Page 86 of Brave New Earl (The Way to a Lord's Heart 1)

“Me?” The boy turned to stare at her, angelic blue eyes wide. “What about her? She might beat me!”

“She won’t be allowed to do so,” Jean replied at once. Benjamin watched her expression shift from militancy to a rueful consciousness of having been goaded. He would never tire of reading the emotions on that face, he thought.

“Nor would she wish to,” Jean added. “Miss Warren is coming to a new household where she hopes to be a…success. We should try to make it pleasant for her.”

Benjamin liked the use ofwe. It hinted of permanence and buoyed his spirits.

“What about me?” Geoffrey asked.

“Pleasant for you, too,” Jean answered. “Kindness does that.”

“How?”

Benjamin watched her puzzle over an answer, watched Geoffrey wait for one. He wanted to observe this process for the rest of his life, he realized.

“You could think of it like throwing a ball back and forth,” she said. “Having fun together.”

“But I could throw it really hard and break somebody’s nose.”

Jean snorted adorably. “That would certainly not be kindness. Let us say that it’s more like riding Fergus then. You want to command him. Perhaps you’d like to kick him to make him gallop. But you want him to enjoy the ride, too, and feel happy. So you’re kind to him. And he learns affection for you.”

Geoffrey looked down at his pony. The boy actually seemed impressed. A real achievement, Benjamin thought. Oddly, he felt proud of them both.

Their group rounded a stand of trees and continued along the base of a low hill. Catching movement in the corner of his eye, Benjamin looked up to find Teddy and Anna Wandrell riding down the slope toward them.

It was absurd to think the two young neighbors had been lying in wait here near the border between their two estates, but this sort ofaccidentalencounter had happened before.

The newcomers naturally joined them. It would have been churlish to protest, but Benjamin evaded Anna by falling back between Geoffrey and Tom. Anna always ignored the youngsters, as much as she did the groom, focusing all her attention on Benjamin. She looked disgruntled as she settled for riding beside Jean instead.

They moved on, chatting. And so his entertainment was reduced from fascinating sparring to polite nothings, Benjamin thought. He wondered how soon he could be rid of the newcomers.

Teddy Wandrell gradually brought his horse closer, finally inserting himself between Benjamin and Geoffrey. He swerved, forcing Benjamin to slow and allowing the boys to draw ahead. “I should like to say something to you,” he said.

Benjamin waited, not particularly interested. He thought of the young man as an amiable dolt.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t, but…well, I should like to.”

What was Anna telling Jean? Benjamin wondered. Neither woman looked pleased by their conversation. Quite the opposite.

“It’s my mother, you see.”

Jean was frowning. Should he ride to her rescue? But what could he do, actually? It would be the height of rudeness to gather her up and gallop away.

“She’s going a bit beyond the line,” said his young companion.

“Your sister?”

“Mymother,” replied Teddy. He looked at Benjamin like an aggrieved sheep.

“Your mother is going beyond the line?” He repeated the lad’s words because Mrs. Wandrell was the very definition of conventional.

“Don’t like to mention it.” Teddy practically squirmed in his saddle. “But we should stay on good terms, you and me. When I take over from Papa—years from now, God willing—we’ll be neighbors. Have to work together on boundaries and the like. Well, for the rest of our lives, eh? Could be a long stretch of time.”

“God willing,” Benjamin replied, beginning to be fascinated.

Teddy nodded. “Don’t want any bad feelings hanging about.”

“That would be unfortunate.”

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