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“What?”
She looked up at him to see Laurence was cupping an ear with his free hand. He gestured to the noise of the animals crying for their food and shrugged pleasantly.
In a louder voice, Alicia repeated, “I was hoping I could help! With…” she gestured vaguely toward the animals’ pens and various rusty farm implements. “You and Mary-Anne have been so generous toward me, and I…wanted to help. To earn my keep, as it were.”
His smile growing slightly more pained, Laurence stepped closer to her as he set down his pail. “That’s very kind of you, Miss Ramsbury, but it really isn’t necessary. We don’t—”
“I know,” she replied, holding her hands up in appeasement. “This is not from any sense of obligation. You have given what you have so freely, and I know you do not expect any kind of return…nor will I be able to make good on my intentions with whatever meagre labour I can contribute.”
“Then surely you would have a more pleasant time resting indoors? You are welcome to the library, if I haven’t already—”
Alicia raised a finger to stop his protestations and was mildly surprised when he stopped right away. She drew a breath, realizing somehow he was now only an arm’s reach away. Smiling and looking up into those blue eyes, she said as lightly as she could manage, “As I said. I don’t think I need to help. Iwantto help.”
Something passed between her eyes and his then. As far as she could tell neither of them blinked nor breathed, though it felt like an eternity transpired before, with a friendly nod, Laurence said, “All right. Here, why don’t you help me feed the horses? Your Victoria will be happy to see you, I have no doubt.”
Alicia felt a surge of pride and relief bring new life to her limbs. A spring in her step, she followed Laurence, resisting the odd impulse to take his hand as he showed her to where she would begin her tasks.
* * *
“Well!” exclaimed Mary-Anne from her chair in the entryway as she gave Alicia a long, thorough up-and-down. For the first time since Alicia had met her, the young woman looked genuinely surprised. “I was going to ask what the two of you have been up to this morning, but it seems rather a foolish question at this point.”
Glancing down at herself, Alicia saw the accumulation of dirt and dander that had built up on her lovely blue dress. It occurred to her that at another time she might have been quite distraught at the sight—the dress had cost her a pretty penny from her allowance, she recalled, though strangely she could remember neither the price nor where she had procured it.
“Yes, Miss Ramsbury was a terrific help with the chores this morning,” said Laurence as he stepped in around her. “Unlike some houseguests, I could mention.”
“Houseguest! Is that any way to refer to your sister?” Mary-Anne snapped, her hip cocked at a saucy angle. “Especially when she has been slaving away over a hot cook fire to prepare everyone breakfast. Which has been sitting cold for over an hour now, I might point out.”
Laurence opened his mouth to protest, then glanced at the grandfather clock as it chimed ten o’clock. He frowned in puzzlement. “Must have forgotten to wind that clock at some point…or… It isn’t really that late, is it?”
“Excuse me,” said Alicia as she stepped past the quarrelling siblings toward the stairs. “I think I had better wash up for breakfast.”
Though her muscles ached in a way that was entirely new to her, Alicia was a frenzy of energy as she rushed up the stairs to her room, breezing past a half-awake Jenny without saying a word.
Catching sight of herself in the mirror, Alicia noticed at once that she had only seen the half of the state she was in. Besides the streaks of mud and whatever else staining her dress, she had half a haystack’s worth of straw sticking out of her hair at every angle. Her cheeks were flushed, her skin damp and sticky with sweat. Though she realized she would normally be scandalized to be seen in such a condition, all she could do at the moment was to burst out in laughter.
The laughter subsided after a good few moments, and Alicia drew a shaky breath as she stepped closer to the mirror and began to pick the debris from her hair. “Grace would be furious if she could see you right now,” Alicia said aloud to her reflection in a quiet voice. “She would call you a wastrel and a brute and say you are no good at all.”
Then she burst into another round of giggles, rocking back and forth with glee. “But Grace isn’t heeeeere!” she sang.
As her hands ran over and over through the basin of cool water, Alicia’s mind revisited her labours in the barn that morning. Laurence had been patient as ever with her and had demonstrated each task she was asked to do before setting her to it. And it had unquestionably been difficult work, even toil, as her sore muscles happily confirmed for her.
But all the same, it had been more fun than she had had in months, maybe years. Together they had fed and watered the horses and the other animals, then engaged in a varied assortment of tasks that required great strength of arm—pitching hay, gathering eggs from the hens, collecting firewood, and so much more besides Alicia was unsure how they had completed it all before breakfast.
All of it was done in Laurence’s charming company, accompanied by his gentle instruction and sharp wit. She had even been instructed on the proper way to milk the cows but had been so debilitated with laughter that she had given up before squeezing out the first drop.
I cannot thank Laurence enough for being so kind and patient as I muddled my way through those chores,Alicia thought, fixing her hair into a good-enough bun.He really is quite a wonderful man. Kind, generous, morally upright…handsome, certainly. I’m sure Mister Barton is right, any woman would be lucky to marry him. Not that any of the country lasses around here would be deserving of such a man.
She stopped, blinking.Wherever did that thought come from?
Shaking her head, she attempted to leave the thought behind at the bottom of the washbasin as she turned and walked out the door to breakfast.
