Read Online Nina Coombs Pykare by The Dazzled Heart - Free Book Online

Haver-ford that she saw.
    He gave her a cheerful smile. “Ah, Miss Whitcomb. We meet again. I see that you also are an early riser.” His stallion drew alongside the little mare Ladyfingers.
    “Yes, Milord,” she mumbled, acutely aware of the frayed and shabby condition of her old riding habit.
    If he noticed it, Haverford gave no sign. “The morning is by far the best time of day,” he observed with another smile.
    Jennifer nodded. “Yes, everything seems fresh and new then.”
    “Precisely.”
    The two horses ambled on side by side, and Jennifer could not help casting a sidelong glance at his lordship. Many days in the sun had darkened his face. She sighed. It was just such a man that she had envisioned when the right to dream about husbands had still been hers.
    “Do you find your position at Seven Elms all you expected it to be?” asked his lordship politely.
    “Oh yes - and more.” After she had said this, Jennifer wished she had kept silent. She hurried on, hoping to keep Haverford from asking any questions. “The children and I are dealing together quite well. Mr. Parthemer is very much concerned with their proper education.”
    “I have heard that he is quite pleased with you,” Haverford observed quietly.
    Jennifer flushed again but did not answer.
    “And how do you find Mrs. Parthemer?” The Viscount’s tone was even but a certain twinkle in his eyes indicated to Jennifer that he had already made her employer’s acquaintance.
    “She is - rather different than most mothers,” she finished lamely.
    Haverford smiled encouragingly. “Come, there’s no need to defend her. The whole country knows she pays more attention to that monkey than to her children.”
    Jennifer looked at him in surprise. Even in the country the servants would talk. There was no way to keep the truth from getting about.
    “Never mind,” said the Viscount. “You need not reply. Your loyalty to your em-ployer is quite evident.
      “By the way, I am on my way to the seashore. Sometimes of a morning we enjoy a run on the sand.” He patted the stallion’s neck. “Perhaps you would care to join us. I could show you the way that I pointed out yesterday.”
    Jennifer’s heart was pounding in her throat. More than anything she wanted to go with him. There was plenty of time and no one would know. But the voice of con-science won out. “I cannot. Milord. I... I must return to Seven Elms.”
    Haverford eyed the mare. “You have not given her any exercise to speak of.”
    Jennifer was covered with confusion. “I... I...” She could not continue. What a perfect block he must think her, she scolded herself. She could at least behave sensibly. “I fear that I have miscalculated my time.” She tried to make the lie convincing, but a look at his face told her clearly that she had failed.
    However, he did not call her into account but nodded. “I see. Perhaps on some other occasion then.” And, bowing gravely, he spoke to the horse and cantered away.
      Jennifer pulled the little mare to a stop and blinked rapidly. She would not give in to this wild desire to cry. She had done the sensible thing in denying herself this ride. Being with Haverford could serve no good purpose and she knew it. It was not sound practice for governesses to consort with lords, however innocent such things might be.
    Still, as she turned the little mare back toward Seven Elms, she knew that her joy in the lovely morning was gone, not to be recaptured.
    When Jennifer returned, Seven Elms was a scene of chaos. Liveried footmen struggled back and forth through the great hall loaded with armfuls of iron rods and coils of rope, and other curious para-phernalia.
    Jennifer, on her way to the morning room for breakfast, paused in the doorway of the Red Room. It had already been stripped of all its furniture. Only the heavy red drapes remained. In the center of the room were several large oaken tubs - the baquets, Jennifer surmised, noting that each was four