“Would you like to address the way I walk, as well?” Felix drawled. After all, Alice had addressed just about everything else about him in the last two hours.
“No,” she said. “We don’t have time, number one. And number two, I rather like the way you walk.”
That sent a wave of pleasure through him. As they strode back across the road heading out to his estate, he asked, “You do, do you?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied, keeping her gaze firmly ahead. “There’s something rather roguish about it. You walk around the world as if you own it all, which I think a man who’s very good with horses might do.” Then she gave him a look, which was quite mischievous. “But I am not entirely certain.”
“Do I really?” he asked, taking those words in, his stomach tightening.
“Do you what?” she queried.
“Walk about as if I own the world.”
She let out a snort of a laugh. “You didn’t know?”
“No, I didn’t know,” he admitted, dismayed. “There’s apparently a vast many things about myself that I don’t know.”
Her violet gaze turned upon him, sparking with interest. “You go through the world as if everyone should simply get out of your way. You’re not rude. My mother thought you were rather lovely, actually.”
“Your mother is lovely,” he countered, thinking on how the woman showed such love to all her children. “It is clear how hard she works, and yet she was gracious to me without any need to be.”
“You offered to teach my brother Greek!” she teased.
“Yes, but that is not why she was kind,” he replied, certain of this and quite moved. Mrs. Wright was kind down to the tips of her toes, and he admired that very much.
And as they approached the estate, he spotted a man walking toward them. His hair was white, his paunch was large, and his shoulders sagged.
There was an angry nature to his stance.
“Oh, bloody hell,” he said under his breath, his body tensing. “That’s him, isn’t it?”
“Bilby?” she piped, eyeing the man coming toward him. “Yes, it is.”
“Are we late?” he asked, tempted to pull his pocket watch but remembering a man of his status could never afford to own the one he had.
“No, I don’t think so.”
He fought a scowl. Even he knew meeting his future employer with a dark countenance wasn’t wise. “He looks very displeased.”
“It’s his general nature,” she replied tartly.
“Ah,” he surmised, readying himself to interact with the lemon of a human. “So he’s a terrible land agent and sour.”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Hello,” Felix called. “Are you Mr. Bilby?”
Bilby eyed him up and down like he wanted to chuck him out to sea, but he would never be capable of such a task. The man was old and looked quite cantankerous.
Felix thrust out his hand, trying to take on the custom that Miss Wright had taught him. “How do you do? I am Mr. Summers.”
“Mr. Summers,” Mr. Bilby said with curl of his lips. “I do not like this at all.”
“You don’t?” he queried, attempting to feign surprise. The man’s displeasure was as evident as the nearness of the sea.
“No,” Bilby gritted, tugging at his expensive, silk waistcoat. “I am in the habit of hiring people on this estate. Now, I understand the earl chose you personally, but I want you to know that I shall be watching you to make sure that you do a good job. Those horses are worth a fortune, and I will not have you harm a single one.”
“I welcome the criticism,” Felix replied evenly. “I would hate for anything to happen to the horses.”
And he did his very best to modulate his tone, to drop it, to make his voice more lilting. A country air, so to speak, rather than an upper-class drawl.
Bilby sniffed. “You have a room in the stables. It’s not large. Your bed is made of straw. It will do, though.”
And suddenly, Felix began to wonder if Bilby was hoping to drive him away. Maybe he didn’t want someone that the earl had appointed personally. After all, if the earl wasn’t here, it was Bilby’s own little kingdom, wasn’t it?
His hands longed to curl into fists, and it was all he could do to keep his face a mask of calm.
This was all very interesting.
“I am not going to be staying there,” Felix said, rather enjoying the fact he could at least wind the man up to some degree without revealing himself.
“What the devil you talking about?” Bilby ground out. “Of course you are. How can you run the stables without living in them?”
“Do you live in the Great House?”
Bilby tensed. “I do not. Don’t be absurd.”
“But you run the estate,” Felix returned, leading him along.
Bilby’s eyes narrowed, and Miss Wright cleared her throat. Felix realized that he was on dangerous ground. Men like Summers did not question their betters. That was something she had said.
It was going to be difficult to keep to.
“Ah, forgive me,” Felix began pleasantly, pivoting quickly. “I’m merely pointing out that the earl”—he produced the letter that he had written but an hour earlier—“wishes me to room with Miss Wright and her mother.”
“Why in God’s name would he wish you to dwell with them?” Bilby snapped. “They are quite odd.”
Felix shrugged, doing his best to look as puzzled by the events as Bilby was. “Who knows with an earl and his whims?”
Bilby blew out his breath. “Come along, then. Let’s introduce you to the horses. You don’t need Miss Wright any longer.”
“I suppose I don’t.” Felix let a slow smile tilt his lips, thinking up a reason on the spot to keep Alice in their company. “Only I did promise her that I would introduce her to a horse.”
Alice’s eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself. He hoped she understood he simply needed her around to make sure he didn’t fumble up his ruse.
Copyright © 2024 Eva Devon
This stablehand is definitely more than he appears in USA Today bestselling author Eva Devon’s captivating tale of two complete opposites refusing to fall in love…
Miss Alice Wright should be content. After all, her knowledge of herbal lore helps so many in her village. Yet she longs for more. For Alice dreams of becoming a famed parfumier in London, celebrated for her fine scents…even as her family's past warns her of the perils of ambition. But when Alice collides—quite literally—with a charismatic gentleman in a field of lavender, her perfume-filled dream is suddenly within reach. Be careful what you wish for…
Lord Felix Brightman is certain that no one can see through his clever disguise as a stable hand. How else could he, the Earl of Enderley, accurately gauge the management of his Cornwall estate? But a pretty—and surprisingly pert—maiden sees through his façade instantly. So he offers Alice a deal: if she helps him out, he’ll do everything he can to help her realize her dream…
Yet attraction simmers in the air between them, and it’s not long before Alice and Felix find themselves tempted to compromise any notions of propriety. After all, lust leads to disaster. Marriage is out of the question. And Alice is determined that nothing shall stop her from pursuing her passions…even if the road to London—and certain success—could lead to certain ruin.
Romance Historical [Entangled: Amara, On Sale: June 24, 2024, e-Book, / ]
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, Eva Devon, was raised on literary fiction, but quite accidentally and thankfully, she was introduced to romance one Christmas by Johanna Lindsey's Mallory novella, The Present. A romance addict was born. She devoured every single Lindsey novel within a few months and moved on to contemporary and paranormal with gusto. Now, she loves to write her own roguish dukes, alpha males and the heroines who tame them.
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