AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jealousy stabbed him at the sight. He tried to tamp it down, making a lousy job of it. As her husband, he had a claim on her. As if sensing his fixed stare, she turned to him. All easiness and smile vanished from her pretty face. She became blank and rigid on her horse, which she rode with a side-saddle.
They approached the terrace and dismounted, the lady’s maid walked back inside to her duties.
“Coleman.” Conrad greeted his employee.
“Welcome back, milord.” The steward answered politely.
“Lady Strafford.” He bowed to his wife as a gentleman should in public.
“My lord.” She replied, curtsying without looking at him.
“I can see you and Lady Strafford have done an excellent job in my absence, Coleman.”
The steward smiled. “Oh, milord, Lady Strafford has been most helpful with innovative ideas!”
Conrad slipped a glance to her, her rosewood eyes never strayed to him. “Indeed!” He answered a touch too ironic.
“She has been reading all the latest treatises on land management and learned hastily.” Coleman said, admiration in his tone.
A modest smile drew Aurelia’s elegant lips. “Thank you, Mr Coleman.”
It did not surprise him, with her drive and diligence. The manor and the lands showed off her care and hard work. “Maybe we should unburden her from now on and do it ourselves, Coleman.”
He sensed Aurelia freeze by his side, not a hair moved in her.
“Of course, milord.” Coleman sounded none too enthusiastic.
So his own man deemed him unfit for work, did he now? Or he preferred female company… This picked at Conrad’s nerves. He would not let it show for the life of him.
Over her dead body! Her husband managing the estate? Over
her very dead body! Not if she could help it. Fury shook her inside like an earthquake. She would use all the power she might muster to avoid him putting their hard work to shambles. The tenants, their families and the servants still remembered how rundown the state became before she took matters into her hands. They were all happy with their collective efforts to rebuild and reap the fruit of the land with the sweat of their brows.
She never turned her eyes to him for fear of burning him on the spot.
The comment made her utterly threatened. It constituted only the usual that he would take over now that he came back. She wished with all the force of her person that he got lost in town and stayed there, like, forever! In fact,, if she had a wish granted, she would like him to disappear again, for a long, long time. Decades, for instance!
As the temperature shifted to frosty between the lady and the lord, Coleman cleared his throat. “Well, I think it time for me to head home.” He bowed to Aurelia. “Milady.” Then to Conrad. “Milord.” He turned and mounted his horse swiftly.
A smug expression surfaced on her husband’s face which irritated her notch after notch.
“Why work so hard when we have people who can unburden you?” She heard him ask after a moment.
Eyes narrowed with irritation, she looked him straight in his dark eyes and lifted her chin. “I don’t want to risk going hungry like in my first year here!”
Conrad pleated his brows as if this was something beyond any possibility. “Hungry?” His legs apart, his fists lifted to his narrow waist. “Have you ever gone hungry here?”
She breathed a humourless laugh. “I did not look exactly fleshy, did I?”
“No.” He murmured pensively, one hand rubbing his stubble chin.
“You gambled and whored everything away.” She accused mercilessly. “There wasn’t enough for everybody.” She turned and left before her fury made good use of his disassembled riffle.
He watched her walk briskly inside, her skirts floating after her. So this added to the mistakes he would have to carry in his conscience. It hit he had neglected his duties for too long. He never thought he stooped so low! His wife and his people having to feed on crumbs because of his selfishness.
Two years ago, he realised he had gone too far with the life he led. He had gambled enormous amounts of money, yes. He had drunk to the point of not remembering things; had stayed away from home for days in a row, doing only god knew what. Had hung out with the wrong crowd. One morning, he woke up feeling like crap. He had not been able even to open his eyes, so heavy with alcohol he was. That day, he looked his swollen, wasted self in the mirror and made a harsh decision. No more. He had had to quit that life. Without the faintest idea of how. He had just kept going. With belongings wrapped up he left without certain destination. When the horse stanched, he had arrived in London. Blindly, he had come to the East India Company, which managed the colonies in India, and bought a commission to serve there. Clumsily, he wrote home saying he would head east. That had been the last he had heard or seen from his home up until the previous day.
After bathing and dressing a high-necked practical dress, Aurelia sat at her secretary, hand under her chin. Well, she should not have dinner in her chamber forever, just to avoid that person who was legally her husband. She would have to face facts sooner rather than later. He was back. She would have to tackle this new condition. Weary and unwilling, she prepared herself.
