WHILE KITTY SAT with his lordship and her friend’s father, Henrietta found herself flanked on her ride home by both Harry and Clayton, who had both grumbled that nothing was more important to either of them than seeing Henrietta home.
Harry’s eyes had narrowed, and he made up his mind to cut Clayton out with Henrietta if it was the last thing he did. He was certain Clayton was only after her inheritance. After all, he had watched him make up to Kitty for weeks. No, no, he wasn’t allowing the rascal to hurt Miss Henrietta. She was too dear, too beautiful, too kind … too generous of heart to see through Clayton.
Thus, it was that Clay’s plans to flirt with Henrietta were greatly foiled by Harry’s manipulation of the situation.
When the ride found them side by side and Clayton bringing up the rear, Henrietta touched Harry’s arm and said quietly, “Thank you. I’m so glad you are here.”
He felt a wave of pleasure and smiled warmly at her. “I can’t think of any other place I would rather be.”
Henrietta was normally painfully shy when in the company of gentlemen, and Harry was pleased to find that she appeared to feel at ease with him. They fell into an easy banter, which Clayton was not able to penetrate.
Harry laughed over Henrietta’s description of Kitty’s antics while she had been fitted for her new riding ensemble, and he smiled ruefully to say, “Ree … you are a wonder. I don’t know how you made her stand still.”
She pursed her lips, and he thought her hazel eyes were made of amber glitter as she giggled and said, “It was, in fact, not easy, though she isn’t so very difficult if you don’t ruffle her sense of self. The earl is a stranger, and he walked in and began taking control. I daresay anyone, even I, would have found my feathers ruffled. Wouldn’t you be out of temper, given her circumstances?”
“Egad, yes,” Harry agreed.
“Aye, poor Kitty.” Clayton finally found the bend in the road had allowed him to ride up and flank Henrietta’s on her left. “The whole thing is dashed unfair.”
Henrietta did not reply to this but kept her face averted, and Harry wondered at it. Didn’t she like Clayton? He hoped she didn’t like him. Could she be shy of him because she did like him? That was too disturbing to contemplate.
“As to all of that, Kit’s guardian didn’t leave her penniless,” Harry stuck in. “No, no. Quite a respectable dowry and living.”
Clayton seemed pensive, just as Harry had hoped. Perhaps Clayton would return his unwanted attentions back to Kitty, who had no interest in him at all. He could see that the man was giving it all some thought.
“Is that right?” Clayton said, his eyes shaded now by his lashes. He seemed momentarily taken aback. “Even so, it isn’t what she was due.”
“Oh, please,” Henrietta objected. “We should not be discussing Kitty’s affairs like this.”
Harry immediately added his voice. “Quite right, Ree … no doubt Kit would have our heads if she heard us.”
Clayton laughed this off, though it was clear his mind was elsewhere, and Harry was pleased with the results of his efforts. He hadn’t realized just what a rum touch Clayton actually was before this—before the man chose to make Henrietta the object of his attentions.
Still, would Clayton chase after Kit when the beautiful and wealthy Henrietta was available? This worried him. He couldn’t imagine anyone choosing not to chase after his exquisite Henrietta.
Clayton wasn’t one to live a quiet, comfortable life. He wanted all that London had to offer—gaming, wine, and women—and Harry wasn’t going to allow his Henrietta to fall under the man’s spell. My Henrietta? When had he begun to think of her as his?
They reached the end of the road and were turning off Henrietta’s drive when she turned and surprised Clay out of his cogitations. “Thank you, sir.”
“No, no, thank you, Henrietta.”
“For what, Clayton?”
“For the treasured joy of your company. May I call on you tomorrow morning?”
When she blushed and hesitated, Harry jumped in. “You won’t find her at home, as she has already consented to take a drive with me tomorrow morning.”
Clayton inclined his head. “The next morning then.”
She said nothing but nodded and gave him a tentative smile. He started off but turned to say, “Are you coming Harry?”
“No, not just yet. I recalled that I must speak with Mrs. Harkins up at the house.”
He then moved to ride alongside Henrietta, and they made their way to the stables. There, he jumped down before turning to take her waist as she slipped out of her sidesaddle. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground, reveling in the pink of her cheeks. “I look forward to our drive tomorrow.”
She lowered her gaze. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I know you were trying to save me from Clay’s advances, and I am ever so thankful.
“Yes, I was trying to save you from him … but for myself.”
Their eyes met, and Harry was aware that his entire body heated up. When had this happened? For he knew something had happened. Just what it was, he didn’t quite understand … but he knew it was something.
He took his leave, and it wasn’t long before he came across Bickwerth in the road, bending over his horse’s left fore leg. He was cleaning out the shoe with a gloved finger and looked up to say, “Ah, Harry. A stone … glad of it. I thought he was off, and it worried me.”
“Right then, glad you found the problem,” Harry said, but he saw that Clayton was about to speak his mind and prepared for it.
Clay remounted and looked intently at Harry for a moment before saying, “What is your game, Harry?”
“What the devil do you mean?”
“You are a wealthy man. You have no need of Henrietta’s fortune, but I do. Why are you putting a spoke in my wheel?”
“Not doing that, and not after her fortune,” Harry said on a hard note.
“Then what? You can’t be dazzled by her beauty—I mean, she isn’t a beauty, is she!” Clayton snapped.
“You’re blind,” Harry almost spluttered. “She is the loveliest woman I have ever clapped eyes on.”
“Dammit. Since when did you start looking in her direction?”
“Unlike you, who only glanced her way when you found out Kitty was no longer the recipient of Wharton Place, I have always found Henrietta Harkins a handsome and beautiful woman, inside and out.”
“I will cut you out with her,” Clay warned.
“Will you? We shall see.”
Clay laughed suddenly and said, “What we need is a run. Are you game?”
“Am I game?” Harry repeated, getting into position. “To the next milepost then!”
* * *
Kitty was the first to bring in her horse as they reached the crossroads. She could see Clay and Harry galloping at them in a steady cloud of dust.
She laughed and raised a hand, at the same time steadying her horse under her, for her mare pranced and fidgeted all too excitedly at the arrival of new horses.
The earl too, was bringing his big gray under him as the gelding danced in place, looking like a Lipizzaner horse in training. His voice soothed his nervous animal. “Ho there, lad … ho …”
Kitty couldn’t help but stare. He sat his horse so well, and there was no doubt whatsoever to any onlooker, and certainly not to her, that though the young gelding was spirited, the earl was having no trouble keeping him under control. He had the seat, the legs, the hands …
Oh, she thought as their eyes met, oh, but he was ever so handsome. She felt a blush flow into her cheeks and said to cover her momentary confusion, “Your Prancer is certainly a fine animal.”
As though in response to her compliment, Prancer arched his neck, snorted, and stood calmly in place. The earl and Kitty exchanged glances and laughed.
The young men careening towards them had already slowed to a stop, and Kitty quickly made the introductions. Kitty and Harry’s horses sniffed one another in amiable greeting, and the two fell into a comfortable pace with the earl and Clayton bringing up the rear.
Harry arched a brow at Kitty and said in a low voice, “Well, m’girl, how did your meeting go? All settled, right and tight? You two appear as though all went well … getting on better with the earl, aye?”
“Well, I wouldn’t quite say we are getting along, but we have decided to call a truce. The will is too ambiguous regarding the question of guardianship. Mr. Harkins called it a dilemma. It seems the earl, you know, is as trapped by the terms of my Uncle Edwin’s will as I am. So, I suppose we must find a way to go on … politely at the very least.”
“Ah,” Harry said.
“Ah? What does ah mean?”
He laughed. “Don’t trot it out too hard with me, Kit. I know you. So, ah, it is … for now.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and then sighed. “Well, apparently, the dowager Minerva will be hostess and take me about and such, and she is his grandmother, you see … so, as I will be a guest in their London town house, I suppose I must remember my manners and put up with it as best as I can.”
“Egad, Kit … it is a great deal thrust on you out of nowhere, and I must say, you are taking it quite well. Better than I would have thought,” Harry said. “However, I do think you will do. I am told the earl is a nice enough chap, though m’father says this whole affair is bizarre.”
Kitty laughed and agreed. “Bizarre is a very good word for it. But tell me, why does your father say that?”
“Well, apparently he knows a great deal about the earl, and says he is too young and too much a rogue to take on the care of a gently bred young woman, especially you.”
“A rogue? That was what I thought before I met him. I know about such things …”
Harry laughed. “You know too many things.”
“Well, women talk, but never mind that, I tell you what, Harry—I don’t think him a rogue at all now. In fact, his notion about how one should behave borders on prudish.” Then as another thought entered her brain she asked, “What did your father mean, especially me?”
Harry’s expression made Kitty laugh, and she wagged a finger. “Out with it.”
“Well, Kit … you ain’t quite the normal young maid, now are you?” Harry answered carefully.
As an answer to this, Kitty hauled off and rapped his shoulder, though she giggled all the while, secretly pleased with this dictum. She didn’t want to be a run-of-the-mill young woman. She wanted to walk her own road and make her own decisions.
The earl turned to Clayton and said, “Young Harry there, a suitor for Miss Kingsley’s hand?”
Clayton snorted, and Kitty looked back over her shoulder. She had heard him and decided not to respond.