Page 40 of An Amiable Foe
Perry directed Beau back to Brindale, deciding as he entered the castle grounds that he would go to the cottage first to make sure that nothing was out of place. If Marianne was to move in today, he wanted to be sure there was no danger. Nothing that could cause her concern. As he rode through the opening in the trees, a gentleman stood at the door who turned at the sound of Perry’s arrival. Robert Vernon.
“Osborne,” Vernon said by way of greeting. “It appears Marianne has not moved in yet. I expected to find her here.”
“She’s still at the castle. She’ll be moving in today.” Perry looked up, examining the shutters of the house. “I came by with the intention of going around the house to make sure there was nothing amiss. I don’t want her to suffer any worries once she moves back in.”
“Mighty solicitous of you,” Vernon replied. “It is my opinion that she should not be living here alone, and my mother shares the sentiment. On the grounds of our longstanding connection, we invited her to live with us, but she refused.” He shook his head. “I cannot understand her refusal after what happened here.”
Perry did not share his disappointment. He could only feel relief that he would not have to go to Vernon’s house to exchange a few words with her.
“We can hardly force her to accept something she does not wish to do. She is of age, or very nearly will be. Besides, I have arranged for her to have a footman, which is why she will be able to move in today. She will not be unprotected.”
“Marianne may well be reaching her majority, but she’s an innocent. It is my object to have her reconsider what she’s about. Perhaps I will help her move her things.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Perry said, then paused, not wishing to be too transparent. In truth, he’d rather not have Vernon around today so he could have her to himself. “None of her furniture has been taken back to the castle, so there will only be her trunk.”
He tied Beau to the iron ring attached to the wall and tipped his hat. “I will just have a look around the property.”
Nothing had been disturbed that Perry could see, and when he rounded the cottage, Vernon was no longer there. He hoped he wouldn’t come back, but Vernon had not exactly promised he wouldn’t. Meeting with the man unexpectedly only fueled a desire to see Marianne. Perry didn’t like the idea of men hanging about her. There was a fragile side to her, and he didn’t want her to give in too easily to Vernon’s pressure. As soon as he returned from the cottage, he went straight to her room and knocked on the door.
She opened it at once and smiled at the sight of him. “Good day, Mr. Osborne.”
“Please, call me Perry,” he insisted. He had told her she could and there should be no objection. After all, she called Vernon “Robert” and he wasn’t about to take second place to him.
She dipped her head, averting her eyes. “Very well, Perry.”
He looked past her into the room. “You are preparing your trunk, I see. I will help you bring it over as soon as you are ready. Have you met your new footman?”
She nodded. “It was excessively kind of you to hire one for me. Mr. Mercy brought Jack to meet me this morning, and he is running errands for Sarah in the village until it is time for us to leave.”
“You may ask me for anything you like, Marianne. If it is in my power, I will assist you.”
He held out his hand and saw a look of hesitation before she placed her own in his. Hers was warm and tiny, and at its touch his heart began to pulse a steady rhythm. How he wanted to do so much more for her. Everything. He lifted her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss on it, breathing in her fresh scent.
She didn’t speak, but he saw its effect in the way her breath quivered. On his right, the door to the room where his uncle was staying opened, and Lord Steere stepped into the corridor.
“Let us know as soon as you are packed.” Perry’s voice came out harder than he’d intended from the jolt that came from the interruption. He hoped his uncle had not seen anything that would cause him to ask questions Perry was not ready to answer.
Marianne nodded in mute response, and he turned to join his uncle as they walked down the stairs.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
After Perry had gone, Marianne stared at the hand he’d kissed. His insistence that she call him by his Christian name struck a tender chord in her heart. The only other person she called by his first name was Robert, excepting the servants. Adding another person into that circle made her realize how lonely she had been until now—how isolated.
She cradled her hand to her chest and closed her eyes, breathing in and out. His kiss touched her on another level, because she was now certain he felt something in return that went beyond words. He had lingered, raising his eyes to hers before his uncle’s appearance had broken the spell and he pulled away.
Her hand tingled, and her insides were warm, causing her to smile and cover her mouth before a laugh escaped her. Here was her proof that his declaration had been true when he spoke of developing feelings for her—at least, she thought it was proof. As vulnerable and as little protected in society as she was, Marianne hoped she was reading his feelings correctly. She hoped he did not think to propose an unworthy offer, or believe she might surrender her innocence for one. Her heartbeat sped in panic at the thought. After all, he was a London gentleman, and she did not know his breed. If only there were someone to advise her!
The memory of the way he had slept outside of her room flitted through her mind. No. He had done that to keep her safe. If he’d possessed ill designs on her, he would never have made himself so uncomfortable just to protect her. He must love her. And when she examined her own feelings, she could not deny that he had penetrated the fortress of her heart, allowing her to feel something in return. How could such a thing be possible—she, who thought she would never rely on people again?
Marianne returned to packing her belongings and soon let Jack know her trunk was ready to be carried down. Her surprise upon entering Miss Fife’s room and finding her companion ready, with her things packed, was soon diminished when she learned that Sarah had come to assist her. Miss Fife had not yet taken to walking again. The necessity of waiting upon her while her foot healed was inconvenient enough that Marianne was tempted to send for a doctor to rule out anything serious. She might thereby remove the excuse from her companion’s lips that she was incapable of doing anything due to a twisted ankle.
Mrs. Malford sent a message through Charlie that she wished to see Marianne before she left and also promised that she would send a hearty tea tray to her mother’s sitting room to partake of before she left. When Marianne entered the kitchen, Mrs. Malford waved for Annabel to come and handed her the spoon she had been using to stir the sauce bubbling in the pot.
“There ye are, Miss Marianne. I was cleaning out the stillroom when I found yer mader’s dishes and tools for her perfumery and cosmetics. I wondered if ye mightn’t wish to take ’em with ye.” She brought Marianne over to a tightly woven basket on a table in the corner of the kitchen.
Marianne’s breath hitched. It had been many years since she had discovered something new of her parents’. “Thank you,” she murmured.
In silence, she looked over the pile of porcelain bowls and funnels, the wooden mortar and pestle, lifting the latter to her nose and sniffing. It still smelled like roses. How she wished she knew how her mother made such things. As she lifted a wooden plank away from the basket’s woven side, the edge of a bundle of papers caught her eye. She carefully slid it out of the basket and read its contents. Her mother’s neat handwriting listed:
