“How much longer?” rumbled Evan’s voice, sounding more like his older brother’s in the dark.
“An hour, I think?” Heathbrook answered. “We should be there soon enough.”
“Do they know to expect us?” Evan asked.
“Of course,” Heathbrook said, a trace of irritation in his tone. “I may not have been here for over a decade, but Father made damned sure I would know what to do with managing the estate once I was.”
The moon illuminated Evan’s head nodding. “Cousin Yates said he hired an estate manager. I never liked him, but I only met him a handful of times.”
“He’s not a talkative chap,” Heathbrook answered. “But he’s good at what he does, and he made it clear from the first day thathis loyalties lie with me. I have kept him on. So far, he has not disappointed me.”
More time passed until, all of a sudden, Evan cried, “There it is! Wake up, boys, it’s Longmead! It’s lit up for our arrival!”
Maman stirred beside her and peered around her to look out the window.
“What?” Kit said sleepily.
“It’s too dark to see,” Zack complained, although probably he could not see because he sat between his two taller brothers.
Gisellecould see. And what she saw took her breath away. Lights shone from every window, and there were so many of those that she couldn’t count them all. The horses’ hooves crunched on gravel as they turned down the wide drive, heading through an imposing gatehouse and beyond that to a circular drive in front of the manor house itself.
The moon cast just enough light to show how very large it was, and she sucked in a breath. It was nothing like she’d expected. It had beautiful, long, stained glass windows on the upper floors, and what looked like a walkway across the top, although perhaps that was a trick of the moonlight.
Her stomach sank as she realized how large the place was. This was not the dwelling of some minor noble of no consequence or income. This was the mansion of the obviously important Earl of Heathbrook, a man of great wealth and probably more power than she had realized, at least in the portion of the country she was in.
“Your home is very beautiful, sir,” Maman told Heath in French. “My daughter will never want to leave.”
“She won’t have to,” Evan answered in French. “They’re getting married.”
Never had her subterfuge weighed on her more than now in front of his brothers. Because the truth was, no matter what Maman always said about her being the granddaughter of a count, her grandfather had never owned a home likethis.
And Heath, the man she was coming to yearn for beyond endurance, was clearly far, far beyond her reach.
Chapter 14
The morning after they arrived, Heathbrook came down to breakfast at his usual early hour, foolishly hoping for time alone with his suddenly prickly house guest. Last night, despite the intimacy of their discussions during the trip, Giselle had gone very quiet when they’d entered the house. After he’d presented her to the servants as his fiancée, she’d smiled and said all the appropriate things, but she’d taken the first chance he’d given her to retire with her mother to the suite of guest rooms, where their luggage already sat waiting for them.
James had made much better time than Tom, not only because of his lighter load, but also because the fleeter park drag had taken the better road into Bath and spent less time on the road to Longmead. He’d also revealed that Joneshadfollowed him to Bath, but he’d shaken him after that. Also, as far as he knew, Heathbrook’s footman was still in Bath doing his inquiries.
Heathbrook couldn’t help wondering how long Jones had kept his distance in Bath, watching the Bernard ladies’ “lodgings,” before he’d figured out that the ladies weren’t there. Hopefully, the time had been substantial.
Heathbrook entered the breakfast room only to realize that Kit and Evan—despite staying up late roaming the house to pick outall the changes—had managed to beat him downstairs. They were regaling Giselle with some tale about how Heathbrook used to ride neck or nothing about the countryside to avoid the tutors Father hired for him during his school holidays.
“That’s enough of that,” he said with a scowl. “Do not ruin my fiancée’s illusions about my great seriousness and intellect by telling her I wasn’t fond of spending time on my studies.”
Giselle flashed him a cool smile as she sipped a cup of coffee. “My illusions about your seriousness were dashed the moment you told me of Gog and Magog. Although I concede that your intellect does not seem to have suffered from your lack of application to your schoolwork.”
“Thank you,” he said smoothly. “I’ll take half a compliment over no compliment any day.” He gazed at his brothers as he poured himself a cup of tea. “Where is Zack?”
Kit shrugged. “Running about outside, checking to see if all his favorite spots for keeping watch over the property are still intact.”
“What?” Heathbrook said.
“Zack always had some notion that he kept the estate safe by sheer force of will,” Evan drawled.
“Perhaps he just needs time away from his brothers,” Giselle said gently. “Some people require more time and space to be quiet than others.”
Heathbrook smiled at her, once more moved by her kindness toward everyone in her sphere. Except him when he was misbehaving. Which he was itching to do now that he was home and she was here.