldn't resist a smile
at the incongruity of such a gesture here on the muddy roadside.

“Harriet Masters.” She gave a small curtsy. Clearly Annabella's fear and Hetty's consumption of entirely too many novels had gone to her head. There seemed to be no real danger from this Mr. Henderson. She would take a chance on him.

“Well then, Mrs. Masters, I shall be happy to escort you to Hayes house. It is truly no inconvenience to me. I am heading that way in any case.”

Hetty considered. She had not come far and there were still miles to go. Who knew how much mud she might attract. And she
was
growing colder by the moment.

“If it is
truly
not an inconvenience --”

“It is not,” he assured her.

“Then I shall be very grateful of the assistance.”

“Excellent.” He smiled and escorted her toward the horse. He helped her mount and then climbed up behind her.

Hetty felt prickles of awareness run up and down her spine as they rode in silence. She had not been so close to an attractive man in... well, in such a long time that she couldn't even count the years. The young society dandies who flirted with her were only attractive in an intellectual kind of way. They flirted just to try their art, never meaning any of it seriously.

“Miss --” Hetty blurted out.

“Miss?”

“
Miss
... Masters. Not Mrs.” Her cheeks heated in embarrassment.
Oh Hetty. You are a silly thing. Where did that come from?

“Oh... of course.” He accepted this piece of information graciously, without noting how awkward it was for her to bring it up. Clearly he was a very well-trained gentleman.

They lapsed back into silence for a few moments before he spoke again.

“Do you belong to Hayes house,
Miss
Masters?”

Hetty blushed at the emphasis he placed on
Miss
. “It is my sister's house, sir.”

“So you are aunt to those charming children?”

“I am. Are you familiar with the family?”

“I have visited the house a few times.”

“You are a neighbor?” Hetty was happy to find that she had not been wrong to trust him.

“I am.” She heard the smile in his voice.

“But I have not seen you before.”

“I am a recent addition to the neighborhood.”

“And where is it that you reside?”

“At Armstrong house.”

“I thought that place was empty,” Hetty said.

His chuckle rattled right through her in a very pleasant way. “It
was
empty. That's why I took it.”

Hetty was glad he could not see her face, as she grimaced with the idiocy of her comment. “Oh yes. I guess that was a very silly thing for me to say.” No wonder he was laughing at her.

“I meant no offense,” he said. “You should know that I have heard far sillier things than that in my fifty-two years.”

Hetty relaxed. She was, after all, not in the habit of taking herself too seriously. “And you should know that I have most likely said far sillier things in my time.”

Their mutual laughter carried them up the drive in front of Hayes house. Hetty's sister Agatha rushed out ahead of a small flank of servants. They had clearly seen the horse and rider coming.

“Mr. Henderson? We saw you from up the lane. And... Hetty? My goodness! What on earth has happened?” Agatha exclaimed.

Hetty quickly told her sister about the broken wheel on the carriage and Annabella's condition as one of the footmen helped her down. Agatha embraced her warmly while Mr. Henderson remained astride Lady.

“Won't you come in for something warm, Mr. Henderson? As thanks for aiding my dear sister?”

“I must apologize and decline, Mrs. Hayes,” he said. Hetty felt a twinge of disappointment. “I have urgent business in London and must depart as soon as possible.”

“Oh? I hope all is well. But then you will miss our gathering tomorrow evening?” Agatha expressed the disappointment Hetty felt.

“I expect so, yes. I ran into Miss Masters as I was on my way to make my apologies to you. Believe me, I would much rather be here than in London.” He gave Agatha a wry smile.

Always susceptible to flattery, Agatha returned the smile and said, “I expect we shall have to make up for it when you return, then. Thank you very much for rescuing my sister and delivering her safely.”

“It is nothing, my lady.” Mr. Henderson inclined his head in a show of respect.

“My lady? Mr. Henderson, you flatter me.” Agatha giggled and Hetty felt a rush of jealousy.

He laughed, a bright, cheerful sound that shimmered straight through Hetty's entire body. “It is a verbal habit that I have not yet managed to rid myself of here in the country. Mrs. Hayes.
Miss
Masters.” With a smile he kicked his heels into his horse and rode away.

Before Hetty could ask Agatha any of the thousand questions she wanted to know about Mr. Rupert Henderson, she heard a loud screech and felt the impact of a number of small bodies.

“Aunt Hetty!”

Though she knew it was her nephews, Hetty teased them. “Agatha, I seem to feel something around my legs. Have you recently adopted monkeys?”

The children giggled. And a young voice declared, “We're not monkeys, Aunt Hetty! We're peoples!”

“Peoples! What peoples?” Hetty pretended to peer around as if she couldn't see anything.

“Here! Here! It's us!” They were jumping up and down now as Hetty and Agatha laughed.

“Oh my! These cannot be my charming nephews! They were only very little boys when I saw them last.”

“It's me!” Stephen, the smallest one, yelled and hugged her around the knees again. But Vincent, the oldest boy at just seven years old, decided to take offense.

“I'm not little, auntie.” He stopped hugging her and glared.

Hetty suppressed her smile. It would not do to laugh at a child who desperately wanted to be taken seriously. “Of course not, Vincent. You have become quite the handsome young man since I saw you last. But won't you give your silly a proper hug?”

Vincent decided he was appeased and squeezed his aunt in a hug around her middle.

“Now, I thought I had some nieces around here somewhere?” Hetty teased. The four girls were older and had been practicing their manners. Hetty was a little disappointed to find that they had grown up so much. But she forgave them when she saw the glimmer of excitement in their eyes in spite of the restraint they were trying to show. They kept looking at their mother.

Agatha finally relented and winked at them. “Oh, go on, girls. She is your only aunt, after all.” Relieved to have their freedom, Vanessa, Margaret, Agnes, and Harriet barreled toward Hetty and nearly crushed her with hugs and kisses. They were all in a giggly heap.

Finally, Agatha stepped in. She clapped her hands to get their attention and announced, “Let your aunt get inside. She has had quite an adventure getting here and she needs something warm to drink. Let's go.”

In a swirl of excited children, Hetty was ushered to the drawing room where the oldest, Vanessa – a blonde-haired beauty of twelve – poured Hetty a cup of delicious tea. She managed to sip it slowly while the children vied for her attention. It had suddenly become necessary for each one of them to tell her all the wonderful things that had happened since the last time they'd seen her. It was a glorious rush of action and speech after her many days of forced inaction and silence while she traveled.

“I thought I heard some commotion in here,” came a commanding voice from the doorway.

“Papa!” The children yelled and toward him.

Jonathan Hayes was a charming and handsome man of forty-five years. He and Agatha had met in London nearly twenty years before, when Agatha had inadvertently sat on him during a party. She hadn't been paying attention and assumed the chair behind her was free. Instead of blushing and running away, as a young society miss would have upon discovering her mistake, Agatha had laughed loudly and insisted he give her a boost out of the chair. They'd been nearly inseparable ever since. And they'd been blessed with six healthy children whom they loved dearly. Hetty was glad for her sister's good luck. Between Agatha's dowry and Jonathan's inheritance, they had an easy life. What was even more, they loved each other and their children. Sometimes Hetty was quite envious of them.

“Hello, Jonathan.” Hetty began to rise.

“Hello, Hetty. Don't get up.” He grinned as he tried to walk forward with the children hanging on him.

“You have some extra baggage there,” Hetty pointed out.

“I do. I would like to get rid of it,” Jonathan teased as he playfully shook the children off. “It seems I sometimes get mistaken for a tree.”

He finally made his way to the sofa where she was sitting and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.

“Welcome back, Hetty,” he sat down. “How was the journey?”

“Relatively quiet, apart from the wheel we broke about three miles away from your front door.”

Her brother-in-law looked concerned. “Is it taken care of?”

“I believe Agatha is dispatching your coachman at the moment.”

“And I believe you had a sick maid in tow? Is she with you?”

“I do, indeed, but I left her wrapped up in blankets in the carriage. The poor girl is ill yet she insisted on coming with me. But I couldn't make her walk in her state.” Hetty hoped Annabella was warm enough. She must put her straight to bed when she arrived.

“So you walked here?” Jonathan was partially distracted by the children who had commenced climbing on him again.

The two older girls were edging closer to their aunt as she spoke. “I started to walk and then nearly fell in the mud.” Hetty noticed their eyes go wide and decided to embellish her tale. “But I was rescued by a man on a beautiful white horse!”

The children's eyes grew even wider. “Like a prince?” Little Harriet, her namesake and a wide-eyed nine year old, sighed heavily at the delightful thought.

“Of course not, silly,” little Harriet's older – and, therefore, very much wiser – sister Margaret explained. “There are no princes here.”

Hetty huffed in protest. “No princes? Then who picked me up out of the mud?” The children began to argue the point, the older girls saying that princes didn't exist and the younger ones insisting that they did.

Jonathan laughed and turned to Hetty. “I assume your trunks are coming with the carriage, so is there anything you need in the meanwhile?”

“I'm fine, thank you.”

He relaxed into a chair near her and watched his children play. “As you can see, the little hellions have been waiting for you all day. They were very excited to hear that their favorite aunt was coming to visit them.”

“Their
only
aunt,” Hetty smiled.

“Still their favorite, though. And Agatha has arranged to have you all to ourselves tonight. So once your trunks are here, we'll get you settled and have a nice family dinner together. And you can tell us all about this prince who rescued you!”

“
You
could probably tell me more about him than I can tell you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it was your neighbor, Mr. Henderson...”

“Oh, yes. Henderson,” Jonathan nodded. The children perked up at the name.

“He lives in the castle!” exclaimed Agnes, a plump and ruddy ten-year-old. She ran to her Aunt Hetty and climbed into her lap.

“The castle?” Hetty asked, surprised.

“It's their nickname for the old Armstrong estate. Thanks to all the story books you keep sending us, they have populated the village and surrounding areas with all kinds of fanciful names and creatures.”

“No dragons, I hope!” Hetty laughed.

“I seen a dragon yesterday!” yelled Stephen.

“Did
not
,” Margaret rolled her eyes at her little brother.