“I am glad to hear it,” Priscilla said airily, reaching them and placing a hand on Charles’s arm. Without saying a word to him, he knew what she intended. She would be able to charm this young farmer in a way Charles never could. “Tell me…”
And charm him she did. Charles watched, amazed, as within two minutes, Mr. Tanner was all smiles, and thanking her and him for the offer of help.
“Orrinshire!”
Charles turned to see Westray, who had crept slowly across the field to join them. “Orrinshire, what is Miss Seton doing?”
Charles smiled at his old friend. “It is just Priscilla. She is interested in people.”
“ – definitely help you,” she was saying to Mr. Tanner. “I am sure Lord Westray will be more than happy to offer his assistance.”
Mr. Tanner frowned. “Well, I thank him for it, but that only makes three of us. Needs four to do it, by rights.”
“That is no trouble,” Priscilla said, unbuttoning her cuffs and rolling up her sleeves. “I will make the fourth.”
Mr. Tanner only laughed for a moment before he caught her gaze.
“I warn you, Mr. Tanner,” said Charles with a grin. “Do not take Priscilla lightly, for she is a force to be reckoned with. You know her far better than you know me, it seems. She will be an asset in this endeavor. Are you ready?”
The farmer hesitated again, but after looking at Priscilla’s determined face, he nodded.
Only then did Charles realize what he volunteered to do. Damn and blast it, the last thing he wanted to do was herd an angry bull!
But Priscilla was already moving around in a wide circle to go behind it, and not only Lord Westray and Mr. Tanner, but Harry and Miss Worsley were all watching.
Taking a deep breath, he followed in Priscilla’s wake but stayed back. Lord Westray mimicked him in the other direction, and Mr. Tanner threw his coat onto the ground before sighing heavily.
“Who would have thought, all these fine ladies and gentlemen helping with you, Big Joe,” he said with a grin. “Come on now. You know you want to be back in your field.”
Heart pounding, Charles tried not to think too much about the danger he was in. Priscilla should be absolutely nowhere near here, and that thought was enough to turn his lungs to lead.
Slowly, they moved, their square shifting around the field. Big Joe glared and then trotted a little to the right. Charles swallowed. At any moment, this could go very wrong.
Before he knew it, Mr. Tanner was slamming the gate shut behind Big Joe, and Priscilla was laughing with relief.
“Well done,” she said, slapping him on the back. “Well done, Charles!”
Love, pure and unadulterated, seared through him. Charles almost stumbled across the verdant grass as the emotion flooded through him like a dam finally bursting.
He loved her. Priscilla. She was the only one he cared for, and he loved her with a possessiveness that he had never known before.
Damn, damn, and damn! When his mother had insisted that he marry for the good of the family, why hadn’t Priscilla immediately sprung to his mind? Why had he not wanted her, chosen her as his bride?
Why had he allowed this damn foolish arranged marriage, when what he wanted…
“Well, I shall certainly come and see her again after church on Sunday,” Priscilla was saying to Mr. Tanner, who was smiling too much for Charles’s liking. “Tell her that, and tell her I shall bring a batch of chicken soup, too. It did wonders for me just a few days ago. Goodbye then, Mr. Tanner.”
The farmer bowed as she rejoined their party.
“You were so brave!” Miss Worsley squealed, taking her arm as they turned and started to retrace their steps through the woodland toward the church. “How did you –”
“I must say, even I would not have done such a thing, and I am considered pretty fearless,” Harry said a little breathlessly. “What made you do it?”
Priscilla only laughed as she walked ahead with her friends on either side of her. “I grew up here, you must remember! You think that is the first time any livestock has breached its home? I remember, five years ago, when…”
The three ladies walked on, and Lord Westray slapped Charles on the back with a heavy sigh.
“The next time you ask me to come on a country walk,” he said with a grin, “I will decline. Damnit, Orrinshire, I almost lost my breakfast for a moment there. You look mighty unwell, too, come to that. Anything wrong?”
Charles swallowed as he pushed back a branch that was growing over the path. “I…I am falling in love, Westray.”
It felt strange saying the words aloud. He had only minutes before understood his own feelings, and sharing them with another felt…odd.
But he had to say it. He had to tell someone.
“That is fantastic,” Westray said enthusiastically.
Charles sighed heavily. “With Priscilla Seton.”
The smile disappeared from his friend’s face. “Ah. Not as fantastic as I originally thought. Damnation, Orrinshire, you are weeks away from your wedding! The last thing poor Miss Lloyd needs is a rival to her affections. What are you doing to do now?”
Charles’s gaze watched the form of Priscilla Seton. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”
Chapter Eight
Priscilla smiled nervously at Hodges as he shut the door behind her. “Good evening, Hodges.”
The servant nodded serenely. “Good evening, Miss Seton, and I may take this opportunity to congratulate you?”
She stared as he took her coat and gloves. It was a cold evening, so cold she had almost stayed at home.
But she could not. Once her mind had been made up, she had to venture into the night, walk across the Orrinspire Park, and come and see him.
Her heart was thumping so loudly she was certain the butler could hear
