Page 56 of Real Earls Break the Rules

“Until I know for sure, I want them watched.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Amelia had heard of the luddites and the significance of their rebellious actions against factories. They feared the machines would leave them without work. But for them to attack here? A cold knot formed in her stomach. Weren’t they violent? Was Brandon at risk? Questions arose, but she held her tongue.

As they made their way outside, Amelia sucked the cool air into her lungs. The carriage was around the corner, and Brandon started toward it.

“Wait,” she said, placing a hand on his sleeve. “Do you truly believe luddites are damaging the looms?”

“I don’t know. There are men who dislike the industrialization that has started in this country. It’s inevitable and will only increase, no matter their efforts. I predict even more factories will spring up all over London very soon. But there are desperate men who want to hold onto the old ways.”

She felt a terrible tenseness in her body. “Desperate men are dangerous men.”

His expression darkened with an unreadable emotion. “It’s not me you need to worry about, but any saboteurs that are damaging those looms.”

She sensed the simmering anger behind his words. He wouldn’t be sympathetic or understanding, he would unleash the full extent of his power as an earl, and as a man.

He took her arm and led her toward the carriage. “It’s time to leave before people question your long absence from Rosehill. We still need to stop in the village for your supplies.”

Chapter Eighteen

Amelia decided to hold her art lessons beside Rosehill’s twin gazebos. The scenic location offered a beautiful view, and the fresh outdoors would allow for the best ventilation of the oil paint. Footmen carried out half a dozen easels and small canvases and arranged them near the rose bushes. Beside each easel paints, brushes, and jars of water rested on small wooden work tables.

The ladies and gentlemen arrived at the same time. Helen, Caroline, Sara, and Minerva chose their easels. Emmett and Weston picked easels behind the ladies. Amelia had set up her own canvas in front of the group so they could watch as she instructed. Chloe decided to skip the art lessons in order to go riding. Amelia couldn’t blame her sister. She’d been exposed to oils and watercolors since she was a toddler.

“Let’s start with the basics. Pick up the thickest brush for the sky,” Amelia instructed. She dipped her brush in blue paint then applied a dab of white. Her strokes were light and airy as she demonstrated how to paint the sky.

After she was finished, she walked around to check on each of her pupils.

She halted beside Emmett. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of whiskey. How could he drink so early in the afternoon? “What are you painting?” she asked, looking at his canvas. “It doesn’t look at all like a sky.”

He leaned close to whisper. “It’s not. It’s the ceiling of my bedroom. It’s my hope that you will know what it looks like soon.”

Her mouth dropped open, then she threw back her head and laughed. She couldn’t help herself. His behavior was too outrageous to take offense.

His eyes roamed over her figure, and he winked. “Will you visit me tonight?”

Amelia plucked his brush from his hand and wrote the word “NO” in bold blue paint in the center of his canvas.

Emmett dramatically placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me. Is there no future between us?”

She ignored his question. “Start over with a fresh canvas.”

Weston waved his brush across the way. “Enough with my brother. Check my painting,” he called out.

Amelia walked over to Weston and glanced at his canvas. It was a good rendition of the sky. “It’s excellent.”

Weston’s blue eyes twinkled behind his spectacles as he gazed at her. “Is my brother bothering you?”

“No. I can handle him.”

He grinned. “By the look on his face, you did quite well.”

Her lips twitched. How could two brothers be so different? “Are you enjoying the lessons?”

“Surprisingly, yes. But I think it has more to do with my instructor than the actual painting.”

“You flatter me, Lord Weston.”