Page 42 of So Wild A Heart

“I’m surprised to see you riding instead of in the carriage,” he told Veronica.

“Oh, I love to ride,” Veronica said eagerly. “And it’s too beautiful to be cooped up inside some stuffy post chaise.”

“You are right about that,” Ravenscar agreed. “If you like to ride, you will be happy here. Lots of room and, at the risk of sounding arrogant—” he cut his eyes humorously toward Miranda “—our stable is one of the best in the country, I warrant.”

“Oh! Can I see the horses?” Veronica asked eagerly.

“Of course. I shall take you on a personal tour tomorrow.”

Grooms had arrived to take care of the horses, and the footman was waiting to open the door, so Devin led the group into the house. They stepped inside to find an imposing line of servants, all uniformed and starched, stretching down the entry hall.

Devin leaned down to whisper in Miranda’s ear, “Eager to meet the new mistress. They are wondering how hard a taskmaster you shall be. I didn’t want to break it to them that you are a tyrant.”

Miranda looked up at him indignantly. “I’m not—”

She broke off, seeing the twinkle in his eyes. “I am very kind to servants,” she whispered back primly. “It is those in a higher position whom I am likely to take to task.”

“I am trembling in my boots.” His grin belied any truth in his words.

He turned toward the first man in line. “Cummings. Miss Upshaw, allow me to introduce you to the staff. This is Cummings, our estimable butler. And Mrs. Watkins, the housekeeper.”

He went down the line of servants, introducing each of them. Miranda was surprised and impressed to find that Devin knew the names of almost all of them, drawing a blank on only the newest and youngest of the group. Miranda would have expected a man like him to have known no one lower than the butler and housekeeper, especially given the fact that he had been in residence there so rarely the last few years. She commented on the fact as they were walking away, having introduced the rest of the family, as well.

“You mean you think I am too arrogant to know the names of the people I grew up with? You have an odd opinion of me, Miss Upshaw.”

“I am pleased to find that it is an incorrect one.”

He shrugged. “My relationships with the servants was never considered a very sterling quality, I’m afraid. Father always thought it was another manifestation of my basically low character. I spent more time with the head groom and the gamesman and his children growing up than I did with the suffocatingly dull sons and daughters of the local gentry.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“Not to my father, it didn’t.”

Devin’s mother and sister were waiting for them in the formal drawing room, a large room decorated in the white-and-gilt style of the century before. It was an elegant room, and it took a second or third glance to notice that the heavy blue draperies and the blue velvet cushions of the chairs and sofa were becoming threadbare, and that the Persian carpet beneath their feet was almost worn through in places.

The occupants of the room rose to their feet politely when Miranda and her family entered. Rachel came forward to greet Miranda warmly, and she, like her brother, gave Veronica a special bit of attention. Lady Ravenscar was formal but polite, as she had been every time Miranda was around her, and she paid only scant attention to Elizabeth and Veronica. Miranda could not help but feel that the woman was making an effort to treat them well because they were going to rescue her from poverty rather than out of any real liking for them. She doubted that she would ever feel really close to Lady Ravenscar.

There was a third person in the room, a tall, slender man with blond hair and gray eyes, handsome in a quiet, subtle way. He smiled now and came forward as Devin said, “Miss Upshaw, allow me to introduce you to my brother-in-law, Lord Westhampton.”

“How do you do?” Miranda asked, intrigued. This was Rachel’s husband, the one with whom she maintained a formal, separated marriage.

“Very well, thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Upshaw.” He smiled down at her kindly. “Lady Westhampton speaks highly of you.”

“Thank you.”

“I am sure that you must all be wanting to freshen up after your long journey, perhaps take a rest before supper,” Lady Ravenscar said. “Rachel, why don’t you show the Upshaws to their rooms?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll take Miss Upshaw,” Devin told his sister casually, offering Miranda his arm.

Rachel led the others from the room and up the stairs to the chambers they had set aside for them, and Devin and Miranda brought up the rear. It was hard to take in all the details of the magnificent house, especially with the distraction of Devin’s presence so close to her. It was difficult enough to maintain the cool, insouciant attitude that she wanted.

At the top of the stairs, Rachel turned to the right to take Veronica and the others to their rooms, but Devin went in the opposite direction. “Your room is this way. Since the wedding is only a few days away, there seemed little point in making you change rooms.” He stopped at the doorway of a spacious room. “This is the Countess’s chambers.”

Miranda looked in, puzzled. “You mean, your mother’s room?”

He smiled at her in a way that made her pulse beat a little faster. “No, my dear Miss Upshaw. I mean the room which connects to mine.”