A Sense of Injustice (Perceptions Book 4) Page 23

  ‘Someone in authority needs to live in that house, Luke.’ Henry paced in front of the fire in Luke’s library. ‘The tenants are a surly bunch who have abused their rights because there’s been no one there to rein them in. I confronted the ringleader and made it clear that if they continued to take advantage they would be out on their ears. They grumbled, and I listened to their complaints and promised to look into the ones that were justified. Most of them are not. As I say, they’re taking advantage and the steward you left in charge is as bad as they are. I want to dismiss him and replace him with someone more efficient.’

  ‘I’m impressed with what you’ve achieved, little brother. I knew they would try and exploit your inexperience, but you stood up to them and they backed down. No mean feat. Who do you have in mind for a steward?’

  ‘You’ll allow me to dismiss Nestor?’

  Luke shrugged. ‘Certainly, if you think he’s incapable of discharging his duties.’

  ‘I shall advertise the position then, but I’ll need your help to select the right candidate. There’s bound to be a lot of interest.’

  ‘You’re capable of making your own decision, Henry. You don’t need to lean on me.’

  Henry’s face lit up. ‘Are you sure?’

  Luke laughed. ‘You don’t appear as though you are, but you should be. As I say, I knew the situation at Plaistow was not ideal. When I sent you down there to sort it out, it was a test that you passed with flying colours.’

  ‘Well in that case, how would you feel about me taking on the house and living there permanently?’ Henry took the chair across from Luke and leaned forward, enthusiasm causing him to voice a question he hadn’t intended to pose. Luke would refuse. Henry wasn’t experienced enough to indefinitely manage an estate of that size unsupervised. He was bound to make mistakes. ‘As I say, it needs a permanent family presence there.’

  ‘It does indeed.’ Luke paused, rubbing his chin as though actually considering the matter. ‘Think you can handle it?’

  Could he? Was Luke offering him the opportunity? ‘Absolutely!’ he said, with more confidence than he actually felt.

  ‘Well then, let’s give it a go.’

  ‘Seriously?’ Henry felt the full force of his brother’s faith in him and was suddenly very worried that he would let him down.

  ‘You said yourself that it’s been neglected. I cannot be all things to all people. You’ve done a good job so far. See it through. I’ll ride down there with you later in the week and we’ll go through everything on site.’

  ‘Thanks, Luke. I won’t give you reason to regret it.’ Henry gave a mischievous smile. ‘Well, let’s hope not.’

  Henry stood, staring out the window as the enormity of the task he had persuaded his brother to let him take on struck home. He felt terrified of failure but also filled with enthusiasm, his mind brimming with fresh ideas he could put into force to whip the estate back into shape. His breathing hitched when he noticed Louise Pearson and Flora walking briskly towards the house, laughing at something one of them had just said.

  ‘Plaistow’s a large house for one man to live in alone,’ Luke remarked, standing to join Henry and following the direction of his gaze.

  ‘She isn’t interested in me,’ Henry said, shaking his head, not pretending to misinterpret his brother’s meaning. ‘She’s made that abundantly clear. Besides, she lives in London and I have no interest in the capital.’

  ‘I think you will find that her plans have changed. Flora tells me she intends to establish herself here in Wiltshire.’

  Henry shrugged. ‘She’s an heiress.’

  ‘You’re not exactly penniless yourself. Some might even suggest that you’re a bit of a catch.’ Luke took his turn to shrug. ‘Can’t see the attraction myself but there you have it.’

  ‘I am interested in her, I won’t deny it,’ Henry said. ‘But I get the impression there’s something in her past that precludes her from forming attachments to the opposite sex. She has kept me at arm’s length the entire time.’

  ‘There is something.’

  Henry hoisted a brow. ‘You know what it is?’

  ‘I do, but I’m not about to break a confidence.’

  Henry’s nascent hope deflated. ‘Ah well then.’

  ‘Anything that’s worth having is worth fighting for, little brother.’ Luke slapped Henry’s shoulder. ‘Has it occurred to you that she doesn’t think herself worthy of you?’

  ‘What?’ Henry laughed aloud. ‘But that’s ridiculous.’

  ‘To you and me perhaps, but not to her. They dine here tomorrow evening. Find an opportunity to speak with her alone and make your feelings plain. Something tells me that if she knows you are sincere and open-minded, she will be honest with you in return.’

  ‘But what if she is not?’ Henry shook his head. ‘I will have lost my opportunity with her. I cannot pursue her if she makes it plain that my attentions are unwelcome.’

  ‘I have seen her watching you,’ Luke said, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. ‘And I very much doubt that they are unwelcome.’

  ⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎

  ‘I hear the earl has asked Henry to take over responsibility for Plaistow, ma’am,’ Flora told the countess as they went down to dinner on the evening the Pearsons were due at Beranger Court. ‘Do you know the estate?’

  ‘Of course I do. I once allowed a scoundrel to seduce me in the main bedchamber. A terrible disappointment, he was. It was all over in a few seconds, with no thoughts for my pleasure.’

  ‘Oh dear.’

  ‘Scoundrels come in all shapes and sizes, Flora, but not all of them are what they appear to be. Take Archie Hardwick, for instance. Now he is a scoundrel worthy of the name, I have absolutely no doubt about that.’

  ‘Even though he is incapacitated?’

  The old lady cackled as she slowly descended the sweeping staircase on Flora’s arm. ‘I’ll wager certain parts of him are still in good working order.’

  ‘Then I am very pleased for him. Such things are important to gentlemen, I’m told.’

  ‘It’s high time you found out for yourself—but don’t let Hardwick have his way with you unless you have his ring on your finger first.’

  Flora stopped walking and fixed the countess with a probing look. ‘I don’t know who you have been talking to, but I can assure you that I have no amatory interest in Lord Hardwick, nor he in me.’

  ‘Hmm.’

  The countess refused to drawn on her reasons for raising the subject and Flora didn’t want to seem over-interested. Even so, it worried her that both Luke and the countess were thinking along similar lines. She enjoyed Archie Hardwick’s company, partly because she was able to be herself with him, and he with her, since she could not possibly be expected to harbour aspirations of a more abiding nature.

  Could she?

  Had he—or others—misinterpreted her behaviour and assumed she had something other than friendship in mind? How embarrassing. Even if they had, Flora thought, what possible reason could they have to suppose that Archie had any serious interest in her? She hadn’t seen him since he had attended her birthday party but he had sent a note thanking her for the tincture and assuring her that it had eased his pain a little. Perhaps someone in the household had seen a note from Felsham Hall arriving that was addressed to Flora—servants were the worst possible gossips—and misread the situation.

  They reached the drawing room where the family was assembled, and Flora put the worrying problem to the back of her mind. She looked up at Luke, who smiled across the room at her. She had not been alone with him since that kiss in the dilapidated barn. But that hadn’t stopped her thinking about it more often than was appropriate. It was almost as if he had deliberately put distance between them because he worried that she would misinterpret his intentions. She wanted to tell him that nothing was further from the truth and she missed their uncomplicated intimacy.

  But had it really been uncomplicated, she wondered as she helped the
countess to a chair where she could be greeted by her grandchildren. Could a man and woman really be on friendly terms without the mutual attraction that she knew existed between them getting in the way?

  The Pearsons arrived, obliging Flora to push thoughts of Luke and Archie to the back of her mind. It didn’t help that Luke’s gaze constantly seemed to be fixed upon her in her bronze changeable silk gown. A soft light of approval glowed from his eyes, but he didn’t once attempt to speak to her alone.

  The same could not be said of Henry, who made a point of singling Louise out immediately after dinner. The two of them disappeared for a considerable amount of time and when they returned to the drawing room they were both smiling broadly.

  ‘Oh, Flora, I am so very happy!’ Louise exclaimed.

  ‘And I hardly need to ask you why.’

  ‘Henry insisted upon speaking to me alone. At first I refused, but he persisted, so I thought I might as well disappoint him and get it over with.’ The words bubbled from Louise’s lips. ‘I finished up telling him absolutely everything. I thought he would be horrified and wouldn’t be able to leave the room quickly enough, but it wasn’t like that at all.’

  Flora rolled her eyes. ‘Of course it was not. He’s madly in love with you.’

  ‘So he says.’ Her eyes widened, as though she could hardly believe it. ‘He was furious about Cleethorp but I told him what the earl had done to spike his guns and he is content to let matters rest there. Anyway, he actually proposed and…well, I accepted him.’

  ‘I am so very pleased.’ Flora squeezed her friend’s hand. ‘After all you have been through, you deserve to be happy.’

  ‘He is moving to Plaistow to manage the estate and wants us to live there when we marry. Did I really just talk about marrying?’ Louise’s smile was too wide for her face. ‘My head is in such a spin. It has all happened so fast.’

  ‘I am told that one instinctively knows when one has met the right man.’

  ‘I can attest to that fact. Henry insists that Grandmamma and Marianne must live there too. He won’t hear of me being parted from them again.’

  ‘Goodness, you appear to have thought of everything!’ Flora laughed and embraced her friend. ‘I am very happy for you.’

  Luke, who happened to be standing close by, overheard the comment. He glanced at Louise, then back at Flora. His irises darkened as his smile lingered for a little too long and he briefly placed one hand on her bare shoulder. His warm gaze was fuelled, she was absolutely sure, with frustrated passion as he moved away to speak with Paul.

  What is your game, Luke Beranger? Talk to me.

  ‘Oh, Flora, I am so deliriously happy!’ Louise, seemingly impervious to the moment that Luke and Flora had shared, beamed with joy. ‘I never in my wildest dreams assumed that any gentleman worth having would be able to overlook my sullied past.’

  Flora summoned up a smile, aware of Luke still watching her from the other side of the room. She slipped her arm through Louise’s and patted her hand as she glanced at a beaming Henry. ‘And I shall demonstrate my maturity by refraining from pointing out that I told you so.’

  Louise laughed aloud. ‘You may say anything you wish. I shall not be offended. I owe everything I now am to you, dearest Flora, and shall never be able to repay that debt.’

  ‘Oh, I think seeing you and Henry happy together will be enough to satisfy me. Now, when shall you tell the countess?’

  Louise laughed as she looked towards her own grandmother, seated beside Flora’s charge. ‘Let’s tell them together.’

  ‘Oh no, absolutely not!’ Flora disengaged her arm and ceded her place at Louise’s side to Henry, whom she spontaneously kissed on the cheek. ‘I wouldn’t dream of usurping the rightful place of your future husband.’

  The End

  About the Author

  Hi, I do hope you enjoyed A Sense of Injustice. If so, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. I’d love to hear what you thought of this particular novel – what you enjoyed most about it and what you didn’t like. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

  Reach me at wendysoliman@rocketmail.com

  I’m a British author, brought up on the Isle of Wight, but now live in Andorra. I share my life with my long-suffering husband and a rescued dog of indeterminate pedigree named Jake Bentley after the hero in one of my books. Both Jakes are handsome mongrels with independent spirits and wild streaks.

  I’ve had over sixty books published, ranging from Regency romance, (my first love), to contemporary women’s fiction and marine crime mysteries.

  When not writing I walk miles with my dog, make half-hearted visits to the gym, read other people’s tomes…oh, and I’m on a one-woman mission to keep the wine trade profitable!

  Check out all of my books, and learn more about me from my website: http:www.wendysoliman.com

  Or on my Amazon author page author.to/wendys

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