Lucy could see three or four hogs in a pen, which meant the family had bacon and sausage to carry them through the winter months, and a fair garden planted with beans and cabbages.
There was a woman in the garden, weeding, and when she heard the horses she straightened up from her labors and gave a friendly greeting, not at all the sort of sullen reception one hears is the best a landlord can expect when he rides near his tenants. The woman’s eyes flickered over to Lucy, her curiosity apparent, but much to Lucy’s relief, Lord Tazewell wished the woman a good day, and after a quick inquiry about the children, continued them on their way.
“I ride every morning for at least an hour, but often two or more, to make sure all is well,” he explained when they were beyond the cottage, although she hadn’t asked a question. “If I ride to the east one day, to check on the tenants in this valley and the next, then I will ride in another direction the next day, to check the fields and buildings that lie there. Thus, in the space of a fortnight, I have been to every corner of my estate and know exactly what’s going on.
He motioned to her to be careful of a branch that overhung the wooded trail.
“The younger child in that cottage, the little boy you just saw, was sick a month or two back. I had a word with the father, and sent the apothecary round with a poultice for his chest, and as you have seen, he’s back to health. These morning rides are my way of attending to small problems before they can grow.”
He pulled up his horse and hers stopped as well, although she hadn’t tugged its reins. Although the trail had narrowed, Lord Tazewell expertly turned his horse so he was facing her.
“I wish you with me on these rides for the pleasure of company, but I also want you to be my eyes. If you notice something that seems not right, anything at all, I wish you to tell me at once.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Lucy nodded. She was loathe to release even a drop of her smoldering anger against the man, considering the humiliations he had visited upon her this morning, of course, but also before. But it pleased her that he had asked something of her, even if it had been phrased more as an order than a request.
Miss Lucy Farquhar had never been one to yield easily, but she would give him this much.
She would have taken it back in an instant, if she had known what he was thinking, which was, of course, that the trip across his knees this morning had obviously done a world of good for her attitude. And that he’d best have her back across them again soon, so he could set those shapely legs akicking again to the tune of a sound spanking. But the next time, he’d have that bottom properly bared.
Chapter 5
Those first days at Gorham Hall passed with painful slowness for Lucy, who had grown up in more lively circumstances, never at a loss for company and amusements. She was called to breakfast very early each morning, and immediately afterwards, rode with Lord Tazewell for an hour or two as he made his rounds of the estate. This proved to be by far the most pleasant part of her day, because the countryside was beautiful and her companion an able horseman.
But except for those precious hours, Lucy was left largely to herself, ignored by the staff as well as the man who had brought her here. She had been instructed that when alone she must not venture farther than the garden, and that she may not, under any circumstances, enter Lord Tazewell’s private wing. However, Lucy was allowed free access to the solarium and library at the back of the house, and it was in these rooms that she tried to pass her solitary days and evenings, always loathe to return to her cold, austere cell any sooner than absolutely necessary.
One damp rainy day, when he had insisted on riding alone and she was unable even to step out in the garden, she found in the library a book by Mr. Kipling, and holding the leather–bound tome close
There was a woman in the garden, weeding, and when she heard the horses she straightened up from her labors and gave a friendly greeting, not at all the sort of sullen reception one hears is the best a landlord can expect when he rides near his tenants. The woman’s eyes flickered over to Lucy, her curiosity apparent, but much to Lucy’s relief, Lord Tazewell wished the woman a good day, and after a quick inquiry about the children, continued them on their way.
“I ride every morning for at least an hour, but often two or more, to make sure all is well,” he explained when they were beyond the cottage, although she hadn’t asked a question. “If I ride to the east one day, to check on the tenants in this valley and the next, then I will ride in another direction the next day, to check the fields and buildings that lie there. Thus, in the space of a fortnight, I have been to every corner of my estate and know exactly what’s going on.
He motioned to her to be careful of a branch that overhung the wooded trail.
“The younger child in that cottage, the little boy you just saw, was sick a month or two back. I had a word with the father, and sent the apothecary round with a poultice for his chest, and as you have seen, he’s back to health. These morning rides are my way of attending to small problems before they can grow.”
He pulled up his horse and hers stopped as well, although she hadn’t tugged its reins. Although the trail had narrowed, Lord Tazewell expertly turned his horse so he was facing her.
“I wish you with me on these rides for the pleasure of company, but I also want you to be my eyes. If you notice something that seems not right, anything at all, I wish you to tell me at once.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Lucy nodded. She was loathe to release even a drop of her smoldering anger against the man, considering the humiliations he had visited upon her this morning, of course, but also before. But it pleased her that he had asked something of her, even if it had been phrased more as an order than a request.
Miss Lucy Farquhar had never been one to yield easily, but she would give him this much.
She would have taken it back in an instant, if she had known what he was thinking, which was, of course, that the trip across his knees this morning had obviously done a world of good for her attitude. And that he’d best have her back across them again soon, so he could set those shapely legs akicking again to the tune of a sound spanking. But the next time, he’d have that bottom properly bared.
Chapter 5
Those first days at Gorham Hall passed with painful slowness for Lucy, who had grown up in more lively circumstances, never at a loss for company and amusements. She was called to breakfast very early each morning, and immediately afterwards, rode with Lord Tazewell for an hour or two as he made his rounds of the estate. This proved to be by far the most pleasant part of her day, because the countryside was beautiful and her companion an able horseman.
But except for those precious hours, Lucy was left largely to herself, ignored by the staff as well as the man who had brought her here. She had been instructed that when alone she must not venture farther than the garden, and that she may not, under any circumstances, enter Lord Tazewell’s private wing. However, Lucy was allowed free access to the solarium and library at the back of the house, and it was in these rooms that she tried to pass her solitary days and evenings, always loathe to return to her cold, austere cell any sooner than absolutely necessary.
One damp rainy day, when he had insisted on riding alone and she was unable even to step out in the garden, she found in the library a book by Mr. Kipling, and holding the leather–bound tome close
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