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Rufus examined the face on the locket. “She’s very beautiful.” He looked up again, his eyes lingering a moment on her own face. “Like her daughter.”
She reached up as if to touch his cheek, but thought better of it. His gaze slid from her eyes to her lips and back again. Was he going to kiss her, here, in front of everyone? Averil rather wished he would, but then he, too, thought better of it and turned away to his horse.
Once inside the coach, she tried to pull her thoughts together. Beth was eager to discuss matters, but Averil didn’t want to do that in front of the others, especially Violet, and she surreptitiously shook her head. They’d be stopping at an inn for the night and they could talk then. Averil sighed, the journey seemed to stretch on before her, but a moment later Rufus rode by the window on Midnight and she smiled.
She was looking forward to seeing Southbrook Castle, and spending time with its master. She tucked a strand of truant hair behind her ear, and remembered her dream. Perhaps if she closed her eyes she could get back to it?
Rufus had sent James ahead to see that the castle was in some sort of order when he arrived. He was also to collect Great-Aunt Mildred on the way from her home in Cambridge, and to take no notice if she protested. He also had instructions to hire servants from the village and give the reception rooms a good clean, as well as the bedrooms to be used by their guests. The other rooms—in fact, the entire north wing—was to be closed up. Best if no one saw the state of it or they might begin to ask questions Rufus would rather not have to answer.
He would have gone ahead to do all this himself—he was already feeling anxious to have trusted his uncle with such crucial work—but he’d felt he should be here, with Averil and his son. Would James be able to get everything done? He had to admit his uncle was improving. Perhaps it was Beth’s influence?
Just before he left for Southbrook a week ago, James had been babbling on about hiring a French cook and impressing their guests with lavish meals. Rufus thought it was probably Beth he wanted to impress, and inquired of his uncle how he expected to pay for it. James had tapped his nose.
“Ways and means, my boy.”
Rufus knew that as soon as the visit was over, the cook would leave, as would the extra servants, and Southbrook Castle would slide once more into the drafty, broken-down pile of stone it was.
Was he a fool to want Averil to see the place at its best? Not just because of his plan to marry her and use her money to turn things around, but because he loved Southbrook and he wanted her to love it, too. He supposed it was deceitful, and probably ridiculous pride on his part. Because, in the unlikely event that she were to marry him, how would he explain the truth to her?
“My dear, please can you let me have another several hundred pounds of your inheritance so that I can fix the north wing ceilings?”
But then again, once they were wed, the money would be his and he wouldn’t have to ask her for it. He could take what he liked and use it as he wished. Rufus was aware this was the way of his world and yet the idea made him uncomfortable.
Rufus urged Midnight on and the big horse loped into a gallop. They passed the coach, leaving it far behind, and with the wind in his face and the road before him, he felt better. He was going home and he was bringing Averil with him and perhaps, somehow, he would pull this off.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
* * *
Averil thought the castle was like something out of a nursery tale; it was easy to imagine fairies hiding in the trees and elves rustling through the grass. She could hear the others oohing and awing around her, except Eustace, who was looking smug, and Hercules, who really couldn’t wait to get out of the coach.
The round towers on either side of the gate reached up into the clouds and there were so many windows she couldn’t guess at the number of rooms. It was a sunny day and the pale color of the bricks seemed to glow in the sun, giving the building an otherworldly appearance.
The castle really was breathtakingly beautiful, and at first she didn’t notice the imperfections. It took Beth’s more practical turn of mind for that, and soon she was pointing out that one of the turrets looked as if it was crumbling, and the park was neglected, while the castle garden was very overgrown. Averil had heard all about the garden and she could see Beth was openly disappointed to see it in such a wretched state. Clearly gardening was not on the earl’s list of priorities.
“I wonder when the castle was built?” she said.
Eustace cleared his throat importantly, and then proceeded to tell them that the castle was a mixture of twelfth-century fortifications with later additions over the centuries. Battles between barons and civil wars had seen the castle damaged but never completely destroyed and the Southbrook family had always been able to repair and continue on.
Despite the shortcomings, Averil was entranced and as soon as Rufus appeared in the coach doorway to hand her down, she beamed at him. “What a marvelous home you have, Lord Southbrook,” she gushed, grasping his hand in hers.
He smiled back and squeezed her fingers before releasing them. “Southbrook Castle has been in my family for generations, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” He leaned closer and murmured in her ear, “I’m looking forward to showing you my home, Averil.”
She had been thinking a great deal about that, too, but Beth came over to her side before she could reply. Averil looked up at the towers, shading her eyes. She felt dizzy with the prospect of spending time alone with Rufus in this magical place, and tried to pull herself together and remind herself that she was actually here on business. But it was difficult to be pragmatic when he was there beside her, his dark hair windblown, his tanned skin flushed, and his dark eyes gleaming down into hers in the most compelling way.
The entrance to the castle was by a stone staircase with two savage-looking griffins, one on either side. The door was solid oak and opened to reveal a stone floor, worn in places by centuries of Southbrook feet. A huge staircase with delicately carved railings rose upward to a gallery, and coming down to greet them was the Honorable James Blainey.
“Here you are!” he cried, his voice echoing all the way up to the vaulted ceiling above. “Welcome! Welcome to Southbrook Castle!”
Servants were pouring out of the castle to see to their luggage, and James showed his guests into a large room overlooking the overgrown garden, where he said he’d arranged for them to take refreshments before they were shown to their rooms.
“You are all situated in the east part of the castle,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I thought that would be more convenient.”
“Surely you don’t use all of the rooms?” Beth declared, looking flushed and slightly overwhelmed.
“Well”—James glanced at his nephew, who had come in from outside and was being helped off with his coat by a young man who seemed to be having difficulty—“eh, no, we keep many of them closed up. There aren’t enough Southbrooks to fill the castle anymore, are there, R
ufus?”
