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Chapter Twelve
“What the blazes have you done?” Dorian stormed into the stables to find Hudson. He had just come from the kitchens, having gone to see how their sustenance fared and had been reliably informed by Mrs. Whittaker that Rose would be joining them on their excursion to Skelton Bay.
Hudson peeked out from behind a stall. “Ah, so Mrs. Whittaker has told you the charming news?”
“You did this, did you not? You asked Miss Parker to come with us, I know you did!” Dorian almost punched the wooden slats of the nearest stable door, resisting only because he did not wish to spook the horse inside. “I thought you had been uncharacteristically quiet about Miss Parker yesterday. I should have known you were up to something!”
The horse in the stall whinnied sympathetically, peering up at him with big brown eyes.
“Exactly. Montgomery over here knows precisely what you have done, you wretch!” Dorian fumed. “It was not your place, Hudson. You should not have done this.”
In fairness, Dorian had not informed his friend of why this visit was so important and had neglected to tell him why the site was so meaningful to his past, but that did not give Hudson the right to go behind his back and orchestrate an addition to their party.
Hudson came out of the empty stall, feigning sheepishness. “You said at breakfast yesterday that you did not want our manservants in attendance, so I sought alternative measures. I even said to Miss Parker that she would likely be left to her own devices for much of our adventure. You will not even know she is there unless you want to… acknowledge her.” He cackled, as though this were some delightful jest, but Dorian could not have been further from amused.
“And what do you think the staff will say about her when they discover that she has ventured off with the two of us, instead of attending to her duties?” he hissed, attempting to keep his voice low.
Hudson grinned. “Mrs. Whittaker has seen to that. No-one will even know Miss Parker has gone.”
“Have the two of you been conspiring?” Dorian could believe it of his friend but not of Mrs. Whittaker. She would certainly not have done so unless the lady in question was of high station and good repute.
Hudson waved a dismissive hand in his direction. “Mrs. Whittaker thinksIam the one with a fancy for Miss Parker, and I am fully certain that she has allowed Miss Parker to come with us so that you will ‘teach me a lesson on how to behave with her maids.’ She is none-the-wiser as to the true reason.”
“Thereisno true reason!” Dorian retorted in exasperation. “I have told you; I have no affections for Miss Parker beyond my duties as her employer.”
“And I have told you that I do not believe a word of it,” Hudson shot back defiantly. “Did you know that I saw her with that wretched cat of yours the day before yesterday? She was sitting by the pond in the evening with the blasted thing curled up in her lap! You would have thought that nasty creature was the sweetest beast in all the land, from the way it was enjoying her caresses. It adores her as it adores you. That cannot be a coincidence. You, yourself, have told me time and again that animals are far more perceptive than humans.”
Dorian straightened up in surprise. “What?”
“That snapping brute is besotted with Miss Parker,” Hudson reiterated. “And I know of only one person whom it adores as much.”
It was the same cat that Dorian had seen Rose crouch down to stroke. No-one could stroke Bluebelle without being bitten, except him, so it had been rather endearing to see her so welcoming toward another person.
Bluebelle was in her lap?He gulped at the thought of that warm body nestled so close to Rose’s, and the way she would have prodded Rose’s supple thighs with her padded paws until she found a comfortable spot.
Stop! That is enough!He scolded himself inwardly, but his mind seemed determined to pay no attention whatsoever. It lingered on the way Rose’s fingertips must have felt, running through Bluebelle’s fur, only it was not Bluebelle’s fur that he imagined, but the curly locks of his own hair. And when he thought of her planting tiny kisses on Bluebelle’s forehead, it was his own forehead that he pictured, her lips mapping his face all the way down to his parted mouth.
“Is something the matter? You look feverish, Captain.” Hudson leaned against the stable door and smirked. Though, it served to break Dorian out of his unexpectedly vivid reverie.
He cleared his throat. “Did you speak with Miss Parker?”
“Yes, I did.”
“About this excursion?”
Hudson nodded.
“And did she seem… excited by the prospect?”
Hudson smiled. “She did not say so explicitly, but I could tell from her expression that it was a most welcome offer. If she was once of wealth, then it stands to reason that she may have visited the seaside at some point. Perhaps, it bears good memories for her.”
Heaven help me!Dorian had hoped that Rose had only agreed out of duty, but if she was eager to join them, he did not know that he had it in him to disappoint her.
“Then there is little I can do about it, is there? If you and Mrs. Whittaker have already informed her, and she is keen on the idea, then I would be a cruel swine to tell her she is no longer welcome.” Dorian had half a mind to punch Hudson in the nose for putting him in this predicament, but having her there might improve his chances of setting all thoughts of her aside.
Or I will begin to think of her fingertips in my hair, and her kiss upon my lips again…He cursed under his breath and stalked off to the front of the house, where the carriage was waiting to take them to Skelton Bay.
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