The Earl Not Taken Read online

  Rhys ran for the door. “Show me the way.”

  Poppy followed into the storm. There must be something she could do to help.

  The entire front of the stone barn was crushed by an enormous old oak. The roof had been struck, and wood stuck out in all directions. Several footmen in white livery and Kosey were attempting to move the thick trunk to no avail.

  Kosey hacked away at bits of raw wood with a large ax.

  Soaked through in an instant, Poppy gripped her skirts and ran around to the back of the barn. The front would take hours to clear, and the storm made it impossible. One side step to avoid a tree limb and she fell hard in the mud. Picking herself up, she continued around the barn. On the opposite side, there was only a small door meant for a man’s use. It would not be big enough for the horses to pass. Inside, two black and two white giants kicked and danced, ready to burst their stalls. Their eyes wide with panic, they brayed and kicked the walls. “Hush now. It’s going to be fine.” Approaching the closest stall, she cooed to the largest of the beasts.

  “You’re going to have to calm yourself or things will go very badly.”

  The whites of his eyes showing, he kicked the wall, sending the other three into fits. Thunder shook the battered walls, and bits of wood toppled to the floor.

  Covering her head, she cringed until the dust settled.

  The way he was kicking and rising on his back legs, the stallion would soon damage himself.

  “That will do,” she whispered and put her hand on the top of the door. “None of this will help your situation. If you injure yourself, then what a pickle that would be. The men will find a way to get you out.”

  He finally settled on his hooves and pointed his ears in her direction. A sign he was listening.

  “Poppy, the barn is not safe. Come away.” Rhys spoke softly from the door where she’d entered.

  Glad Rhys had the sense to stay calm with the horses in such a state, Poppy swallowed her own worry. “Perhaps you might use the back of the ax to widen the door. I’ll keep them calm, and we’ll all leave together.”

  Black as night, the stallion pressed his nose against her fingers.

  She petted his soft snout. “There now. That’s better.”

  The other three calmed as well.

  Rain poured through the roof, and lightning brightened the barn with each strike. Poppy formed a trust with the largest animal and petted his soft face while cooing to him. “There’s going to be some noise and fuss, but I’ll stay with you, my friend.” Turning to Rhys, she gave him a nod. “I think you can open the wall now.”

  Kosey towered over Rhys. His turban gone his black hair hung to mid-chest. He surveyed the scene, and then the two men banged away at the stone around the doorway.

  When the wall was wide open, grooms and footmen rushed in.

  Poppy stepped back. “Be easy with them. They’ve had a scare.”

  Rhys’s wet warm hand slid into hers. “Time you were out of here too.”

  They ran through the rain to the house. Keeping hold of her hand, Rhys steadied her on two slick spots.

  In the foyer, Kosey said, “You are a fine woman with the horses, my lady.”

  Heat filled Poppy’s cheeks. “Having little skills with people, I’ve always had a way with animals. I’m glad I could keep them from injuring themselves.”

  “I thank you both for your help.” Kosey retreated into the stormy afternoon.

  Soaked through, covered in mud, and exhausted, Poppy tried to smile.

  Mrs. Bastian ran in. “I’ve had rooms made up for both of you. Thank goodness it was the barn and not the house. We still have places for all to rest. You’ll not get back to London tonight. You can dry off and rest. I don’t think the master will make it home either. This storm…”

  It was an extraordinary household. Poppy wondered about the master of a house where the servants were so kind and generous.

  Mrs. Bastian climbed the stairs. Poppy and Rhys followed. The storm and the danger passing left her washed out and inclined to do as she was told if it meant dry clothes and a warm bed for a few hours.

  The fireplace was already lit, and a fresh-faced maid smiled from inside a doorway, holding a stack of towels and several dry clothing options.

  Stopping her with a gentle touch on her shoulder, Rhys asked, “Will you be all right?”

  Warmed by his touch, she wished she could step into his embrace, but that wasn’t possible and it was only her exhaustion making her feel such nonsense. She moved away from him. “I will see you later. I just need to rest a moment.”

  “I have a room for you just down the hall, my lord.” Mrs. Bastian stepped down the hall.

  With his hand gripping the doorjamb, Rhys leaned in. “You were quite amazing out there, Poppy. I would not have thought you so brave.”

  As chilled as she was, his words warmed her from the inside out. “I do have some skills, my lord.”

  “It was entirely my mistake to think they were all with regard to your intellect.” With a smile, he was gone.

  Chapter 6

  When the maid came downstairs to say Poppy was still asleep, Rhys decided to decline dinner as well. He read for a few hours in the remarkable parlor before his grumbling stomach forced him down to the kitchen.

  The staff was most obliging with bread, cheese, and meats as well as a bottle of wine. They offered to bring the food up to his room, but he had other ideas and carried the culinary treasures upstairs himself.

  He’d lost his mind. It was the only explanation. Yet suddenly, the idea that Poppy disliked him pained him more than anything else ever had. He always enjoyed their banter and how easily she was brought to anger. Perhaps it was just the kiss, the way she’d responded, or the way she gazed up from that ridiculous divan.

  When he’d seen her calm those enormous horses, his heart had broken in two at the notion she might be hurt by either the beasts or the unstable building. Still, her magnificent bravery left him breathless. In such a turmoil of events she had the presence of mind to have them break through the back wall and save the animals.

  He knocked lightly on her door.

  Something bumped inside. “Ouch!”

  Perfectly Poppy, she hopped on one foot when she opened the door. “My lord, is something wrong?”

  Heavens, she was a sight in a voluminous white nightdress and cap with no more than an inch of skin showing. He didn’t know when it happened, but he was sure he liked her more than he should and certainly more than she would ever like him.

  “I’ve brought food. I’m sure you’re as hungry as I.”

  “You didn’t eat?”

  It seemed foolish now, but he shrugged. “When you didn’t come down, I didn’t wish to inconvenience the staff. I thought perhaps a kind of picnic.”

  Lord, he’d become a complete imbecile.

  Poppy stepped back and opened the door. “I am hungry, and there is a very plush rug in front of the fireplace.”

  The dying firelight wasn’t enough to note any change in expression. However, she’d invited him in, and he couldn’t ignore the charge of elation that shot through him. Placing the large tray on the rug, Rhys added a log to the fire and poked at the embers until it caught.

  Poppy took two large yellow pillows from the chairs and placed them on the rug before sitting. Her nightgown billowed out around her like a rose in full bloom. “Why are you staring so? Have I something on my face?” She wiped her cheeks and chin.

  Kneeling in front of her, he took her hands away and held them in his. “You are perfect.”

  “Hardly. I am in a giant gown belonging to a very large maid, and I’m still the clumsy dolt I have always been.”

  Her warm, fresh scent flooded him with a wave of desire. “Since when are you shy about your accomplishments? I have known you for six years, Penelope Arrington, and you have never been one to dwell on your flaws rather than your attributes. It is not as if anyone is without fault.”

  Pulling her hands back, she searched the rug and the fireplace before finally looking at him again. “Shall I be completely honest?”

  A knot formed in the center of Rhys’s chest. Yet to deny her would be the end to this evening, and he was not ready to leave her. “Of course.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “I hope to think neither have I boasted my gifts nor have I hidden my flaws. I am clumsy and tend to not care what society thinks. I always say the wrong things and will probably spill something on my dress or tear my hem on any given day. Your sudden attention makes me think it’s time I remind you of these things. I couldn’t care less what society thinks of me, but I know these things are important to you.”

  Rhys poured the wine from the decanter and handed her a glass. “I know all of these things about you, Poppy. I also know they do not define your character, only some habits.”

  Biting her bottom lip, she drew a breath then took a long sip of wine. “Habits you find intolerable.”

  Unable to deny some of her mishaps had annoyed him over the years, he shrugged. “Somehow knowing you better this past week, those little faux pas do not seem relevant.”

  “Because I calmed a few horses? I’m still the same girl you’ve fought with for years.”

  He tore a piece of bread from the small round loaf then placed it on a plate with some meat and cheese. Handing it to her, he wished he could turn back time and behaved better toward her in the past. “If we had not bickered, I would have sorely missed it. I did not lie when I told you I dearly love to see you in a temper.”

  She ate the bread and drank the wine, watching him through narrowed eyes. “I don’t believe you. Your sudden attention toward me can only be for one reason, and perhaps this is a good time to remind you that I am a lady, my lord.”

  Stunned, he sucked wine down his windpipe and nearly drowned himself. When he’d coughed enough to clear the wine, he found her with her arms crossed over her chest, frowning. His own temper flared. “If you thought my intentions so base, my lady, why did you let me in here?”

  Brow furrowed, her gaze fell from his. Her cheeks were on fire. “I was hungry and perhaps a bit curious. Not that many men have shown interest in me…at least none with intelligence enough to be interesting.”

  “At least you consider me intelligent.”

  “There are a great many smart rogues, my lord. You are not so rare. Only your interest in a social pariah makes you different.”

  If she hadn’t been so adorable in her powder puff of a nightdress, he might have been offended. Instead, something twisted inside him. “Why is your opinion of me so low?”

  She ate and focused anywhere but at him. “My opinions are none of your business.”

  “You have insulted me, won’t look me in the eye, yet you refuse to tell me in what way I could have offended you.”

  “I am not offended.” She met his gaze. “You are the same as my father and all the other wealthy men in England. I want nothing to do with any of you or your society. I go to balls to appease my mother in the hope that in a few years, she will give up on my marrying and leave me in peace. Now that I can live at West Lane with Aurora and the other Wallflowers, I need not be a burden on my family. Perhaps they will give me control of a portion of my dowry and I can live a contented life without having to wonder if my idiotic husband is making a fool of me with a dozen mistresses around town.”

  Something was coming into focus about Poppy, and Rhys wasn’t ready to let it go. He needed the full picture. “Is it a foregone conclusion this fictitious husband will take a mistress?”

  “Of course.”

  “Because all men are inclined to lie and cheat?” He leaned back against the chair with his legs toward the fire.

  She pushed her plate away and rose to her knees. “Are you going to try to tell me you will be a faithful husband when you take a bride?”

  “There is no sense in telling you anything, Penelope. You have decided my character is flawed and there is no defense. I understand your opinion of me in general and admit your father has shown some rather bad judgment, but I do wonder why you think particularly ill of me.”

  She huffed and lowered to one side. Her little pink toes poked out from under the gown, and every muscle in his body wanted to touch those feet and every inch above them. Deciding it best to keep his reaction to himself, he asked again, “Why do you think me so base?”

  A single tear trailed down her cheek. “You will not remember. Of course you don’t.”

  Searching his memory for some offense he might have given, he drew a blank. “Remember what, Poppy?”

  “When I came to your country home before Aurora and I were sent away to school.” She leveled her gaze on him.

  He’d been just back from school himself. Most of that time he’d spent arguing with his father to keep Rora home. “I recall you stayed a week or so before leaving for Lucerne.”

  Nodding, she smiled. “Your mother was inclined to give long speeches about how to be a proper young lady and why your sister and I had failed our families.”

  “That must have been unbearable.” He had been on the receiving end of some of Mother’s sermons and imagined the girls had been bored to tears.

  She plucked her wine from the small table and sipped before putting it back and gripping her fingers together. “It was terrible. One day, to avoid another berating, I took a long walk around the property.”

  Suddenly the image of a young woman from the village and Poppy’s appearance that day flashed in his mind. Heat filled his cheeks. “I see. I do remember now. You think because as a young man I took advantage of the offers of a girl from town, I am of the same ilk as the other men in your life.”

  “I know what I saw.” She blushed bright red and took up her wine again.

  “And you believe any interest I might have in you can only be dishonorable.” It took a force of will to hold his temper, but as it was his own foolish actions that had caused her low opinion, hold it he did.

  Poppy put the wine aside and stood. She wrapped her arms around her middle and peered into the fire. Her kind eyes danced in the firelight. “It makes no difference what you intend. If you wish to have a tumble with a woman you think will have you, I am not she. Perhaps you are honorable and wish to marry me for my dowry. I don’t know, but I will not have a husband who I already know will break my heart or my spirit.”

  Fury rushed to his head and he shot to his feet. “Break your spirit?” He took several long breaths. “I will not apologize for actions taken when I was still young and foolish. I am sorry that day changed the course of our friendship, and I will endeavor to change your opinion of me.”

  “Why?” She tipped her chin to the side and watched him.

  Stepping close enough so she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes, he ran his fingers along her long, dark braid where it lay against her shoulder. “Oh, Poppy. I wish I could answer that question. However, until you think better of me, there is no point. I will just say, I cannot live with the notion you think me a cad.”

  “Are you saying you have no lovers?” Her pretty lips twisted with sarcasm.

  Her scent left him drunk with desire and something more, which he dared not think about. “Are you certain you want the answer to that question? Beware, I’ll never lie to you.”

  Whenever she was deep in thought her gaze shifted as it did in that moment; then she stared into his eyes. “I want the answer.”

  Sorrow pressed against the inside of his chest. “I have had lovers. Though, not so many as you seem to think. For most of my adult life I had one mistress.”

  “And now?” Her voice trembled.

  “About a year ago, I gave her up.”

  “Why?” Her throat bobbed with a long swallow.

  Rhys longed to run his lips along the curve of her throat and taste her skin. He settled for a chaste kiss on her forehead. “I realized I would soon inherit and it was time to grow up.”

  When she made no reaction, he stepped toward the door.

  “What of the woman?” Poppy asked.

  Stopping, he took him a moment to realize she was concerned for a woman she didn’t know and whose position in life was quite far beneath hers. “Poppy Arrington, you are a rare thing. Her name is Melissa; she is an actress. I gave her a pension in case she wished to retire to the country. I’ve heard since she’s befriended a young viscount.”

  “Are you jealous?” With her back to the fire and her arms wrapped around her middle, she looked like an angel. Perhaps she was exactly that. Her shapely legs shone in shadows of the firelight.

  Rhys closed his eyes. “I wish Melissa happiness. No. I harbor no jealousy as I was not in love with her.”

  “Then why offer her retirement if you didn’t wish her to never take another lover?”

  “This conversation has taken the strangest turn.”

  “You said you would never lie to me?” She raised her chin as if daring him to go back on his word.

  “All right, Poppy. Melissa was very good to me. She was a good friend and a good companion for several years. I thought I owed her whatever options she wished for her life. It was not my place to make any decisions for her, nor would I have wanted that responsibility. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

  “I don’t know what to make of you now.”

  It was the best he could have hoped for. “Perhaps you might think I am not the terrible person you’d believed me to be.”

  When she remained silent, he went to the door. “Good night, Poppy.”

  “Thank you for the meal. It was very thoughtful.” She turned away and walked to the bed.

  Despite the fact she was not looking, he bowed. “It was my honor, my lady.”

  * * * *

  Rhys poked at the sausage and coddled eggs on his plate. He’d slept very little after learning the source of Poppy’s low opinion of him. It had never occurred to him that the folly of his youth would come back to haunt him one day.