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Chapter 2
Marcus was quite certain his jaw was hanging open in surprise. The rudeness of what had just happened was unbelievable! Not only for Lord Brunlow to force his daughter into playing when she clearly had not wanted to, but to then admonish her so for her inept playing.
Lady Violette looked up from the piano keys, her cheeks turning a rather pleasant shade of pink in embarrassment. Any other time Marcus would have admired the blush on her beautiful face. Instead, he was focusing far too much on the words that had caused her pain.
“Violette,” Lord Brunlow said her name again and gestured to the door. “You should practice more for when we have guests. Now, go. Peace would be preferable to that sound.”
She said nothing in reply, but she rather shakily got to her feet and closed the lid over the piano keys once again. In truth, Marcus had been enjoying her rather clumsy playing, for it reminded him so much of his own poor attempts at playing the piano. As she walked across the room, Marcus stopped petting the dog and spoke up, keen to not let her leave so soon.
“Lady Violette?” he called to her, moving to the edge of his seat on the chesterfield settee. She halted ahead of the door, looking back to him, with that blush still in place. “My own inept playing would have been much worse, believe me. I believe my father once described it as being more like cats screeching than music.” He was pleased to see his words made her smile a little, breaking through her embarrassment.
“I am pleased I am not the only one who cannot play,” she said quietly. “I am afraid I infinitely prefer the outdoors to such accomplishments as these.” She gestured toward the piano with her words.
“Forgive my daughter, my lord,” Lord Brunlow said. The words and the way he dismissed his daughter inexplicably riled Marcus. It made him sit forward even more in his chair, seconds away from standing up and having a proper argument with Lord Brunlow at his side. “She likes to be something of a wildling. I am sure when her debut comes around, we will train that out of her.”
Marcus’ jaw fell slack once again. Lord Brunlow was talking about Lady Violette as though she were a dog to be trained up, like the Jack Russel at his feet. Marcus stroked the dog kindly once again as the Jack Russel barked, then it hurried off toward Lady Violette, standing by her feet as though it intended to guard her from any more of Lord Brunlow’s words.
“Violette,” Lord Brunlow said her name sharply and pointed to the door, showing it was time for her to go. Marcus stood to his feet, desperate to make her stay, but it was too late. The door was open, and she was out, with the Jack Russel at her feet.
She hovered only long enough to look back at him. He offered a smile, hoping to communicate without words how sorry he was that she was going, but the smile was not returned, and she was gone.
“I pray you will forgive my daughter,” Lord Brunlow said, laughing her off. The laugh itself made Marcus’ blood curdle and turn a glare on the lord, but he didn’t seem to notice. “How about some tea?”
“Yes, that would be lovely, thank you,” Walter said at Marcus’ side, taking up the thread of conversation when Marcus could not. As Lord and Lady Brunlow set about calling for their butler to arrange for tea, Marcus felt Walter take his arm and drag him back down to sitting on the settee. “Remember why we are here, Marcus,” Walter whispered to him so that no one else could hear them. “This is business.”
“Walter, did you not just see what took place?” Marcus asked in bewilderment, shaking his head. “The lady did nothing wrong and was ousted from the room like a misbehaving dog!”
“I saw it, but this is not our family. It is not our place to intrude.”
“I know, I know,” Marcus said, holding up a hand in surrender. His eyes flicked to the doorway through which Lady Violette had just slipped through. “Did you not think her an interesting young lady?”
“Interesting?” Walter asked. “Well, she was certainly very beautiful, in a handsome sort of way with those bold features and cheekbones.”
“More than that,” Marcus said hurriedly. “Most ladies I have met are obsessed with their accomplishments, practising the piano and their manners from dawn until dusk.”
“Yes, Lady Violette was rather different.” When Walter said no more, Marcus spent some happy minutes of his time thinking on the impression Lady Violette had left him with. He was rather struck by her, much more than he could confess to. Most ladies presented themselves with high chins and false flowery words, as though they were actresses on a stage, yet Lady Violette seemed altogether more…human.
As Lord Brunlow returned to sit beside him, he cleared his throat, hoping to clear his thoughts of Lady Violette as well. As Walter had said, they were there for a reason, for business, and it was now Marcus’ responsibility to ensure that business was done, even if he had no liking for such business.
“Now, returning to the matter at hand,” Marcus said, sitting back in the settee. “We wished to discuss the small parcel of land on the edge of your estate. Lacey’s Acres.”
“Small parcel?” Lord Brunlow chuckled. “It is a rather large parcel indeed.”
“It borders one of my father’s estates. We are keen to increase the farming land for one of our tenants.” Marcus came to a stop, realising he did not have the full facts of the situation. He turned his head to Walter, looking out to him with hope. “Walter, you remember the details, do you not?”
“Yes, of course.” Walter offered him a comforting smile with the words, knowing how wet around the ears Marcus was when it came to matters like this. “We understand from old tenancy documents that the land has been in dispute for some time.”
“I remember very well,” Lord Brunlow said, just as a maid walked in and presented them with tea that she laid on a coffee table in front of them.
“The current ownership we do not wish to dispute,” Walter said reassuringly. “However, the land would help us to ensure the future of our tenants and the farmland. We wish to offer you money for the land. It would also put the past disputes of ownership to rest.”
“I cannot deny that it would be nice to no longer have the dispute in place,” Lord Brunlow said, resting his chin in his hands and looking toward the two of them. “I remember having a similar conversation with your older brother, my lord,” he addressed Marcus. At the mention of James, both Marcus and Walter shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “I see no reason to object to the solution you have presented, if the money offered for the land was a fair price, of course.”
“We have discussed that in advance,” Marcus said and turned his head to Walter again. His brother pulled out a piece of parchment from his breast pocket of his tailcoat and held it across for Lord Brunlow to take. On the parchment was a figure that they were prepared to pay for the land. Lord Brunlow smiled as he looked at the number.
“Yes, I think that should be a fair price.”
“Wonderful,” Marcus said with a smile. “Then we can draw up a contract for the sale. My brother will be handling the matter with the solicitors.” Marcus gestured to Walter who smiled in response once again.
