Cardiff Siblings 01 - Seven Minutes in Devon (20 page)

Yet his feet kept propelling him
forward, closer and closer to the hermitage.

He couldn’t turn back to the main
house now to fetch the key. The last thing he needed was for some
servant or another to spot him out and about, and fully hale and
hearty. Niall had lied to the rest of the houseguests, not to
mention to David and Vanessa, about him falling ill. Aidan might
not always see eye to eye with his brother, but he wouldn’t
intentionally put him in such a position.

Before he had fully made up his mind
whether to stop by the hermitage or not, it appeared through the
thicket of trees before him.

Aidan’s gait turned to a purposeful
stride, and in mere moments he stood before the
structure.

It really
was
the perfect place for
him to occasionally escape to—out a good walk away from the house,
where no one would hear the sounds of his working. Where no one
would come upon him unaware.

Well, no one but perhaps Jacob
Deering. It was still unnerving, the thought of Deering coming upon
the hermitage that day. What was his purpose?

But why would Deering return here? He
hadn’t been inclined to stop and discover anything about it
yesterday, so what reason would he have to come back?

Aidan moved closer and peered inside a
window, and his mouth nearly started to water at the sight before
him. Chisels and hammers in various shapes and sizes, buckets to
collect water from the stream, several untouched pieces of
marble—and the piece he’d been working on before word arrived about
Morgan’s mishap with the carriage.

The overall shape of it was done, but
the finer details remained. He’d yet to craft the feathers of the
wings, the particular expression of the face, or the lines of the
angel’s gown.

A desire to pick up the nearest chisel
and hammer and set to work became so strong within him that,
without realizing what he was doing, Aidan stepped closer to the
door and tried the latch.

It opened.

When Sir Henry stopped just before
crossing the main road in Topsham and turned to grant Emma and
Serena a broad smile, Emma nearly ran straight into him. As she’d
just done that very thing with Mr. Cardiff last night, and she
recalled entirely too clearly how that situation had ended, she was
quite glad she’d somehow stopped before doing so with Sir Henry
today.

“
Where shall we go first,
ladies?” he asked jovially, rubbing his hands together. “I
understand the bakery has a delicious lemon scone we could try with
tea. Or the haberdasher might have some ribbons you’d
like.”

Emma’s mind was far from scones and
ribbons. At every turn, something would remind her of last night’s
encounter. Thank goodness Serena had taken her arm when the
houseguests had sorted themselves into groups for a shopping
excursion. Serena had then promptly found Sir Henry and Lord
Muldaire to escort the two of them. It would have been just Emma’s
luck to be stuck with Mr. Cardiff again, and Lord only knew where
that might lead.

As it was, her knees were wobbling
just from the memory.

She was here to find herself a
husband, and Mr. Cardiff was not the marrying sort. Spending time
with him would hardly aid her in that cause. Being in his presence
only left her with a head filled with anxiety and a series of
flutters in her stomach.

A shopping excursion with Sir Henry
Irvine and Lord Muldaire was certainly more in line with how she
ought to spend her time. The two of them were at least
possibilities, Sir Henry in particular, even if his friendly eyes
did not leave her all aflutter like the intensity in Mr. Cardiff’s
did.

In fact, it was decidedly better that
they didn’t. Emma had no intention of losing her heart to a man who
might then leave her heartbroken. Let him marry her first. Then he
could have her heart. It was true they might never love one another
in such a case, but wouldn’t that be better than being as
distraught as Morgan had been? Emma had love in her life. She loved
her sister and her parents. That could be enough. She would make it
so, if necessary.

It was only after they’d left
Heathcote Park in Lord Muldaire’s carriage that Emma discovered Mr.
Cardiff had begged off of the day’s outing, claiming some minor
illness or another. Lord Trenowyth was confident that his brother
would be fit as a fiddle tomorrow.

Illness, indeed. He likely was still
as shaken as she was from their encounter.

“
The scones sound
delightful, Sir Henry,” Serena said, drawing Emma back into the
present and saving her from the necessity of forming an
answer.

“
Excellent.” He
repositioned Emma’s hand on his arm while Lord Muldaire did the
same with Serena’s, then he checked to be certain they could cross
safely and headed out into the road.

Moments later, Emma and Serena were
situated at a small table just outside the bakery while the two
gentlemen headed off to fetch their treats.

Serena leaned over and took Emma’s
hand. “Are you still feeling unwell? I’m certain I could convince
them to take us back early if you want. No point in trying to have
a good time with a headache.” She gave a tiny grin and dropped her
voice even lower. “Father would be most upset that I wasn’t
spending enough time with Lord Muldaire, but he can go hang on that
score.”

Emma nearly choked on a laugh. “Your
father, or Lord Muldaire?”

“
I’d hate to say anything
unkind about the marquess, because he is a perfectly nice
gentleman,” Serena whispered, checking over her shoulder, “but he
is rather dreadfully boring, don’t you agree? Yet Father is set
upon him.”

“
There’s no changing his
mind?”

She shook her head with a sigh. “I’m
afraid not. I tried to tell him I’d be happier with Lord
Trenowyth—and he’s an earl, so it isn’t as though it’s such a
massive fall down the social ladder, particularly for the daughter
of a commoner—but he would hear none of it. I think they might have
already agreed to terms, though Lord Muldaire hasn’t yet asked me
to marry him.”

Sir Henry and Lord Muldaire’s imminent
arrival as they made their way back to their table prevented Emma
from responding. Just as Sir Henry set a tray with a scone and a
teacup before her, Emma glanced out the window. The scene before
the bakery caught her attention.

Morgan was crossing the main road on
Mr. Deering’s arm, alongside Lord Trenowyth and Miss Selwyn.
Heading the other way, a gentleman had a dog on a rope lead, and
Morgan’s face lit with joy as she bent in the middle of the road to
scratch the dog behind the ears.

And that was when the idea struck
her.

“
Sir Henry,” Emma said. She
straightened, suddenly focused. “When you train your dogs, what
sorts of things can you train them to do?”

He and Lord Muldaire took their seats,
and then he turned his attention to Emma. “I’ve trained dogs to do
any number of things. What sort of thing would you like your dog to
do?”

Serena turned a questioning gaze on
Emma. “What do you want…?”

Emma gave a slight shake of her head
before turning back to Sir Henry. “Well, could a dog be trained to
help a person? To walk on a lead with them and guide them away from
dangers?”

“
Like with Lady Morgan, I
would imagine,” Lord Muldaire surmised. He inclined his head
pensively.

“
Yes, precisely.” Emma gave
a firm nod. “Like with Lady Morgan.” She picked up her scone, but
didn’t take a bite. Her mind was far too occupied with thoughts of
how she could help her friend become more capable of doing things
on her own to worry about something as mundane as
eating.

Sir Henry took a swallow of his tea
and narrowed his eyes. “I suppose the right dog could learn such
behaviors. Lady Morgan would also have to learn how to handle the
dog. They could learn together.”

“
Oh, this is brilliant!”
Serena clapped her hands and bounced in her chair. “She’ll love the
idea, I just know it.”

Whether Lord Trenowyth or Mr. Cardiff
would love the idea was another matter entirely, but Emma forced
that concern aside. “Would you be willing to train a dog for Lady
Morgan and teach her what she needs to know?” After all, if Sir
Henry wouldn’t agree to the plan, it wouldn’t matter in the
slightest what Lord Trenowyth and Mr. Cardiff thought.

Lord Muldaire gave her a placating
smile that grated on her nerves. “There is still the matter of
finding the right dog for the task, Miss Hathaway.”

“
Indeed,” Sir Henry said
with a nod. “And that is no small task, I can assure you. I
wouldn’t trust it with one of my pups. At such a young age, they’re
too unpredictable. We’d need an older, more sedate dog, I’d think.
Perhaps a collie…”

Emma got the distinct impression that
he would have gone on interminably, sorting through his thoughts
aloud. She returned her still-uneaten scone to her plate. “Oh, but
I already have a dog in mind.”

Sir Henry frowned. “Well, I’d have to
evaluate—”

“
You can as soon as we
return to Heathcote Park. I’m sure Kingley will be
perfect.”

She ignored the dropped jaws of the
two gentlemen.

A sly smile came across Serena’s
countenance. “You may just be right, Miss Hathaway. And I’ll
help.”

Emma sat back, picked up her scone,
and finally took a bite, more at peace than she’d been since the
Cardiff family’s arrival. Even if, for whatever reason, Kingley was
not the right dog to aid Morgan, at least the time they spent
trying would have her getting to know Sir Henry better, as long as
he allowed her to help, and it would help to keep Emma’s mind off
Mr. Cardiff.

And that was most decidedly a good
thing. Less time thinking about him would mean less time worrying
about silly fluttering sensations.

When Emma and Serena pulled Morgan
aside to tell her their plan, her smile was bright enough to light
all of Heathcote Park at night.

“
Oh, but Niall and Aidan
won’t allow it,” she said a moment later, after the initial glow of
the moment had worn off.

“
Sir Henry’s talking to
Lord Trenowyth right now,” Emma said. “He’ll be far better at
convincing your brothers than we will. He’s a very accomplished
breeder and trainer. If anyone can teach Kingley how to help you,
it’s him.”

Serena took Morgan’s hand and
squeezed. “And Lord Muldaire is with them, too. He has some of the
very dogs that Sir Henry trained on his own property. He can
reassure Lord Trenowyth that Sir Henry is the most skilled and
knowledgeable gentleman around.”

Emma nodded, but then remembered that
Morgan couldn’t see her action. Morgan seemed so capable so much of
the time that Emma often forgot she couldn’t see, despite the fact
that she was planning to train Kingley for that very reason.
“Besides, Mr. Cardiff is unwell, and so by the time he learns what
we’re doing, it will be too late. We’ll already be well into the
process, and he won’t be able to change anyone’s mind on the matter
any longer.” At least Emma hoped that would be the case.

Morgan rocked forward onto the balls
of her feet, as though she was ready to take off running with
Kingley by her side at that very moment. “All right. I’m willing to
try it. When can we start?”