‘Gnarled and vinegary,’ Anthony teased.
‘I’ll ring for luncheon. You’ll have to eat it in solitary splendour because it wouldn’t do for the housekeeper to sit down with you.’ As she stood up she glimpsed movement at the end of the drive. ‘A carriage is coming. Of all the bad timing! You had best stay out of sight. I do hope it isn’t Father.’
Anthony leapt to his feet with an oath that had her scolding him.
‘Not in front of ladies, you brat! Look, it is a team of greys.’ She relaxed. Her father always drove bays. It was irrational, of course, this fear. There was not the slightest clue to bring him here, but even so, she kept waking in the night in a cold sweat of dread, fighting a nightmare of being dragged back to Knighton Park and Lord Woodruff’s grasping hands.
‘And very nice, too,’ Anthony said with a sigh of envy. ‘Real high-steppers. I’ll go into the back garden.’
Caroline followed him out, called for William and retreated to the back of the hall again. She had not seen a single visitor all the time she had been at Springbourne except tradesmen and local people and now someone had to turn up hot on Anthony’s heels. This was like one of those farces with everyone diving behind sofas or into cupboards as more and more people arrived at inconvenient or compromising moments. It would make Gabriel laugh, she thought as William, peering through the glass at the side of the door, opened it before the caller could knock.
‘Good afternoon,’ said a very familiar voice. ‘I am Edenbridge.’
‘My lord.’ William sounded even more flustered than he had at Anthony’s arrival. She could hardly blame him: she was totally confused herself. And, she realised, very happy.
‘Might I come in?’ Gabriel enquired mildly.
‘Yes, of course, my lord. I do apologise, my lord, keeping you standing on your own doorstep.’ His ears and the back of his neck were crimson as he took Gabriel’s hat and gloves. ‘I’ll...er... Should I have luncheon sent up, my lord?’
‘Please do. This is the drawing room? Ask the housekeeper if she could join me at her convenience.’
‘Yes, my lord. Certainly, my lord.’ The footman closed the door and scurried to the back of the hall. ‘It’s Lord Edenbridge, Mrs Crabtree.’
‘Ask Cook to prepare luncheon for three and I will join the gentlemen. Go to Mr Holm and give him my compliments and tell him I will be with him as soon as possible.’ The staff would think it strange, but now the two of them were here she simply had to talk to them together. But Gabriel first. And alone.
‘Caroline.’ He came across the room to her, his hand stretched out, and it took her a second to realise he intended to shake hers, not gather her into his arms.
Of course, you idiot. She smiled and offered her own hand and asked him to be seated with commendable composure. His hair had grown out of its strict crop since she had seen him last and his breeches, boots and riding coat were as carelessly thrown on as always, even though
he had come in a carriage and not on horseback.
‘How are you managing?’ he asked, studying her as she sat there looking, she was very aware, like a neat, dowdy housekeeper.
‘Very well, thank you, my lord. It is quiet, but there is plenty to keep me occupied. Might I ask what brings you here? Not a problem, I trust. Or perhaps you have become bored and fancied a change of scenery?’ That was bitter and she regretted the words as soon as she spoke them. They betrayed how much his parting words had hurt her. She had her pride.
Gabriel did not make the mistake of apologising, which was sensible of him as well as preserving what dignity she had left. ‘Your brother Anthony arrived on my doorstep proposing to buy back Springbourne. It was necessary to explain the true circumstances to him. Your father had told him he had lost it and it occurred to me that he had not told you. For all Knighton knows you still believe this to be a family property, one where he never visits and somewhere you might think of as a sanctuary. I wanted to warn you and discuss how to mitigate the danger.’
So her night-time fears were not so far-fetched after all if Gabriel shared them. ‘Thank you, I appreciate you taking the trouble to come in person.’ It sounded stilted, but perhaps she should be making the effort to distance herself with formality. It was too easy to yearn for the closeness that had been between them when Gabriel had been the hermit and she a fugitive.
Caroline kept her gaze on her own hands, folded neatly in her lap, and not on his long, expressive fingers. ‘Anthony is here. He arrived very shortly before you did.’
‘The little devil! I advanced him some money, but I thought he was staying with a school friend. What is he doing here?’
‘Heaving a huge sigh of relief that it is his again, I suspect. He was taken aback to discover that the housekeeper, Mrs Crabtree, knew him very well.’
‘I am not surprised, Mrs Crabtree. We had better have a council of war, the three of us.’
‘That is what I thought. I told him about Woodruffe.’
There was a tap on the door. ‘Luncheon is served, Mrs Crabtree.’
‘Thank you, William. Please ask Mr Holm to join us in the dining room.’
Anthony came in, looking wary. ‘I heard your voice in the hall, Edenbridge. You’re wondering what I am doing here, I suppose?’
‘You may go where you please.’ Gabriel held the chair for Caroline, then took his own place opposite her. ‘I am not your guardian.’
‘I know, sir, but you gave me money and I let you think I was staying in London.’