were happy too. She suppressed her smile.
“You’ll have to excuse me, Kate. I love animals of all sorts. Especially baby ones,” Lily said with a laugh.
“Oh, I’ve always adored piglets,” Kate said. “Where are they?”
“Follow me.” Annie motioned and Kate and Lily stepped behind her toward the barn. If the men’s coach had already arrived, Kate didn’t see it anywhere. She had to pinch the inside of her arm to keep from asking Annie where James was. He’d arrive soon enough, she told herself. And in the meantime, why, there were piglets.
They stepped inside the barn, and familiar smells immediately surrounded Kate: hay, animals, wood. She breathed it in. She’d never thought she’d miss the smell of a barn. But she did. She desperately did.
A movement off to the side caught her attention. Kate looked over and immediately froze. The men were already there. James leaned against a stall, his boots crossed at the ankles, looking particularly handsome in fawn-colored buckskin breeches, a white lawn shirt, and a midnight-blue wool overcoat. The man looked wonderful in a cravat and topcoat but he looked even more ravishing in less formal attire.
“There you are,” called a handsome man whom Kate didn’t recognize. “Lily, did Annie tell you there are piglets here?”
“She did, Jordan,” Lily called back. “And I cannot wait to see them.”
Ah, so the handsome man was Annie’s husband. A very nice choice, indeed.
“They’re here,” Jordan replied, gesturing to the stall next to where the three men stood.
Lily, Annie, and Kate edged closer and all three leaned over to look inside the stall. The mama pig was curled up in a pile of hay in the back of the stall snuggling her two little piglets.
“That may be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Lily whispered. “They’re still so tiny.”
“Apparently, they’re a special breed that doesn’t get very big,” Jordan added.
“Don’t even think about it,” the third handsome man warned, arching a brow. He had to be Lord Colton, and he was just as good-looking as his wife was beautiful.
“What?” Lily asked innocently, pushing the tip of her slipper into a bit of hay. “And this, by the way, is my husband, Kate. The Marquis of Colton, but you may call him Devon.”
“And this,” Annie Holloway said, “is my husband, the Earl of Ashbourne, or just Jordan.”
Kate curtsied. “Very nice to meet both of you. Please call me Kate.” She glanced up at the four of them. My, but these were good-looking people. The Marquis of Colton was tall, dark, and handsome, and his friend the Earl of Ashbourne had silver eyes that were positively breathtaking. But despite the attractive company, Kate’s entire being was riveted to the third equally good-looking man in the barn. James.
The other two men bowed to her while James remained leaning against the stall door. She didn’t look at him. She swallowed. Was he remembering their kiss the other night too? She hadn’t seen him since then. Hadn’t spoken to him. And now their being together was positively … awkward.
Annie winked at Lily. “Seeing these piglets, Lily, I know you’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking.”
Kate turned back to listen to the conversation.
“And that is?” Jordan Holloway asked his wife.
“That there are two of them. Lily and I could each take one.”
“I should have known that’s what you were going to say,” Jordan replied with a grin, smacking himself on the forehead.
“I am not about to take a pig into the house,” Devon said. “We’ve already got a raccoon.”
“And
Kate shook her head. Surely they were jesting. And she had no idea what a raccoon was. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the cute little baby pigs.
“Not to mention, I doubt pigs make very good pets,” Devon continued.
Lily opened her mouth to speak but Kate interrupted. “Actually, they make excellent pets.”
All four of them turned to look at her.
“They do?” Annie asked.
Kate nodded. “Yes. The little runt there reminds me of the pig I had when I was a girl.”
“You had a pig?” James asked, pushing his shoulder off the stall door and walking toward her. She did her best to ignore the rush of heat his voice sent up her spine.
She nodded. “I did. A little pink one named Margaret.”
“See,” Annie said to her husband. “Kate’s had a pig and says they do make good pets.”
“Excellent pets. You can train them just like any dog, and they’re quite loyal.” Kate sighed. “I’d give absolutely anything to have a pig again.”
James gave her an inquiring look. Oh dear, what he must think of her. A duchess with a pet pig, what was next?
Annie lowered her voice. “Let’s let the mama feed her babies, and we’ll have breakfast. It should be all set up in the little cottage down the pasture.”
The group made its way out of the barn and across the fields, the brisk wind whipping along their hair and cheeks. Annie led them to the copse of trees on the edge of the forest where a small whitewashed cottage stood nestled among the evergreens. The cottage reminded Kate of the ones that had been sprinkled along the lands where her parents’ home had been. A wave of homesickness hit her. It was so nice of these people to bring her here. To give her this experience. How could she ever repay them?
Annie ran ahead and opened the door to reveal a fire burning in the fireplace, warm and cozy. A picnic lunch had been set out on a large tabletop, six mismatched wooden chairs sat around it. Their little group piled into the house, shed their cloaks, and quickly took their seats. Lily and Devon sat together, Jordan and Annie sat together, and in the space remaining, Kate and James managed to squeeze together at the end of the table.
Jordan poured wine into wooden cups for all. “It’s a bit early for spirits but perhaps this might serve to warm us up.” He grinned widely.
“Tell us, Kate,” Annie asked as she filled plates full of cheese, eggs, meats, and bread and passed them around to everyone. “What was it like living on a farm as a child?”
Kate smiled widely. “It was … magnificent. Always something to do, always something happening. But nothing as grand as the lives I’m sure you all led.” She held up the wood cup and gestured to the small room in which they sat. “Of course, I lived in my parents’ house which was a bit more formal, but I visited all the farmers constantly. This cottage is not more grand than the ones I used to frequent as a child.”
Lily waved a hand in the air. “We were raised at a grand estate, to be sure,” Lily replied. “But there was never any money for anything. My father gambled it all away. No doubt we would have been happier in a home like this.”
Kate bit her lip. She’d never considered such a thing. She’d always assumed all of the people who lived in large luxurious homes were wealthy. Lily’s words made her stop and think. Kate had had a happy life as a child and money hadn’t been what made it happy. Not at all.
“You didn’t have brothers and sisters?” Annie asked. “That seems so sad. I don’t know what I’d do without Lily.” She reached over and squeezed her sister’s hand.
Kate smiled at the friendly gesture between the women. “No.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t lucky enough to have siblings. It was just my parents and I. But we had scores of animals to keep us company.”
“Like pigs?” Devon asked her, smiling.
“Precisely.” Kate nodded. “I talked my mother into letting me take in one of the pigs that was born on the farm.”
Jordan cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind my asking, how did you ever … that is to say … how exactly did you … become a duchess?”
Annie slapped her husband’s sleeve and gave him a warning look, but Kate laughed. “I don’t mind one bit,” she said, taking a sip of wine. She could feel James’s eyes upon her, watching her, waiting for her answer. “I met my husband at a country dance.”
Annie’s eyes were wide. “A country dance?”
“Yes.” Kate took another bracing sip of wine.
“And he just asked you to marry him?” Lily replied breathlessly, leaning forward.
Kate nodded. “Yes. It all happened very quickly.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Annie replied. She elbowed her husband playfully. “I wish our courtship had happened quickly.”
