An Honorable Gentleman. Regina Scott
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That ought to get his mind off his troubles.”
Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if she looked a bit more respectable herself, she realized. She paused to pin back her wayward curls into the bun at the top of her head, straighten her white lace collar and smooth the wrinkles in her green wool gown.
Goodness, were her fingers trembling? She mustn’t show how much Sir Trevor’s arrival meant to her and her father. From this moment forward, she vowed, the new master of Blackcliff would be met with nothing but pleasantries. She was standing by the hearth with a smile on her face, Dolly lying calmly at her feet, when Sir Trevor strode back in a moment later.
He pulled up short and gaped at her. She knew admiration when she saw it, and she couldn’t help the satisfaction that shot through her.
“Pardon me, madam,” he said, quirking a smile, “but there was a miscreant here with a pet bear a few moments ago. Do you know where they went?”
“La, but I’m sure they’re miles away,” Gwen answered, grin forming at his teasing tone. Then she dipped a curtsy. “Miss Gwendolyn Allbridge, sir. My father and I reside in your gatehouse. And this is Dolly.”
The mastiff’s tail thumped twice, and Dolly raised her dark head to gaze at him, jowls widening in a grin.
He bowed. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Dolly, Miss Allbridge. May I ask how you came to be in my house this fine evening?”
His voice was more curious than accusing. “My father has been acting as caretaker while the house went through Probate and was sold,” she explained. “Dolly and I spied your light when we were walking and came to investigate.”
He raised a brow. “Your father must be infirm, then.”
Gwen stiffened. “Not at all! Who told you that?”
“No one.” He crossed to her side and stood towering over her. Her head fit under his arm. She ought to feel menaced, but, with him smiling down at her, she felt as protected as when Dolly pressed close to her side.
“I stopped at the gatehouse when I arrived this evening,” he said. “No one answered the bell. And your father saw fit to send you when there was a stranger in the house. Naturally I assumed he must be ill.”
“My father was…unavailable earlier,” Gwen replied, hoping he wouldn’t ask the reason. It had only been a few cups tonight, far less than the bottles he’d downed shortly after Mother had died. “I was out with Dolly checking the grounds for the night, or I would have answered the bell myself.”
He frowned. “You serve as night watchman, as well?”
Night watchman, nurse, gardener and cook, but she could hardly tell him all that without making her father sound like a laggard. “Only when my father is unavailable, I assure you.”
He glanced around the room. “And who serves as maid?”
Not her, and for that he should be thankful. With the lamps lit, she could see streaks of dust crossing the fine grain of the wood where she’d missed spots in her hurry. “The staff were all let go when Colonel Umbrey, the previous owner, died. His heir chose to sell the estate, and we couldn’t know when someone would purchase it.”
His gaze speared her. His eyes were green, a light shade like the creamy jade Colonel Umbrey had brought back from his travels in India and the Orient. “And you’ve never heard of Holland covers?”
“Certainly we’ve heard of covering the furniture when it’s unused,” Gwen said, trying not to sound defensive. Pleasantries, remember? It wouldn’t do to snap at her father’s new employer.
But he couldn’t know how hard she had to work to get anything done around here, the hours spent cajoling and encouraging for the least task. Ever since her mother had died a year ago, her father had lost all will to live. And losing the respect of the villagers hadn’t helped. Far too many things had changed at Blackcliff. What they needed was a little order.
“We were waiting to hear from the new master before giving the place a good cleaning,” she explained at his frown. “The solicitor only just reported that Blackcliff had been sold. We certainly didn’t expect you to arrive unannounced.”
“A gentleman shouldn’t need to announce his arrival when returning home,” he said, not unkindly, and handed her a leather-bound packet.
“Well, it is a new home for you,” Gwen pointed out, untying the ribbon that held the packet shut. “And we thought if you were going to make Blackcliff your home, you would arrive with more ceremony. Do you have a carriage somewhere? Luggage?”
“I rode,” he said, and nothing in his tone gave her any clue as to why or how long he intended to stay.
Did he live in the Evendale Valley, then, and it had been merely a short ride to reach the house? No, that voice belonged in a more sophisticated setting. Or was this only one of the many properties he must inspect over the course of a year?
Gwen glanced down at the parchment, hoping for a few answers to the questions she could not ask without seeming even more impertinent. She’d seen enough legal papers as she’d helped her father act as steward for the colonel to be able to locate the important details in the close-written document. She glanced up at him, blinking.
“You were awarded the estate for services to the Crown? Were you a soldier like Colonel Umbrey?”
He smiled, but the light didn’t reach his cool green eyes. “Nothing so dashing. I settled a thorny administrative matter, and the chief beneficiary saw fit to recommend me to the Prince and purchase an estate in thanks. I take it you’re satisfied that I’m the new owner.”
She could not see him sitting behind a desk, shuffling papers, fingers smeared with ink. Those large hands looked like they should be wielding a sword as they had been earlier or clutching the reins of a team of horses. Despite his title of baronet, Sir Trevor seemed far too healthy, too vital, to have spent his life either clerking or in idle pursuit of pleasure.
But the papers looked as legal as any she’d seen. She slipped them back into the leather covering.
“This all appears to be in order,” she replied, handing the packet to him. She squared her shoulders and gave him her most charming smile. “Welcome to Blackcliff Hall, Sir Trevor. I hope you will consider it your home and wish to spend your life here. Now let’s get you down to the George and see you settled.”
In the act of accepting the packet from her, Trevor paused. A singular woman. Energy glowed from her fiery hair to her creamy skin to the fluttering of her gloved hands. Her topics moved as rapidly as she did. “The George?” he asked.
“The George Inn. Fine establishment. Excellent cook. You’ll love it.” She slapped her thigh, and Dolly scrambled to her feet, nails clattering against the stone of the hearth.
Now that the lamps had been properly lit he could see the mastiff more clearly. Her body, dappled in streaks of dun and black, was thick and powerful, with a barrel chest and a solid column of a neck. Her muzzle was coal-black, and her jowls quivered in her eagerness to move. Intelligence sat in those big brown eyes, and he was certain loyalty filled her massive heart. He could only be thankful she was so well trained, for even his dull club of a sword would have been of little use against her had she chosen to attack him.
“There’s no need to go to an inn,” he said to Gwen, but she was already bustling about the room, retrieving her lantern, extinguishing the other lamps. Everything about her said determination, from the set of her pointed chin to the quick movements of her lithe body. She looked to be a few years younger than his thirty years, and he wondered why such a beautiful woman wasn’t married and instead prowling around his estate in the dark with only a great beast of a dog for company.
“There’s every need,” she assured him, retrieving her cloak and throwing it around her shoulders. He hadn’t noticed the streaks mottling the soft brown wool of the garment. Had he caused that when he’d