Page 16 of The Valentine Skates
Helena tapped at the door before opening it a crack and leaning inside. “Your carriage is here. Shall I have them come inside and wait while you pack?”
“Yes, we’re nearly done. Tell young Tom to walk the horses a bit while they wait.” Lili’s confidence had grown with each decision she’d made about how to proceed with her life. Perhaps Frederick was right. The only way to ensure their happiness would not interfere with Emily’s future was to face thetonhead-on.
Her mother was on close terms with every powerful woman in the closely-knit upper levels of London society. Perhaps she could guide her through a way forward. But first, she had to overcome her fears. She shivered in the early fall chill in Helena’s tiny cottage at the thought of facing what lay ahead, but squared her shoulders before buttoning her heavy, dark green velvet redingote.
She gave Margaret a warm smile and nodded toward the door where two Howick footmen awaited the signal to come inside to take their trunks. “We’re in for a penny, in for a pound now.” She squeezed her old governess, Helena, close and whispered, “Are you happy? The caged bird is about to fly free.”
Helena simply nodded, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “You can do this, sweetling. The happiness of you and your someday family depend upon your courage now.”
Chapter Ten
October - Cider House
At the soundof many wheels rumbling under heavy loads, Frederick headed down toward the entrance gate to Weyford Manor. His tenants and neighbors from miles around were bringing in loads of harvested apples for pressing at his cider mill. He realized with an inner groan that leisurely mornings in bed with Lili would have to wait until after the enormous task of cider-making ended some weeks hence.
His mill was a few miles away on a brook that fed the Wey River. He trudged to the barn to retrieve Rowan so that he could reach the mill before his neighbors began unloading apples. He realized with a start, for the first time in many years, his mind had strayed to thoughts of what he wanted for himself instead of what his next farm duty would be. He couldn’t erase the image of Lili, her breasts slick with sweat, with her white-gold hair streaming down her shoulders to fall below her waist while she rode his cock.
Lili reached over and squeezed Margaret’s hand for reassurance when they first reached the western outskirts of London, as if she could already hear the condescending gossip of theton. Gas lights glowed from street corners in the bone-chilling October dusk.
The wrapped hot stones beneath their feet on the carriage floor had cooled to a faint warmth during the long trip from her governess’s Guildford cottage. It was not so much the distance, but the clogged roads which made the trip so tedious. It seemed every farmer west of the city had wagons loaded with harvested produce bound for London markets. She breathed a sigh of relief when they finally cleared Hyde Park Corner and passed the comforting dark brick hulk of Apsley House.
Although she knew she was safe from prying eyes in the huge, ornate Howick family carriage, convincing her hammering heart was another thing entirely. She also dreaded facing her mother and asking for help after all the years she’d insisted on hiding away at Wembledon. Her mother had urged her many times to do exactly what she now contemplated.
Margaret broke the dark silence within the cavernous carriage. “How long will we be staying in town, milady?”
“I’m not sure. Everything depends on how my mother takes the news of my decision to re-enter society.” She’d sent her mother a letter a week and a half before explaining her decision to return to society and letting her know she’d be arriving at Howick House today. Her mother, however, had remained strangely silent about her daughter’s sudden change of heart. “The Season is over, thank the heavens, so we won’t be going to any large events.” Lili rested her chin on her hand and stared out into the darkness of Piccadilly. Unsaid was the fervent hope that since most of Mayfair’s denizens would be retiring to the country, perhaps the gossip, and gossip sheets, would not have as much impact as they had before when she was first returned to her family. “I imagine we’ll be calling on Mother’s friends to see if we can count on their support.”
“Did we bring enough wardrobe changes, milady?”
“I’m sure what I have should be sufficient for a few teas and private dinners.”
“But you haven’t had any new frocks made since…since…” Her maid trailed off, embarrassment in her voice.
“Since I returned from Algiers four years ago,” Lili finished for Margaret.
“I beg your pardon, milady. I didn’t mean…”
Lili reached over and placed a comforting hand on her maid’s arm. “You’re absolutely right. We’ll go to Mother’s seamstress tomorrow. She probably has something left from the Season that one of her customers neglected to pick up.”
“But you deserve…”
“The only thing I deserve is to cease hiding in Surrey and pick up the pieces of my life again. The people who love me deserve better.”
Frederick had rolled up the sleeves of his well-worn rough cambric work shirt and was elbow-deep in pushing apples toward the giant screw press outside the cider house. Two of his tenant farmers turned the cranks to either side of the trough and hummed a tune in unison to keep the rhythm even. Two more wagons full of apples from neighboring orchards waited in the narrow lane.
Drivers and laborers alike joked and gossiped while they awaited their turn at the press. One of the men turning the cranks leaned close. “Aye heard ye had a visitor last night.”
The squire threw him a warning look.
“Oh, we don’t expect ye to tell on the lady, but will there be an announcement soon in the village?”
“There will be no banns read, if that’s what you’re getting at, Lucas.”
The other man quickly looked back to the turning of the pressing wheel and lowered his eyes.
Frederick took a deep breath and forced himself not to react to the man’s questions with an angry retort. His reaction and tone would mean the difference between his fellow workers turning away to another juicy bit of gossip or having their interest piqued anew by him lashing out.
The second man grinding away at the wheel gave him a direct look. “We just wondered what ye wanted us to tell our women folk. Ye know how they chatter on if we don’t set ‘em straight.”