did not like to go too fast in case it was not in accordance with your wishes...and he would not trouble Lord Ravenscar more than necessary.’
‘My father has put the estate in my hands, as you know.’ Paul smiled, for he liked the honest cut of the man. ‘You shall advise me, sir—but it is my intention to improve the estate. There are many new ideas in agriculture now and we must investigate them...and our people must be properly housed.’
‘I am glad to hear it, sir,’ Anders said. ‘I have wanted to make changes for some time, but Lord Ravenscar was not interested in new methods. He said he was too old to change and it would be up to his sons to take up the new methods.’
‘Well, now we shall begin,’ Paul said. ‘Walk to the stables with me—unless you are too busy?’
‘Nothing that cannot wait,’ his agent said and reached for his hat. ‘It is a lovely day for a ride out.’
* * *
‘Will you not stay and take luncheon with me?’ Jenny said when Lucy came down from visiting Lord Ravenscar. ‘Paul will not be back and I would much rather have your company than eat alone.’
‘Yes, if you wish it,’ Lucy said and looked thoughtful. ‘So much has happened since you first came down here to stay with me, Jenny. You married Adam and you have your darling son. How lucky you were to fall in love with him.’
‘Yes, I am fortunate,’ Jenny said and studied her anxiously. ‘You look tired, Lucy. Are you not quite well?’
‘I am fine, thank you,’ Lucy replied, her hands curling at her sides as she fought her emotions. ‘I suppose it was a shock to see Paul so much changed. Of course he has been away months and people do change. I dare say I am changed myself...’
The way he’d looked at her...not seeing her, but looking through her as if she did not exist. It had felt like a knife stabbing her to the heart. How could he look at her so coldly—as if they had never been more than mere acquaintances?
‘Yes, you are a little,’ Jenny agreed. ‘You seem quieter, more thoughtful than you used to be, Lucy. I think you laughed and cried more easily before you left for Italy. I have not asked...was there no one that you liked? I thought you might marry.’
‘Oh, I liked a great many people and I might have married,’ Lucy said, ‘but I think I was still grieving. However, all that is at an end. I am determined to find a husband for myself as soon as I may. Mama is anxious for me and it is my duty to marry well.’
‘I am glad to hear it,’ Jenny said and laughed softly. She was a pretty girl and marriage agreed with her, the light from within bringing her eyes alive. ‘I should like you to be as happy as I am with Adam. You must look for someone handsome and kind...but the Season in London is sadly over for this year.’
‘Mama spoke of taking me to Bath,’ Lucy said. ‘Papa intends to give a little dance next month. I hope that you and Adam will come? You never know, I might find a gentleman locally who would offer for me—and I should prefer to live not too far distant from my parents. I am their only child, after all.’
‘I suppose that would be nice. I have no parents, of course, only an uncle and aunt. Lord Ravenscar is as dear to me as a father, for he has been so loving towards me. I shall be very sad when he leaves us.’
‘Is there no hope that he will recover now that Paul is home?’
‘I am not sure. The physicians say that it is only a matter of time, but I see an improvement in him. He has hung on this long because he wanted to see Paul again—and now he is home he may recover.’
‘I wish he will have a little longer,’ Lucy said. ‘It will be heartbreaking for Paul to lose his father too soon—though he ought to have returned sooner. I cannot imagine why he stayed away so long. It was thoughtless of him.’
‘I suppose that once he had accepted the commission with Wellington, he could not leave him until it was settled.’ Jenny frowned. ‘I believe he much regrets it now, but Lord Ravenscar is not resentful, merely pleased to have his son home.’
‘Yes...’ Lucy wrinkled her smooth brow. ‘He told me just now how proud he was of Paul for having stuck to his duty. He says that he knows Paul has many improvements in mind for the estate.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Jenny said and laughed. ‘He explained them to me last night in detail, but I fear that I was not truly attending. Jeffery was cutting a tooth and my mind was with him...but it all sounded very worthy and fine.’
‘Poor Jenny.’ Lucy laughed and her face lit up. All at once she looked beautiful again, the sorrows of the past months somehow sloughed off as her eyes danced with amusement. ‘You must have missed Adam very much, for they could have talked business together.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ Jenny agreed. ‘I like Paul very well, but farming is not my forte and I could not help listening for little Jeffrey. Nurse is very good, but he does cry so...and she will not pick him up, because she says it spoils him. I think she does not like it when I do.’
‘Oh, that is unkind, but I know many nurses feel the same,’ Lucy said sympathetically. ‘If I had a child, I believe I should pick him up when he cried—even if his nurse did not agree with the practice.’
‘Well, I do,’ Jenny said. ‘Nurse scolds me, but I do not care. He is my son and I shall tend him when he cries no matter what anyone says.’ She offered her hand to Lucy. ‘Will you come up and see him now?’
‘Yes, I should love to and I shall stay to luncheon, Jenny. Mama knew that I might be more than an hour or so and will not worry.’
‘I shall send your groom to tell her that you will not be home until later,’ Jenny assured her. ‘And you shall ride home in my carriage.’
* * *
Lucy thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent with her friend, for they caught up on all the things that had happened to them in the intervening months. Their exchanges made them laugh and Lucy felt better than she had in a long time. By the time Jenny’s husband walked into the salon with another gentleman, she was smiling much in her old way.
‘Adam!’ Jenny sprang to her feet and ran towards him, hands outstretched. ‘How good it is to see you, my love. Did you have a comfortable journey?’
‘Very,’ he replied and kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘I have brought a guest to stay for a while, Jenny. His name is George and he is the Earl of Daventry—and he was so obliging as to sell me a horse. We knew each other in the army, but have not met for...oh, more than three years... That was before George became the earl, of course.’
‘Mrs Miller,’ the stranger said and bowed his head to her. ‘I had heard Adam had married a lovely young woman, but I could not have guessed how beautiful.’
He was an assured man, well built with dark eyes and hair, his mouth a little thin when in repose, but nothing could have exceeded his affability.
‘You flatter me, sir,’ Jenny said. ‘Forgive me, my lord—I must make you known to my friend, Miss Lucy Dawlish...’ Lucy rose to her feet and made a little curtsy. ‘Lucy, the Earl of Daventry.’
‘I believe we have met once before, sir, quite briefly—in Paris.’
‘Indeed,
