Joan Wolf - His Lordship's Desire

“Why don’t you show his lordship around the stable and I will take a look at Candy,” Diana said.

“Fine!” Henley said enthusiastically.

Alex glanced at Diana but she was not looking at him. After a moment he moved off with Henley.

“We haven’t made many changes since your father died,” Henley said as they walked down the wide aisle and looked into the light, airy stalls. “We kept his two hunters and Master James and Master Jeremy ride them when they come home from school. The grooms keep them exercised and Miss Diana will take them out occasionally and put them over some jumps. Here is Annie, Miss Diana’s horse.”

Alex looked into the stall at the tall, rangy bay mare. Strictly speaking, Annie did not belong to Diana. Alex’s father had bought the mare from an abusive owner and had allowed Diana to ride her, deeming the mare not good enough for any of his own children.

Alex said, “She must be getting on in years by now.”

“She’s virtually retired,” Henley said. “Miss Diana has been riding Monty lately. Of course, now that you’re home…”

“I have a horse coming,” Alex said. “The horse I rode in Spain. There’s no reason why Miss Diana can’t keep riding Monty.”

Henley beamed. He had always adored Diana. “You’d think that horse should be too big for her, but he’s like butter in her hands. I think she can ride anything, Miss Diana.”

They were standing at the stall of a stocky chestnut gelding, who came over to greet them. He looked at Alex with soft eyes.

“This one is new,” Alex said.

“He belongs to Lady Sarah. He’s a sweetheart.”

They continued on down the aisle, looking at the carriage horses and the ponies that belonged to Alex’s two younger sisters, Maria and Margaret. Diana was in the stall with one of the ponies and she came out as they approached.

“There’s no heat,” she said. “I thought she might have kicked herself when she spooked, but she seems all right.”

“She’s a feisty little pony,” Henley said. “Maybe she’s too much for Lady Maria.”

“She’s new,” Alex said. “I don’t remember her.”

“Maria outgrew her old pony and we got her Candy a few months ago,” Diana said. “She was quiet when I looked at her, but she seems to have a habit of spooking.”

“Having a deer jump out in front of her would spook most horses,” Alex commented.

“True,” Diana said. “But there have been other occasions…”

“Remember that hellion of a pony I used to have?” Alex asked.

For the first time a faint smile tilted Diana’s lips. “You loved him because he would jump anything.”

“He would buck at anything, too.”

The smile disappeared from Diana’s face. “I hope the horses meet with your approval,” she said stiffly.

“Miss Diana has taken charge of the stable since your father died, your lordship,” Henley said. “She has made sure that everything runs smoothly.”

“I see that I must thank you, Dee,” Alex said. “I appreciate your time and effort.”

“It was nothing,” she said dismissively. “Now I think we had better return to the house and see what has happened to poor Maria.”

She strode down the aisle toward the door and he lingered a moment, watching her slim figure clad in a serviceable riding skirt and a wool jacket. Her red-gold hair caught all the light in the stable.

After a moment, he followed her.

Maria had indeed broken her collarbone and Alex bent to kiss his ten-year-old sister and commiserate with her.

“Have you ever broken your collarbone?” she asked. Her face was white and her blond curls were tumbled.

“No, but I broke my arm once.”

“Falling from a horse?”

“Yes. My pony bucked me off.”

Maria said, “I don’t think I like Candy. She is always jumping at things.”

“Then we’ll get you another pony,” he said promptly.

“She was good when I tried her. It was just when we got her home that she started to act spooky.”

“Then she’s not the pony for you,” he said. “We’ll get you something more reliable.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you, Alex.”

“Maria needs something like my Basil,” said Margaret, Alex’s twelve-year-old sister. “He’s very steady.”

“We’ll see what we can find,” he said.

Alex, Diana, Sally and Margaret were in Maria’s room and Maria was in bed, where Lady Standish had insisted she stay for the rest of the afternoon. Maria’s left arm was in a sling.

“At least it’s your left arm,” Margaret said.

“Yes,” Maria said glumly. “Jeremy is going to make fun of me when he hears that I fell off and broke my collarbone.”

Jeremy was Alex’s brother who was at Eton.

“No he won’t,” Alex said. “I won’t let him.”

Maria’s blue eyes looked hopefully at her eldest brother. “You won’t?”

“No.”

Maria smiled. “I’m glad you’re home, Alex.”

“I’m glad I’m home, too,” he said.

“I think we should all leave and give Maria a chance to rest,” Sally said.

Diana was the first one to turn to the door. She was followed by Margaret, then Sally and lastly Alex. He closed the door behind him gently.

Once they were out in the hall, his eighteen-year-old sister Sally smiled up at him. “We’re so glad you’re home and that you’re safe,” she said.

“I’m glad to be home,” Alex said for perhaps the dozenth time that day.

“Did Mama tell you that Diana and I are going to make our come-outs next month?” Sally asked.

“Yes, she did.”

“You can be our escort, Alex. Perhaps you will even find a girl you want to marry yourself.”

Alex’s eyes went to Diana. “Perhaps,” he said.

Dinner that evening was a festive affair. It was a welcome home dinner for Alex and both Margaret and Maria were allowed to join the family at the table. Diana and her mother were also present. Lady Standish explained to Alex that since his father had died she had invited her cousin Louisa and her daughter to join her for dinner every evening. “It would have been too sad, with just Sally and me.”

The Sherwood women lived in a cottage on the Standish estate and had done so for the past eighteen years. Lady Standish had invited her cousin Louisa to make use of the house when her husband had been called to military duty in India. Mr. Sherwood had eventually attained the rank of colonel and after India he had been called to the Peninsula, where he had perished in the Battle of Corunna.

The Sherwoods were not in the same social or financial class as the Earl and Countess of Standish, but because the two women were close friends, the Sherwoods had often taken part in the activities of Standish Court. The earl had been very tolerant of his wife’s cousin, but he had been more aware of the gap between the two families than his wife had been. Both women knew that if the earl had been alive, Diana would not have been making her come-out with Sally.

So Alex sat around the table that night with six females. It was a distinct change for a man who for the past three years had known masculine companionship almost exclusively.

“You must sit down with Billings and go over the estate books,” Lady Sherwood said to her son as the soup course was served. “I think he is a good man, but your papa was scrupulous about keeping up with all of the estate accounts. I believe there is also something that needs to be done with the property in Derbyshire.”

How different my life is going to be, Alex thought. All my life, all I wanted was to be a soldier. Now that’s over and I’m an earl. He let his eyes roam around the familiar but somehow strange-looking room. Then he looked back at his mother.