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“How have you managed?”
“Very well.” She placed her hand on her back and stretched slightly. “I daresay I shall be a little uncomfortable tomorrow from all the bending Emily and I have been doing, but I have enjoyed being here.”
He raised a questioning eyebrow, and she smiled.
“You may not believe me, but I tell you the truth. It has been wonderful to feel that I am doing something worthwhile.” Her blue eyes sparkled. “I realize that it might come as a surprise to know that the same cannot be said for taking afternoon tea with Mother’s friends.”
He chuckled. “A surprise indeed.” He inclined his head toward the gap between the trees. “Which way to the tump?”
Miss Hadford led him to the edge of the orchard, where a large pile of apples lay exposed to the sun.
Adam whistled through his teeth at the size of the mound. “You have done well.”
“This is actually our second tump. The other one is over there.” She pointed to a straw-covered mound several yards away.
Adam heard the pride in her voice and smiled. “If I did not know better, I would say you rather enjoy wearing the attire of a maid and working for a living.”
For the first time since he’d known her, she appeared self-conscious.
She ran her hands down the serviceable gown and raised her chin. “Perhaps I should note that the same people who would be amused to hear of my attire today would be just as amused by yours.”
“You misunderstand me, Miss Hadford. I applaud your choice of dress. However, if you believe that our good neighbors would be as interested in knowing that Lord Dunsbourne takes off his jacket and cravat to work in the orchard as they would be to know that the always-impeccably-turned-out Miss Hadford wore a maid’s dress that showed a significant amount of her very shapely legs, you are terribly mistaken.”
She gasped and turned a becoming shade of pink. “Lord Dunsbourne, that was most ungentlemanly.”
He bit his lip to prevent a grin. She was right, heaven help him. But the teasing words had slipped out before he could prevent them. As beautiful as she was in her finery, she was even more attractive now—wearing her maid’s short gown and an apple leaf stuck in one of the curls beneath her straw bonnet.
“Forgive me, Miss Hadford. It was wrong of me. My sister will tell you that I tease her more than I should.”
She eyed him warily. “I would not have thought you were a man who made light of things often, my lord.”
Memories of the laughter and pranks he had known in his youth assailed him. They were followed by a wave of regret. Emily was not the only one who had become too serious.
“I confess, over the last few years, I have allowed the weight of my responsibilities to quench my humor more than I should.” He stared at the pile of apples before him. “Only recently have I come to realize that my mood has, in turn, negatively affected my sister.” This confession was as difficult as it was necessary. “I heard Emily laugh as I approached you in the orchard. It was a welcome sound, and I believe I have you to thank for it. It gives me hope that it is not too late for her to experience more happiness in life.”
“If I may venture an opinion, my lord?”
“By all means.”
“No matter what has happened in your past, it is not too late for you to experience more happiness either.”
He sensed her sincerity, but whether she knew it or not, the specter of Freddie Payne—what he had done and was still free to do—hung between them.
“It is a nice thought, but I believe I am too out of practice to reclaim it now.”
She met his eyes, and he could not look away. “If it would help you remember,” she said quietly, “you may tease me occasionally—whilst we are in the orchard.”
More touched than he cared to admit, he reached for an apple in the barrow. “What about a race?” he said. “The first person to unload thirty apples from the barrow onto the tump can tease the other for the rest of the day.”
A new glint—one that looked suspiciously like mischief—entered Miss Hadford’s eyes. “Agreed.”
Adam bent over his side of the barrow; Miss Hadford reached for hers.
“Ready, steady, go!” Adam shouted.
Adam grabbed two apples in each hand. Miss Hadford skirted the barrow and reached for the handles. In one swift movement, she pushed it to the edge of the tump and tipped it forward. Apples rolled onto the mound with wild abandon.
“I win!” she cried. “And I even took care of your thirty as well.”
