Intentions of the Earl (21 page)

“Ah, Bluebell. Good choice. I should think
the two of you will get on quite nicely.” Andrew’s approval was
evident in his voice, as was the nod of his head.

“Bluebell,” Brooke said with a smile. “I even
like her name.” Then, “It is a ‘her’, isn’t it?”

Andrew chuckled. “Yes, Bluebell’s a
girl.”

Brooke laughed, too. “Not that I have
anything against male horses, mind you, but I should think a female
horse would be more sensitive to having a female on her back.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,
do you?” Andrew accused laughingly.

“Not at all,” Brooke admitted, bursting into
giggles.

“I shall tell one of the grooms to have her
saddled up for a ride tomorrow. We need to be heading back now
before Lady Olivia shows up and invites herself to our picnic.”

“All right,” Brooke agreed, giving one last
look back at Bluebell.

Andrew caught sight of the look she gave
Bluebell. The look on her face was pure joy, he was glad to see
that. He was glad she took joy in his presence. So caught up in the
idea, he leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Brooke shot him a questioning glance, but
said nothing.

Neither of them spoke during the walk back to
the house. When Andrew caught sight of Alex’s grim face, he checked
his watch. What a lucky save, they had been mere seconds away from
having Lady Olivia thrust upon them. Best to end this while still
ahead. “I do apologize that we got separated,” Andrew said with
false sincerity

Brooke suppressed a giggle. Alex rolled his
eyes. Lady Olivia pouted; then said, “Well, if you hadn’t been in
such a hurry to see everything we could have stayed together. You
were practically running when we last saw you. Then you were gone
by the time we made our rounds through the conservatory.”

Lady Olivia was someone he never considered
attractive, even in her nicest gowns, but when she pouted, her face
contorted in a way that could cause a grown man to have nightmares.
“Once again, I do apologize. If you were unable to see everything
you would have liked I am fairly certain that one of Watson’s
servants can complete your tour,” Andrew said smoothly.

“What of you, my lord?” she asked, batting
her eyelashes. “Why don’t you give me the same tour as Miss
Banks?”

She was flirting again he realized. He wasn’t
falling for it; nor would he ever
think
of giving her the
same tour he'd given Brooke. Knowing her, she’d use the tour as
another opportunity to propose. He suppressed a shudder at the
thought of her earlier proposal for them to marry, and felt a
little pity for the man who would make her his wife, bedding her
would be a difficult task for sure. “As delightful as that sounds,”
he said, trying not to choke on his tongue, “I cannot. I have a
pressing affair just now and I fear I’m already late. So without
any further ado, I must bid you adieu.” He watched in quiet
amusement as both Brooke and Alex rolled their eyes at his play on
words.

“I must be off, too,” Alex said without any
preamble, forcefully dropping his arm and causing Lady Olivia to
break her hold.

Brooke mumbled an incoherent excuse about
needing a nap and ran off, leaving Lady Olivia to find her own
entertainment.

Chapter 17

Brooke floated up to her room. She felt like
she was higher than a kite she’d seen at the May Day festival just
a few weeks before. Nothing could make her come back to Earth at
the moment. Not even an impromptu visit made by Liberty couldn’t
dash her daydream.

“Where have you been all morning?” Liberty
asked in a sharp tone as she burst into Brooke’s room without so
much as a knock.

“I went for a tour,” Brooke supplied.
Conveniently leaving off who she went with and what exactly the
tour consisted of.

“I do hope you enjoyed yourself,” Liberty
said icily, making herself comfortable atop Brooke’s bed. “I have
suffered the most intolerable morning.
Ever
.” She put so
much emphasis on the last word that she made it sound as if
nothing, in the past or future, could possibly compare with
whatever calamity she had just gone through.

Liberty’s misfortune, however, did not so
much as stir Brooke. Instead, she just smiled and asked, “What
could possibly be as bad as that?”

“I do believe I have found the one person in
this world that I can honestly say I hate.” The declaration was
made with so much conviction that Brooke jumped a little.

“Hate?” Brooke repeated in a questioning
tone, her brown eyes narrowing and her brows furrowed. “We’ve all
met someone that we dislike. I’ll gladly admit to disliking a whole
list of people, but to actually hate someone…” Brooke trailed off
and looked to Liberty who was wringing her hands. “Are you
certain?”

Liberty nodded.

“Who is it? What did they do? Who else knows?
Do you think we need to tell Papa and Mama?”

“No!” Liberty shouted.

“All right, we'll keep this to ourselves,”
Brooke said calmly. It must be bad if Liberty didn’t want to tell
Mama and Papa. “Why don’t you just tell me what happened and we can
figure something out?”

Liberty fidgeted a minute. Then she hmmed and
hawed a bit. When Brooke started making irritated rolling hand
gestures, Liberty got on with it. “It’s Mr. Grimes. You know, the
man Papa's mentoring?”

“Yes, I am acquainted with him,” Brooke said,
nodding her head. She was also aware that Mr. Grimes had been
Liberty’s dinner companion last night. Brooke knew that the two of
them had not enjoyed the other’s company last night, but that was
because of such opposite personality types. Liberty liked to talk,
blab really; whereas Mr. Grimes was silent, and when he spoke it
was brief.

“I know you’re acquainted with him,” Liberty
blustered. “The thing is, I was talking to Madison in the drawing
room and I thought we were alone. I was embroidering a handkerchief
and she was just sitting there. She was daydreaming. You know how
she is. She was just staring out the window, and I may have said
something to her about it. And, Mr. Grimes was there and he
said—”

“Wait,” Brooke clipped, raising her hand to
stop Liberty’s endless chatter. Her eyes had narrowed even more and
were pinned on Liberty in a way she knew scared the wits out of her
younger sisters. “What did you say to Madison?” Her tone was sharp
and her stare was deadly.

“Oh, nothing really,” Liberty said, looking
everywhere but into Brooke’s eyes. “All right, I’ll tell you. But
not because I feel guilty or anything. It’s that stare you’re
giving me. Truly, Brooke, it makes me uncomfortable.”

Brooke was pleased to hear that. She enjoyed
making her younger sisters uncomfortable and bending them to her
will.

Liberty shook her head. “I told her to snap
out of it, that it’s not a ladylike behavior to sit around staring
like that.”

“Is that all?” Brooke asked quietly. She was
starting to feel less sorry for Liberty and her situation, and was
rapidly growing sympathy for Madison.

“I might have mentioned a thing or two about
her never finding a husband, being an old maid and pursuing more
ladylike interests,” Liberty said meekly.

“And all of this was said in front of Mr.
Grimes?” Brooke asked, knowing the answer, but desperately hoping
that by some small miracle Mr. Grimes hadn't heard the entire
conversation.

“Yes,” Liberty said in a small voice. Then as
if a strong wind started to blow, Liberty’s attitude and tone
changed and she went from meek and humbled to irate and hysterical
again. “But that is nothing compared to what he said to me,” she
exclaimed.

“Liberty, you’re not looking very good in
this story, are you sure you wish to finish it?” Brooke asked
weakly. She didn’t know if she even wanted to hear how this was
going to end.

“Yes! The things I said to Madison pale in
comparison to the beastly things that coxcomb said to me,” Liberty
said with a grunt.

“Did you just grunt?” Brooke asked with a
grin.

“No, I did not grunt,” Liberty said
defensively. “Ladies do not grunt; it’s impolite.”

“You would know, Miss Propriety.” Then just
because she couldn’t help but rub Liberty’s nose in her misstep,
she said, “But for the record, you’re not really a lady, and you
did too grunt. My brain knows what my ears heard.”

Liberty ground her teeth. “Fine. I grunted. I
admit it. Now forget about that for a moment or I will add you to
my list of people that I hate. There may only be one person on the
list now, but I assure you, there’s room for another.”

“Go on. No more interruptions from me,”
Brooke said, adding a silent “For now.”

“After I had given my advice to Madison, not
too unkindly might I add, that beast had the nerve to clear his
throat, which scared us both half out of our wits. When I turned in
his direction he said the most hurtful thing.” She sniffled a
little and a single tear rolled from each eye.

Brooke couldn’t tell if those were real tears
or just theatrics. She was beginning to wonder if she were ever
going to hear this “beastly” statement made by Mr. Grimes.

Just when she couldn’t take it much longer,
Liberty wiped her eyes and said, “He looked right at me and
snapped, ‘Leave her be. You’re well on your way to being an old
maid yourself.’ I was so surprised that he said that I couldn’t say
anything back. He was so mean to me.” She looked to Brooke for
confirmation, but her eyes didn’t quite meet Brooke’s.

“Is that all?” Brooke asked her sister
curiously. To her mind this was not exactly a statement that would
compel someone to hate another.

“No, that’s not all. If you’d let me finish,
I’d tell you the rest,” Liberty snapped. “He then said several
statements about how I stick my nose where it does not belong.” Her
face turned scarlet with rage, and her voice began wavering. “He
was so mean about it! He said I was mean and callous, too. Oh,
Brooke, I hate him. I don’t know how Papa can tolerate his
presence.”

“Are you sure you do not wish to tell Papa
about the awful things Mr. Grimes said to you?” Brooke asked
softly, rubbing her hand up and down Liberty’s back to help calm
her down.

“No,” Liberty said adamantly.

Brooke wondered why Liberty was so set
against telling Papa. If Papa knew what happened between Liberty
and Mr. Grimes, surely he’d take Liberty’s side and end all
association with Mr. Grimes.

“Not to worry, I won’t say a word,” Brooke
falsely assured her sister. Something about the whole situation was
off. But before bringing it to Mama and Papa’s attention she needed
to get more facts. That meant asking Madison. “Why don’t you go
join the others on the lawn. I believe they are playing some sort
of game out there. I would like to take a nap before tea.”

Liberty got off Brooke’s bed and left to go
join the games on the lawn.

Brooke exited right behind Liberty and went
straight into Madison’s room.

“What happened between Liberty and Mr.
Grimes?” Brooke demanded without ceremony.

Madison didn’t even take her eyes away from
the window. With a slight sigh she said, “That was quick.” The
words were spoken as if she had expected someone to seek her
out.

“Is it true the horrid things Mr. Grimes said
to Liberty?” Brooke asked bluntly, taking a seat next to her sister
on the bed.

Madison started to twist some of the fringe
on the counterpane between her slender pink tipped fingers. “Yes,
he said some wretched things to her. It wasn’t very gentlemanly of
him, but who could blame him. She provoked him into it with her
blistering set down.”

“Oh, Madison,” Brooke said soothingly, moving
closer to wrap her sister in an assuring hug. “I’m so sorry Liberty
is so critical of you. She just doesn’t know how else to be.”

“I’m not talking about what she said to me,”
Madison said, looking Brooke’s face over curiously. “I should have
known,” she muttered after a minute.

“What?” Brooke asked, scooting backward. What
should Madison have known?

“She didn’t tell you all of it.” She sighed.
“My guess is she only told you the things he said to her about
becoming an old maid and being mean, callous, and essentially
calling her a busybody. Am I right?”

Brooke nodded.

Madison mumbled a few words Brooke was unable
to make out, which was probably for the best. Madison might be the
daughter of a minister, but that did not qualify her for sainthood.
Not only did Madison delight in hearing gossip, but from time to
time a coarse word or two would escape her lips.

“You know of the words she spoke to me, and
I’m assuming you heard that when she was done he told her she was
on her way to becoming an old maid herself.” At Brooke's nod, she
continued, “When he barely had the words out, Liberty jumped up off
the settee and yelled back at him, ‘Those are not kind words for a
man of God to be speaking. No wonder you had to seek Papa out to
help you with your church. You’re probably as ineffective as a
minister as you are a conversationalist. I have never had such a
boring dinner companion.’ Mr. Grimes made no response; he just
bowed and started to leave.

“Liberty wasn’t done though. Oh no, she
didn’t want him to get off so easily, she started raging again, ‘If
you would be a little more socialable your problems would diminish.
If
I
were the vicar, I wouldn't have near the problems you
do. I would have the ballocks to get down to the bottom of the mess
and sort it out.’”

Brooke gasped. Her proper sister said a word
like ballocks? And she wasn’t there to witness it? Life seemed to
be unfair at times. But even to hear Liberty say ballocks she
wouldn’t have traded her morning with Andrew.

“That’s when Mr. Grimes accused her of being
too involved in other people’s business for her own good. He used
me as an example, which I must say was just as uncomfortable as
when Liberty pointed out my flaws. That got Liberty’s hackles up
further. Either because of the truth of his words or maybe her
defense for my feelings, my bet is on the former reason. Either
way, she turned to Mr. Grimes again and said, ‘You, sir, are a
jacknapes. You have no business calling yourself a gentleman. I
hope the problems with your parishners never get solved and you
live in the misery they’re causing you forever.’ She took a deep
breath and noticed Mr. Grimes was staring at her as if she'd just
grown a pair of horns. Then, she let it go again for one final
insult, ‘Forget what I just said. I hope your problems multiply and
you are removed from your church and have to go find a hole to live
out the rest of your days all by yourself.’ Then she gave a sniff
to emphasize her distaste for him.”