Chloe could not believe how much her life had changed in such a short time.
Her escape from Lord Gordon’s house.
Locating and then collapsing outside Lord Benedict’s home.
Waking from her faint to find herself cozily ensconced in a bedchamber inside Winter House.
Having hot broth and freshly made bread and butter to eat.
Being allowed to sleep through the night, warm and safe, in that comfortable bed.
In the morning, after she’d been served a delicious breakfast in bed, a large box had been delivered to the bedchamber by Benedict’s butler. Inside it, Chloe discovered a new gown and undergarments. Not of the same blue silk Lord Gordon always insisted upon Chloe wearing, this gown was a deep violet, which seemed to give her eyes a similar hue. There was also a matching bonnet and cloak, the latter having a warm black wool lining and the same violet silk on the outside. Soft black leather gloves complemented these outer garments.
A cloak, bonnet, and gloves which Chloe now wore for the carriage journey into Surrey. Seated with her in the carriage was Lord Benedict Winter and a young man who had been introduced to her as Jimmy Brown.
Chloe had no idea what the relationship could be between the two men when they were obviously so different in circumstance and speech. Although the fact the younger man wore a bandage upon each arm would seem to indicate Jimmy was another of His Lordship’s patients.
Lord Winter remained mostly silent during the journey, and Chloe appreciated Jimmy’s conversation to fill some of that silence as they traveled farther and farther into the countryside.
A second carriage had left London shortly ahead of them, conveying both Lord Winter’s valet and the luggage.
Their own carriage eventually turned down a long driveway, where deer grazed on the grassland either side of them. The large and majestic house at the end of that driveway, with its turrets and two wings off the main house, was beyond anything Chloe had ever seen before, and she could see that Jimmy was equally as awestruck.
Chloe had lived with her parents in a small manor house, a quarter the size of this one, until their deaths two years ago, after which she had been consigned to the attic of Lord Gordon’s London home.
The changes in her circumstances now were due to Benedict, as he continued to insist she call him.
She knew that some might think his silence was due to him being either taciturn or disapproving of his present company. But Chloe had witnessed his genuine affection for the irascible Jimmy as the two men chatted with Benedict’s valet this morning while the first carriage was being loaded to go ahead of them.
She was also completely aware of Benedict’s continued and many kindnesses toward her. Not only had he taken her out of London, well away from Lord Gordon’s reach, but Benedict had told her that one of the trunks being loaded into the other carriage contained more new gowns and clothes that he had purchased for her to wear.
Benedict might deny it all he wished, but she knew him to be the kindest gentlemen she had ever met.
The magnetic draw of this man, which had so affected Chloe the previous week she had forgotten everything else and so been caught by Mrs. Tailor as she stared down at Benedict from the gallery, had also returned and deepened the longer they were enclosed in the carriage together.
He smelled so clean, of pine trees and sandalwood, along with that male and enticing spice which added to his allure. His mere presence made Chloe’s pulse pound and her heart sing.
“Mrs. Underhill will show you where you are both to sleep,” he informed Jimmy and Chloe once they were all standing in the cavernous marble entrance hall of the house. “You may enter all parts of the house except for the east wing.”
“Is that where ya keeps ya wife, the mad Lady Winter, locked away?” Jimmy came back cheekily.
Benedict’s gaze turned icy. “It is enough that you have been told not to go there.”
“Right. Sorry.” Jimmy looked suitably chastened. “Understood. No goin’ inta the east wing.”
Benedict instantly felt like an arse for behaving in such a cold and arrogant manner toward his friend. Not that he did not wish both Jimmy and Chloe to heed his warning, but perhaps he could have done it a little more… Kindly was the word Chloe seemed to have assigned to him and his behavior. Benedict could not relate to that description of himself, but he would rather Chloe looked upon him that way than be cowed by his normal arrogance and coldness.
She looked so much better today than she had yesterday. There was color in her cheeks and lips now that she was being fed regularly. The violet gown she wore also gave her complexion an ivory glow and made the blue of her eyes appear an even deeper shade.
The fact that she constantly used those lips and eyes to smile at him was still a little disconcerting. Most young women were either in awe of him or wary of the sharpness of his tongue. Chloe—she still refused to tell him her surname—smiled at him warmly and often.
It was…pleasant.
More than pleasant, to be gazed upon with approval by such a beautiful young woman.
“I apologize for my terseness, Jimmy.” Benedict now grimaced. “It has been…an eventful few days.”
The younger man grinned at him. “So no mad Lady Winter locked away in the east wing, then?”
Benedict had occasionally noted these past nine days that Jimmy did not always speak with the Cockney cant by rounding his vowels and omitting his h’s and the g’s on the end of -ings. He had certainly not done so just now.
Jimmy’s teeth, which a week ago Benedict had thought to be black with decay, also appeared less so now, leading Benedict to question whether the younger man might have made his teeth look that way with the application of soot. There had been a fire lit in the infirmary every day to ensure Jimmy was kept warm, but Jimmy himself had not been able to get out of bed for several days after the attack.
Making it impossible for the younger man to reach the soot and continue to blacken his teeth?
Jimmy still wore some of Benedict’s older clothing and boots, along with a dark gray superfine and heavy topcoat. This, along with his carefully combed hair, the occasional lack of a Cockney accent, and white instead of blackened teeth, meant Jimmy might easily pass for a gentleman in Society, albeit an impoverished one.
Benedict could only conclude from these anomalies that Jimmy was yet another person with secrets to hide. But as Benedict was hiding some of his own, he did not feel justified in questioning the younger man.
It was a different matter with Chloe. She was an unprotected female, and her manner of speech proclaimed her to be educated and a lady. It could have serious consequences for both of them if she was discovered living in the household of an unmarried gentleman who was not her guardian nor related to her in any way.
Bringing Chloe and Jimmy to the country with him was possibly not the wisest thing to have done, but it had at least ensured Chloe’s safety for the moment. Benedict hoped to be able to persuade her into telling him more about herself so that he was fully informed before they returned to London.
He had spoken to the members of his London household before leaving, warning them against speaking to anyone or revealing the whereabouts, if asked, of Benedict or his two guests. He believed Lord Gordon, because of Benedict’s interest in Chloe the previous week, and once the other man had exhausted all other avenues in his search for Chloe, might try to learn that information. Benedict had also sent a brief note to Julius Soames informing him of his plans, with the request he not share that information with anyone else, but especially not Lord Henry Gordon.
He now gave his two guests a formal bow. “I will see you both at dinner this evening.”
Jimmy’s brows rose. “Ya expectin’ me to ’ave dinner wiv the two of ya in the main ’ouse?”
The cant was back with a vengeance, Benedict noted with amusement. “You are both staying in the main house as my guests, so yes, that was my intention.”
A tide of red slowly colored Jimmy’s cheeks. “I’d be more comfortable sleepin’ owt in the stable and eatin’ in the kitchen wiv the uvver servants.”
“But you are not my servant, young James—” Benedict broke off his teasing as Jimmy drew in a hissing breath and the color drained from his cheeks as quickly as it had entered.
Yes, Benedict decided, Jimmy—James?—was most definitely keeping secrets. “Both of you go along with Mrs. Underhill, and she will show you to your bedchambers and see you are provided with refreshment,” he instructed briskly. “The two of you look as if you are in need of a rest after our journey,” he added after a glance at their pale faces.
Jimmy, Benedict believed, because he had called the younger man by the more formal name of James. Chloe, because no matter how brief their hours of travel, she would not have been comfortable with the injuries she had and where they were situated.
“I will come and check on your dressings before dinner,” Benedict told her.
“Oh, but—”
“It was not a request, Chloe,” he cut in softly but firmly.
Her lashes lowered. “Very well, my lord.”
Benedict watched Chloe and Jimmy as they followed his housekeeper up the wide staircase to the bedchambers, not wholly convinced by Chloe’s air of obedience.
But for the moment, he had another matter in the east wing urgently in need of his attention.
Benedict hurried through the house and then up the wide staircase to where the private rooms were situated on the first floor, He tapped lightly before opening one of the doors and stepping into the sunny room.
A young woman seated in front of the window now turned to look at him. Her face instantly lit up with pleasure as she jumped to her feet and ran to him “Benny!”
Benedict caught her as she launched herself into his arms in total confidence he would not let her fall.
Because he never had and never would.
Benedict was not, as Jimmy had surmised, hiding his wife, the “mad Lady Winter” up here, but he was keeping someone very precious to him hidden away from prying eyes and hurtful mouths.