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Rebecca left the room and went in search of Hawkins. “Ah, there you are, Hawkins,” she said once she spotted him. “Would you be so kind as to have Annie bring me my pelisse and bonnet?”
“Yes, miss,” Hawkins said.
“And is Peter about?” she asked. Since Peter Snow spent time working at both Alderwood and at Ben’s property with his parents, she was never quite sure where he was on any particular day.
“I believe he is, miss,” Hawkins said. “Do you wish to have me convey a message to him?”
“No, thank you, Hawkins,” Rebecca said, relieved to know he was at Alderwood today, for he would be crucial if she were to succeed at her plan. “If I decide I need to speak to him, I shall locate him on my own.”
“Very well, miss,” Hawkins said. He went to find Annie and pass along Rebecca’s request.
Rebecca waited impatiently for Annie, her heart pounding in her chest. She was either brave or extraordinarily foolish. She was fairly certain it was the latter.
But she was determined to act upon her plan, nonetheless.
* * *
“Now that I have explained everything to you, what do you think?” Ben asked MacKay as the man rubbed his chin and reread the documents in front of him for what must have been the hundredth time.
“You really reckon I can do this?” MacKay asked.
Ben had proposed that MacKay officially become his land steward here in Lincolnshire, understeward to his man, James Allen, back at Winton Court. Ben and MacKay had met with tenants the past couple days and walked the grounds and reviewed the stables, and then Ben had gone over the responsibilities of a steward with MacKay. MacKay was smart, literate, and loyal; had proven himself to be an excellent stable master with a keen understanding of the animals in his care; and, along with the Snows, had kept the property in superb condition after Great-Uncle John’s death. “You have proven that not onlycanyou do this but you alreadyhavebeen,” Ben said.
“Additionally, if it suits you, I think we should arrange to build a new cottage to be your living quarters,” Ben said, bringing out an additional set of drawings and documents from a side drawer in his office desk and setting them before MacKay. “But only if you are agreeable. Snow tells me the place you currently call a home isn’t a decent enough place for one to bring a wife.”
“I have no wife, my lord,” MacKay said. “My little place has been sufficient enough for my needs. I’ve not been complaining. Not ever.”
“But would you marry if you felt you could?” Ben asked. Marriage had certainly been the paramount topic lately, and here it was yet again.
“Oh, aye, my lord,” MacKay said, actually surprising Ben. “I have a particular woman who has caught my eye, but I never felt I could offer much. So I kept my thoughts to myself.”
Interesting. And rather touching.
“What of you, my lord?” MacKay asked.
Ben paused. Neither MacKay nor the Snows knew about Gemma or little Rose. What to say to him? “I’m a widower but still a young man,” he said finally. “Perhaps at some future time, another Lady Winton will grace this house, but that time is not yet.”
“My condolences, my lord,” MacKay said, looking concerned. “I didn’t know. I meant no disrespect.”
“I know you well enough by now to understand that,” Ben said. He handed MacKay a quill. “Now, if you’re ready to sign our agreement?” He watched as MacKay scrawled his name on the document Ben himself had prepared, based on other documents in his possession. There wasn’t much to worry about in their employment agreement anyway, not when MacKay had been working here for so long already.
Ben reached over to take the document from MacKay after the man had blotted his signature when a movement outside the window caught his eye. “Who could that be?” he said.
MacKay handed over the quill and parchment and then turned to look out the window too.
A horse was trotting up the private lane that led to the house, which was unusual in and of itself since Ben knew so few people in the village thus far. But as the horse drew closer, Ben recognized who it was. The rider was not a gentleman but a young woman.
A young woman—he hesitated to call her aladyat the moment, for she was ridingastride, her skirts pulled up above her knees, her legs clad in breeches. Whatever bonnet she’d been wearing must have fallen off her head, for her dark-brown curls flew behind her in the wind like a flag.
It was Rebecca Jennings, but then, who else would it be? She’d already haunted his dreams and his very thoughts for the past three days, despite his doing everything in his power, including his business with MacKay, to keep those thoughts at bay. “Blast it all! She is determined to kill herself!” he exclaimed right before dashing out the door of his office and rushing to the front of the house and outside to the courtyard beyond, MacKay not far behind him, just as she arrived and brought her mount to a stop.
“What the devil do you think you are doing?” he yelled.
“I’m happy to see you too,” she shot back.
“MacKay!” Ben barked. “My phaeton. Now!”
MacKay was halfway to the stable before Ben had even finished the sentence.
