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Tony shook her head and said shortly, “Not with bloodlines like that.” She was irritated. He knew damned well Arabs cost a fortune!
At the first farm they tethered their horses and walked about. Savage paid more attention to the animals and the farm buildings than he did to the small farmhouse. Tony introduced him to Joe Bradley and Savage asked the man a few pertinent questions. “Could you husband more livestock if Lord Lamb acquired them for you?” He listened to what the man had to say and made some suggestions. He saw two girls eyeing Tony with whispered giggles, but was concerned when the young man paid no attention to the females whatsoever. One of them summoned enough courage to say hello to Tony and sent him an unmistakably inviting glance. Tony muttered repressively, “Mary, run along, we’re talking business.”
Savage raised a brow. From what he remembered of seventeen-year-old youths they were walking erections; so bloody randy, they were ruled by their cocks. This pair, ripe for the plucking, apparently burned for young Lord Lamb in vain. Tony obviously thought a cock was only for pissing!
After they had inspected the second farm and were on their way back to Lamb Hall, Savage said, “If these two tenant farmers cooperated with each other, one concentrating on selective crops, the other on livestock, they could be far more productive and profitable. Harry Simpson has a son who seems ambitious. They could double their production next year. The other farmer, Bradley, has only daughters, but it would pay in the long run to get him a hired hand. You have to spend money to make money.”
Tony listened to his suggestions and grudgingly saw their merit, but thinking on a grand scale came naturally to one who had unlimited resources. “Not everyone has your money,” she said resentfully.
Savage glanced at Tony astride his beautiful hunter and thought him rather spoiled. Born to privilege, he had no idea what hard work, hunger, or responsibility were all about. Certainly he didn’t wish hunger upon anyone, but, by Satan, it wouldn’t hurt the lad to have a taste of hard work and responsibility. Savage let go of the reins and held out his calloused brown hands. “Everything I have, I got with these. I was not born to privilege.” He did not need to add,as you were.The unsaid words were obvious. Yet it was also patently obvious thatprivilegewould have been abhorrent to the man.
Tony had an immediate response. “If you had your choice of being born with money or earning it, you would choose the latter.”
Savage grinned. “You see right through me.”
The impact of his strong white teeth and light blue eyes against his deeply tanned face made Tony’s heart skip at least three beats. She blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. His attraction was magnetic, dangerously so. Already she thought of him as the“man with everything”She had tried to avoid meeting him, dreaded spending any time with him, counted the minutes until he would leave, and now, inexplicably, a part of her didn’t want him to go. Her feelings about Adam Savage were totally and completely ambivalent.
When they dismounted at the stables, Savage removed his horse’s saddle and rubbed him down. Tony followed his lead. They washed their hands in a stable bucket, then strolled together up to the Hall.
“I can’t stay this time. I have a great deal of business in London and I haven’t spent any time at Edenwood yet.”
“Edenwood,” Tony breathed reverently, a dreamy look coming into her eyes.
“It’s the house I had built in Gravesend.”
“Oh, I know! I’ve been to see it many times. James Wyatt is a master architect.”
Adam Savage saw and heard the passion in the young man’s voice and thought it unusual for a youth to feel so strongly about building and design. “Would you have liked to be an architect?”
“Oh, yes! I have dozens of books on the subject. It’s not just exteriors that interest me, but interior design as well. London absolutely overflows with the greatest artists and craftsmen in the world. Perhaps these names mean nothing to you, having been away from England so long, but we have Thomas Sheraton, George Hepplewhite, Robert Adams, and Thomas Chippendale.”
“Well, it seems we have an interest in common. My father was a cabinetmaker. He studied under Chippendale.”
“Oh, how marvelous, but you speak of him in the past tense, so he cannot be alive.”
Adam Savage looked bleak. “Poverty killed him before his time,” he said shortly, then changed the subject. “I’m about to start furnishing Edenwood. How would you like to lend your expertise and assist me?”
Tony longed to jump at such an offer, but she hesitated over the many obvious pitfalls.
Savage saw Tony’s reluctance. “Lamb Hall is lovely, but I honestly believe you need a change. You should spend time in London with young men your own age, and young women too,” he added pointedly. “There is a whole world out there. Aren’t you eager to experience it? When I was your age I was ready to swallow it whole!”
Tony felt Savage’s contempt. She feared that he thought Anthony Lamb gutless and lacking in all manly qualities. Suddenly she was filled with an overwhelming desire. By Heaven and Hell she’d show him what sort of a man she could be!
Inside the Hall, Tony rang for Mr. Burke, gave him a most speaking look, and said, “Help me pack a bag, I’m off to London.”
Roz fluttered about Adam Savage as if she were a young girl. As Tony and Mr. Burke disappeared up the stairs, Adam took Roz into his confidence.
“Lady Randolph, I think I’ve succeeded in dispelling Anthony’s unhealthy melancholy. He’s agreed to come to London to help me pick out furnishings for my new house at Gravesend.”
Roz wondered if Savage was forcing Antonia, but dismissed the thought almost immediately, knowing her granddaughter’s passion for Edenwood. It was highly improper for her to go off alone with him, but that couldn’t be avoided without causing suspicion.
“Surely you’ll stay for dinner before you set out,” Roz said, playing for time.
“Thank you,” he said absently, his mind elsewhere. “Lady Randolph, Anthony seems very unwordly for a young man of seventeen.”
Roz bit her lip. “Well, the twins were going to London for the season, but when we got word about Russell, it seemed out of the question.”
“Lord Lamb is on the brink of manhood and in my experience it does young bucks a world of good to sow a few wild oats before they settle down to their responsibilities as men. Since Russell made me Anthony’s legal guardian, I feel a deep responsibility toward him.”
