Page 22 of Rules for a Bastard Lord
“Yes. My mistake.” And so he silently pulled out his purse and counted fifty pounds.
Add that to the money she’d already gotten from her basket of possets, and she was richer than she’d ever been in her entire life. Good Lord, this was a lucky day.
“Thank you, Mr. Hallowsby. You’ve bought yourself a fine horse.” Then she looked up at him, her expression serene. “Will you be taking her now, or shall I keep her until you’re ready to leave?”
He looked at her, his expression grim. Then he silently pulled out another note and slapped it in her hand. “That will cover the cost of stabling her, I believe.”
“Of course,” she said sweetly. “That, and my lessons, that is.” Normally she wouldn’t push this. Normally, she’d take her fortune and run laughing into the house. But this wasn’t a normal time, and he was the only one who could teach her what she needed to know.
“Lessons?” he said slowly, his eyes narrowed in fury.
“In how to talk like a lady,” she said.
“Aw, Bluebell,” interrupted Mr. Bray, “wot you need—”
“I need them,” she said quietly. And she knew he understood, not her reasons, but that she would have them. Just as she’d had her mathematics lessons and her astronomy teaching and her plays by Shakespeare.
Then she looked to Mr. Hallowsby, trying to judge him by his manners, but he gave nothing away. Any clue from his body was lost when he squared his shoulders.
Was he angry? Would he lie to her? Had she pushed him too far? The questions battered her mind, but she said nothing and neither did Mr. Hallowsby. They simply looked at one another, eye to eye, raised chin to clenched jaw.
And then he smiled. Slow and sweet, before he sketched a too-deep bow.
“It would be my honor indeed, Miss Bluebell, to give you a lesson.”
“In talking like a lady,” she stressed. She could hear the threat in the way he’d phrased it.
“Of course,” he said as he put his hat on his head, nodded once to Mr. Bray, then turned on his heel.
She watched him walk away, his loose-limbed stride taking him quickly off her property. She saw his height and his confidence. She remembered the feel of his arms as they’d restrained her and the fear that had consumed her when he’d touched her neck.
Except it hadn’t been complete fear, had it? If she were honest with herself, she’d been taunting him from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. She’d made sure to show him her most beautiful aspects. She’d given him her address when normally she managed all her affairs in the village. And most of all, she’dpurposely pushed him when she usually let things be with a man.
She was attracted to him—truth be told. She was adult enough to know when a man interested her. But was he too much for her? Was she too bold?
“He’s not your usual gent, Bluebell. Won’t be led around by the nose.”
“I know,” she said softly. That was, after all, why he intrigued her so.
“You don’t ’ave to go to London. Ain’t nothing there that you don’t already got here.”
She looked at the man who’d become so dear to her. She loved his craggy face and salt-and-pepper hair that stuck straight up from his head. He’d held her hand when she was sick and taught her how to ride a horse. And if she stayed here, even without her mum, he would see that she married a good local man and lived a life such as he had. A passel of children, a farm that grew fine some years, and not as fine others.
Not a bad life, she thought. Maybe even a good one.
“I can’t,” she said as much to him as to herself. “I have to go to London.”
“And wot’s there that ain’t here?”
She swallowed and looked away. She didn’t want to hurt him with the truth.
He waited a breath. Then another. Then he sighed and spit into the dirt.
“Keep yer secrets then, Bluebell. But if you ever have need, even when ye’re in London, you send me a post. I’ll get to you. I swear it.”
She knew he would, and she impulsively threw her arms around him and kissed his weathered cheek, letting the scratch of his beard abrade her lips. “Thank you, Mr. Bray. Thank you so much.”
“Ain’t nothing. Now go get some o’ yer stew. We’ll add it to my Beth’s and have a good dinner.”
