The Earl's Desire (14 page)

“
It is that Chris?” Max asked, his sharp eyes on his friend.

“
Hmm.”

“
How old is he?” Max leaned back and rested his weight on his elbow. He watched Christine wiping her forehead with her dirty sleeve.

“
Fifteen or thereabout,” Merrick said, watching her as she grabbed a bunch of weeds and threw them beside her.

Max turned to look at his friend. He narrowed his eyes and said, “A bit small, don’t you think?”

Merrick did not drop his gaze as he said, “He’s malnourished, Max. Lady Luck is looking after him. I found his boss whipping him the day I came to Huntingdon Hall.”

“
Ah, so the noble Merrick saved the day,” Max said, raising his brows. “Rather cute. That backside, too.”

Merrick turned to his friend. “Hell, Max! What in heaven are you on about now?” he growled.

The guests turned to look at him.

He smiled in their direction to assure them that nothing was out of the ordinary, and they returned to their conversations.

“
Nothing. I just like your ward. Speaking of him, why is he helping them? Shouldn’t he be here with us?”

Merrick raked his hands through his dark hair. “Hell, I don’t know.”

But then how could he when he had been avoiding his ward ever since yesterday noon?

Max saw the distress in his friend’s eyes. He said, “Interesting,” and turned to watch Christine chat animatedly with a male worker.

“
What’s so interesting there?” Anne asked.

Max stood up.

“
Where are you going?” Merrick said. Max shrugged and walked off.

Jane said, “I think His Grace is talking about the servants working in that pond. I think he’s going to observe them.”

Anne said, “There is nothing interesting about—”

“
Oh, I do think that it is very interesting indeed.” Jane turned to Merrick and said, “Will you accompany me to see what they are doing?”

“
My pleasure,” Merrick responded and stood up.

Anne frowned. “Wait, umm, I shall accompany you, too, dear cousin.”

“
If you will all excuse us for just a few moments,” Merrick said to his guests. They nodded back at him.

The three people ambled toward the east estate, where an enormous commotion was happening. Merrick was in the middle with the two beautiful women on either side of him. They made a very beautiful picture. The guests wondered which woman would win the earl’s affection in this round.

On the other side of the garden, Christine was busy dragging out dead branches from within the muddy pond. It was hard work, and her hands were now sore. Sweat ran down the side of her face, down her neck, and about her chest, which worsened her discomfort due to the binding.

She had found that she couldn’t bear just standing there and ordering them about without doing the work herself, as Mr. Sam had suggested she should do. Nay, she was a hands-on type of person, and so against Mr. Sam’s protest, she had jumped into the pond with her Hessian boots, wool breeches, and starched white shirt and started working alongside the men. Now she was dirty everywhere.

“
You all right there, Chris?” Max asked, smiling with amusement as he watched her work.

“
Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she puffed out without looking round.

“
I think you need some help,” he said. He came to stand right behind her and put both of his hands on top of hers.

Christine stiffened. “Oh, I think I’m all right,” she said and tried to push him away.

“
Don’t worry. You look like you need some help. Now on three, and we’ll pull together,” Max suggested.

“
All right then,” Christine said and nodded at the same time. She shifted herself from side to side to get ready.

Max said, “All right, here we go. One, two, three—”

“
Chris! What are you doing?”
Merrick barked. His shouting took both Max and Christine by surprise so that the force of their energy was more than they expected. The branch flew out of the dirt. The impact threw them backward. Max hit the dirty ground on his back with Christine on top of him, her back laying intimately on his chest.

“
Hell, Max!” Merrick shouted again, and his cold voice caused the two women standing beside him to stiffen.

Christine looked up. She saw the bright blue sky above her. She blinked and tried to take it all in for the situation was very confusing to her. She had heard Merrick shouting at her. His deep voice had surprised her so much that she fell. And now she was lying on top of a man in this very unladylike fashion. Not that it mattered, of course, since she was, after all, supposed to be a male.

She pushed herself up and sat on top of Max’s hard belly. She looked up at Merrick. He looked like he wanted to murder somebody, and that somebody was most likely her. Then she saw Lady Anne standing beside him. The woman was staring down at her with distaste.

“
Really, my lord, I see nothing of interest here,” Anne announced. She did not want to get her creamy pink gown, so new and so very expensive, dirty from these lowlife people—like the duke was doing.

“
Explain what is going on here,” Merrick asked, ignoring Anne’s plea.

Max sat up. The action caused Christine’s bottom to slide into the crook of his thigh.

Merrick wanted to kill his friend. “I demand an explanation!” he boomed again, striding toward them.

Christine was confused about what they were supposed to be explaining. Max lifted her like a wee girl from his thigh and placed her in the dirt. Merrick fisted his hands. He wanted to punch his friend.

Max stood up then and stretched his back. “Merrick, I didn’t know you didn’t want the ladies to see us working like this. We were just trying to clean up the pond.”

“
We?” Merrick snapped. “Where the hell do you come into this, Max? Since when did you become so helpful?”

“
Hey, calm down, friend. I was just getting to know your ward a little better,” Max said.

“
You’re dirty, Max. Get yourself cleaned up,” Merrick said. “Chris! Come here!” he commanded.

Slowly, Christine lifted herself up. By now, all her clothing was filthy. Her face was covered with dirt. She doubted that she looked anything like a human being—more like a monster from the dirty pond.

She came to him. “My lord?” she asked innocently. She did not look up at him. She would not dare do that. He would probably kill her with his stare.

“
What are you doing here?” he asked.

“
I’m here to help clean up the pond,” she told him with her head bowed as she stared at her muddy Hessian boots.

“
I don’t remember this being one of your duties,” he said sarcastically.

“
It’s Mr. Sam. He came yesterday and wanted me to help if I was free. Well, I am.” She looked up then, and her eyes widened when she saw Max. “Oh, God, it’s you that helped me? I’m sorry, Your Grace. I didn’t mean to make you get all dirty. Honestly I didn’t.” She bit her lip.

“
It’s all right, Chris,” Max said and laughed.

Merrick said, “This is no place for you, Chris. Go and clean up now.”

Christine just stared at him. Then she said, “But, my lord, Mr. Sam needs help.”

“
No, Mr. Sam has enough help.”

“
But, my lord—”

“’
Tis not done, my lord,” Anne butted in, disgusted at the way Merrick was treated by his ward.

“
Chris, I ordered you to go,” Merrick said.

“
But,” Christine began and then shut her mouth when she saw the murderous look he gave her. What could she do? She did not want to go disobeying him, though it looked like she was doing just that. She had promised to help Mr. Sam. She was not going to go back on her word.

She glanced at Lady Anne, who was watching like she was already Merrick’s wife and the mistress of the house and she, Christine, was one of her servants who she really disliked. The woman looked beautiful with that creamy pink gown. Her golden blond hair was coiffured with curls high on her head, and her skin was flawless and clean. She glanced at Jane. She too was charming with her hair falling delicately about her shoulders. Her blue gown molded around her body snugly and beautifully. She was smiling at Christine, but at that moment Christine did not welcome it. In fact, she hated it. These women were beautiful and clean, not dirty like her. Suddenly, her chest felt very tight. Then she remembered what Mr. Sam had said about revenge. And then there was Betty.

Just this morning when Betty had found out that the guests were going to have a picnic in this very garden, the maid had devised hundreds of devious plans for her to perform. She remembered one of them very clearly. It was supposed to be a jest, but now it did not seem like a jest to her anymore.

“
Master Chris, a little help over here,” Mr. Sam shouted from the other side. He was still in the dark as to what was happening and didn’t give a damn.

Christine turned to see Mr. Sam waving his arm wildly at her, signaling for her to come and help him dig up the dirt. She nodded at him and then turned back to look up at the angry beast.

Merrick saw the signal and narrowed his eyes.

She stared up at him, showing very clearly the stubbornness in her eyes. “I have to go help,” she said as she backed away.

Merrick advanced a step forward.

Christine’s heart did a startled kick.

Max watched, his eyes sharp.

“
Chris, I warn you,” Merrick said.

Christine took another backward step. Then she took a big deep breath, turned, and ran in the opposite direction.

“
Chris!” Merrick barked. “Chris! You come back here!”

Max roared with laughter. Merrick shoved his friend in the arm to make the man stop. Max did and shook his head. “You’ve found your match, Merrick,” his friend said, and Merrick wanted to punch him.

Christine did not look back. She ran to Mr. Sam. Once there, she heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that Merrick would not come after her into this dirt. He would not get himself dirty just because she did not obey him.

“
You need help, Mr. Sam?” she asked, looking down at the old man in the big hole he had made.

“
Ah, Master Chris, I want you to shovel the dirt for a while. I need to go for a leak,” he said and pushed himself up. He seated himself on the edge of the hole, wiping his dirty face with his dirtier hands. “All right, Master, off you go,” he said, nodding.

Christine seated herself on the rim of the hole, and Mr. Sam took off. She watched as he rushed toward the far side where there were many bushes. He was in such a hurry that he tripped on the dirt and fell flat on his face. He pushed himself up, looked around wildly, and went off again.

Christine giggled as she watched him disappear into the bushes. She proceeded to lower her body into the hole. She was sliding down smoothly when she felt her body being lifted up. She looked about her in confusion and then realized that there were large, strong hands beneath her armpits. She tipped her head backward, and, to her horror, she saw teal-blue eyes burning fierily down at her.

Merrick lifted her back up. Her light weight was nothing against his superior strength.

Christine panicked when she realized Merrick was serious. He came after her whether there was dirt or not. Panicked, she wiggled her body, making herself slip from his grip.

Merrick guessed her tactics. He held on to her arms tighter, causing her to flinch. With one pull, he dragged her body back against his so that she lay in the crook of his body, on top of him as he hit the dirty ground, his outfit getting filthy all over.

“
Oh my God!” Anne exclaimed. “My lord, are you all right?” she shrieked as she hopped about on her spot. She was scared of getting her gown dirty but wanted to go to the earl and kick that damn kid out of his arms at the same time. She thought their position was horrendously uncalled for. It didn’t help her temper either with the duke laughing so loudly beside her.

Christine fought her way from Merrick’s arms, trying hard to get away from him. He caught her arm and forced her down against him. Her head smashed against the base of his neck, and her back collided with his chest. Christine could feel his manly strength against her thin arms and back. She pushed herself up so that he would let her go, but the action caused her pain as her head hit his chin. She thought she had hurt him. She was so scared that she turned to look at him.