Chapter 22
Spending time with Miss Hyatt when the only woman he could really think about was Miss Skeffington was like absolute torture and so, at the first opportunity, Thomas excused himself from her presence. Having finished the tour of the manor, stuck inside due to the constant downpour, Thomas was relieved to find Owen’s manservant awaiting them at the end of the gallery on the second floor.
The man bowed his head in Thomas’ direction and stated, “Forgive the interruption, my lord, but Lord Kendall requests your presence in the library.”
The Earl turned to Miss Hyatt and her most annoying aunt and bowed respectfully to them both, “Please, will you both excuse me?”
He only waited for the two women to curtsey, not allowing Miss Hyatt to say a word, before he turned and began to follow Owen’s man in the direction of the library. It was not until they entered the room with its musky smell and its shelves and shelves of books that Thomas realised it was all a rouse.
“Where is he then?” Thomas asked, already sensing that he knew what was going on. The manservant bowed low and began to shake his head.
“Forgive me for not saying so earlier, my lord,” the man explained, “I did not wish to give you away. Lord Kendall believed you might be in need of a respite from Miss Hyatt and her aunt.”
Thomas breathed a sigh of relief and dropped down into the nearest armchair.
“Lord Kendall has instructed me to get you anything that you might need,” the man added with a bow of his head. Thomas quickly shook his own and reclined back in the chair.
“I am well. Go about your business. I shall hide in here for a while,” Thomas announced, offering the man a grateful smile. If he had to have one more conversation about what fun he and Miss Hyatt had had before his father’s passing and how she and her family hoped they might return to that time, he might well get one of Owen’s hunting rifles from storage.
He cringed at his own desperation and again thought of Miss Skeffington and how he longed to go in search of her. Yet whenever he thought of it, he also thought of how easy it might be to find himself stuck between her and Miss Hyatt again as he had at dinner the evening before. Kendall Hall was huge and yet it did not seem nearly large enough now.
Owen’s man left and Thomas poured himself a glass of whisky from the lord’s own stash in the cupboard behind the desk. He had barely taken a swig before he heard the sound of knuckles rapping on the door.
Even before he had turned to call for the person on the other side to enter, the door began too cautiously open. Thomas was more than a little surprised to see Mr Gouldsmith step inside. The ashen haired man looked just as startled to see him.
“Forgive me, Lord Warrington,” Mr Gouldsmith insisted, straightening up in the doorway with his hand still fixed on the doorknob. “I did not actually expect for anyone to be in here.”
Out of sheer politeness and some fear that if the door remained open, he might be found, Thomas gestured the other man inside. “Come in.”
Gouldsmith’s presence was not exactly appreciated but it was far preferable to Miss Hyatt’s. He would have rather spent hours with Mr Gouldsmith than stand another minute of her aunt’s complaining.
“Thank you.” Mr Gouldsmith nodded and hesitated before finally stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Clearly, he was not best pleased at the idea of spending any time with Thomas either.
“Can I get you a drink?” Thomas asked, holding up his own glass.
Mr Gouldsmith shook his head and gestured to the armchair opposite Thomas, “May I?”
Thomas pursed his lips and nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Gouldsmith drop down into the chair.
“Terrible business, this weather, is it not?” The gentleman sighed, adjusting his jacket while Thomas reclined back in his own chair and took another sip of his drink.
“Yes, terrible,” he agreed. He’d had just about enough of hearing the other guests moan about the weather. It could not be changed so why bother? If anyone should be complaining about it, it was him. Mother nature had trapped him in close quarters with two young women he had been romantically attached to. It was as if someone or something was trying to punish him.
“Though it is somewhat of an opportunity for us, I suppose,” Gouldsmith continued with a shrug.
Thomas raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “How so?”
“Well, I cannot say that it is any hardship to find oneself having to spend more time with the lovely Miss Skeffington,” Gouldsmith said, and Thomas felt a dark sensation clawing deep in his gut. He stifled a groan by taking another sip of his drink. “Though I do not believe it would have been too bad if we had left on time. I doubt she will have any objections to my calling upon her after we all return home.”
The mere thought of Gouldsmith going anywhere near the Skeffington’s estate made Thomas feel sick. Thomas still held a deeprooted mistrust of the man sitting before him and he would not have let him within fifty feet of Miss Skeffington if it were up to him.
Lord Skeffington ought to be warned,Thomas thought though deep down he knew he had little to actually warn him of save for a sharp sense that the man was a wrong one.
“Miss Skeffington is sweet and kind,” Thomas pointed out. “I doubt she would have any objections to anyone taking advantage of her parents’ hospitality.”
“Yes, well.” Gouldsmith’s cheeks reddened a little and Thomas hoped that he might have offended the man, just a little. “Miss Skeffington has been quite receptive to me this past week. I believe something may well come of it.”
The confident glint in Gouldsmith’s brown eyes suggested that he believed something was definite to happen between the two of them. Thomas barely resisted the urge to scoff. Knowing Miss Skeffington as he did, he was certain that she most definitely did not like Gouldsmith. She would not suffer a man so foolish.
Yet he openly admits to hoping to court her,Thomas thought begrudgingly.Why can I not do the same?Maybe if he had done so the night before, Miss Skeffington would not have run out on him as she had.
There was silence and Thomas hoped that Gouldsmith would make up an excuse to leave him be. Instead, the gentleman asked, “What of you, Lord Warrington? Do you have any plans to visit the Skeffingtons after this week? I have noticed your spending time with the young lady.”
Thomas’ jaw clenched at the questioning, but he forced his expression to remain as unreadable as possible, offering Gouldsmith a polite half-smile, “I have never really been one for planning ahead, Mr Gouldsmith.”
“Oh, please, call me Andrew. We are friends after this week, are we not?” Gouldsmith insisted but there was a conniving glint in his eye that many would likely have mistaken for charm.
Thomas merely nodded in response and thought,How am I to keep this man away from Miss Skeffington if I cannot be truthful with her myself?