Forsaking the Prize (The Wild Randalls 2)

He stretched out his hand as he passed her. Their fingers brushed, sending a jolt of awareness through him. He wanted her. Foolish as that wish might be, he wanted her in his bed. He wanted to see her happy. Another foolish wish. He was always doing something to upset her. He should leave well enough alone.

He stretched to reach the first handhold high up the eastern wall of Harrowdale.

Blythe tugged on his coat, preventing his ascent. “What are you doing, Tobias?”

He looked over his shoulder in surprise. She’d not used his given name before. He’d expected she never would. However, there was no friendliness in her expression. Her brows had drawn together. Was she afraid for him? He eased her grip from his coat tails. “Don’t worry, my lady. I’ve managed this feat many a time.”

“But you were a boy then?”

He shook his head. “There’s no danger. I’ve done this since my return. Where do you think I lived before we met in the flesh? I lived here, not in the woods like a wild beast.”

“I never implied any such thing.”

“No, you didn’t have to. Step back now.”

When she retreated a few steps, he set his toe to the first depression in the stone wall and climbed up to the second floor window easily, much more easily than he’d done as a boy. He hooked his fingers into the small gap under the sash window and hoisted it up. Cold air covered his skin as he threw his leg over the sill and then squeezed himself through the narrow opening. He might be getting a touch too big for that particular window, but it was the only one with a faulty latch.

He glanced down. Blythe had covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide with fear. He waved to show he was fine and then padded through the silent house, down the creaking staircase, and through to the rear kitchen door where she waited. He jiggled the door until the bolt slid free of its casing and then opened it wide.

Blythe’s expression was severe. “I think that is enough climbing, Mr. Randall.” She set her hands to her hips. “I should not like to see you do that again as long as I live so please do use a key next time.”

“My heart’s beating ever so fast,” the housekeeper gushed. “Tis too dangerous.”

He grinned at their fears. “Nonsense. I find the activity exhilarating.” If they had seen him hanging from the rigging of the whaler in a frigid gale then they’d have something to be terrified of.

“Well, I think it’s the stupidest thing,” the groom muttered. He lifted his hand, twirled a key between his fingers, and then handed it over.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Where was that?”

He pointed to a garden bed where a rock had been overturned before doffing his hat and returning to the wagon to begin the unloading without him. “Well, that’s a happy surprise. No more climbing.” Tobias swept his hand toward the interior. “Ladies, welcome to Harrowdale. Mind the dust doesn’t make you sneeze. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of it.”

The housekeeper stepped over the threshold, plucked the key from his fingers, and peered about. She sniffed the air and then sneezed. “The place needs a woman’s touch and a good airing,” she said as she wiped her eyes.

“It does,” he agreed. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the empty chamber you can use.”

Without waiting, Tobias hurried up the narrow staircase and gestured down the hall. He directed the housekeeper toward the old empty chamber, once Harrowdale’s nursery, and left her there.

When he returned downstairs, Blythe was peeking into the rooms on the lower floor. She stopped next to one of the chairs he’d uncovered. The rose pink tapestry had faded with time and the light from the adjacent window, but the design was still clear enough to be pretty. Uncovering his mother’s favorite chair had been a particularly hard task and even now his throat worked to choke him.

Blythe set her hand to the material, eyebrow raised in query.

“My mother used to watch for our return from that spot. I should help your man with the unloading. Excuse me.” Tobias hurried away before he blubbered like the boy he had been on his first night away from home and family. He hadn’t time now for embarrassing sentimentality.

Together, he and the groom unloaded the wagon, carting Blythe’s possessions upstairs, but he rarely caught sight of her again. He didn’t mind her exploring his home or avoiding him. If she satisfied her curiosity without asking him questions, he would feel all the better for it.

When the last of the bundles were deposited upstairs, the housekeeper waved him out of the overflowing chamber. “I brought a bite to eat. Would you care for it inside or out, sir?”

Tobias frowned. “Out, I think, to avoid the dust.”

She nodded and handed him a blanket. “I’ll come and find you when it’s done. Can you send the groom to me? I’ll need some help with the fire and such to get the tea ready.”

“Surely tea is unnecessary. Shouldn’t Lady Venables be getting back to Walden Hall to complete her preparations?”

“Oh, no, no, no. Everything is done now for his lordships arrival. It was just Master Adam’s things to take care of. Now that is all done, she’ll be wanting a nice cup of tea to relax with. These visits of his do put her in a queer mood. Not that I blame her.”

Tobias leaned against the wall, intrigued by the housekeeper’s remark. “Is Lord Venables really so difficult?”

The housekeeper nodded. “He’s particularly bossy, nothing like his father. He’s always asking her to account for her spending, the time she visits with her sister, and away from Walden Hall.” Her lips pressed together guiltily at her gossiping and then she bustled past him and disappeared into the kitchen.