“Then you rest while I’m gone.”
“But—”
“I insist, Molly O’Hern.”
“Very well, miss,” she said, her voice as meek as a mouse.
Shaking her head, Audrey grinned at her before leaving the room. She moved at such a slow pace, it left her frustrated. But God forbid she fall down the stairs and become truly crippled. By the time she made it to the drawing room, she must have left Robert waiting an uncomfortably long time.
“Robert?”
She heard … nothing. She said his name again, then stepped into the entrance hall. “Francis?” But the footman didn’t answer.
She went across the hall to the study and called Robert’s name again. She received no answer, but this time, she heard a noise, and as she slowly moved into the room to investigate, hands held before her, she heard it again. Snoring.
She cocked her head, then turned in the proper direction, trying to sort the correct layout of the room from all the ones she’d been shown. There was a deep chair right?—
Her hand encountered a male shoulder, and she gave a little shake. “Robert?”
The faint rumbling died away in a snort. “Audrey? Did I fall asleep?”
She smiled. “You must have. I came as soon as I heard about your arrival. Has it been that long?
There was a pause, and he said, “A half hour at least.”
She groaned. “We will do better next time, I promise.”
“We?”
“Never mind.” She was not going to complain about the servants! “So tell me, how was your homecoming?”
“The place is the same as I remember,” he said ruefully. “Old and formal and run perfectly on schedule.”
How wonderful.
“But I’m not complaining. They were happy to see me, and I was glad that old ghosts don’t seem to haunt the place.”
She wanted to touch his face, to soothe him, but she clasped her hands to keep them still.
“So have you walked the grounds of your estate?” he asked.
“Not yet. We were busy unpacking.”
“Then come take a walk with me.”
That coincided perfectly with Molly’s idea, and she couldn’t help smiling. “Let me fetch my shawl. I like to keep one in the entrance hall, just in case.”
But of course it wasn’t there, and Evelyn rushed back upstairs to retrieve one for her. Audrey knew Molly had put one in the hall, but she didn’t say anything.
“Shall we begin?” Robert asked, taking her arm in his.
And her very excitement at just that contact made her feel wary and resigned. This couldn’t go on, looking forward to seeing him, being with him—touching him.
But she let him guide her around the park and describe the sheep on a distant hill, the hedgerows separating farmed fields, the garden with the dirt paths.
“I’ll have to put gravel here,” she mused. “Much easier for me to stay on the path. Do you see Mr. Sanford?”
“I have once or twice. He’s in the stables now. Shall we go there and tell him about your plans?”
