be as lovely as your sister Amelia.”
“Cathy’s just as pretty as Amelia. It’s cruel that nobody says so. I think brown hair is just as good as gold.”
“And so do I. I’m a great admirer of brown hair, but you will keep that a secret from your sister Kate, won’t you?”
Annie nodded very earnestly. Her own hair was the exact color of a brown mouse and she had always been in despair over it. “I’m very good at keeping secrets.”
“Good, because I shall ask you to keep another one and not tell anyone that I’m here. Will you do that?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die!”
Within moments Dagonet had her in merry laughter over another story entirely.
Amelia looked around at the sound. “He’s charmed Annie, anyway. If you wish me to accept him as a friend, of course I will, for your sake.”
David Morris smiled warmly. “I should have told you before, but he wants nobody to know that he stays with me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, you know. I owe him my life more than once.”
“And so you trust him absolutely?”
“We were together more than four years in the Peninsula, Amy. Dagonet is the truest, bravest fellow I have ever known. What happened at Lion Court all those years ago, I don’t know; he won’t talk about it. But I will never believe that Charles de Dagonet has ever done anything deliberately cruel or dishonorable in his life.”
And since that gentleman and Annabella were at that moment distracted over a joke, David stole a quick kiss from his beloved.
* * * *
“I apologize freely, David, if my presence embarrassed you with your betrothed,” Dagonet said after the young ladies had gone. “It comes from being such a desperado. They will tell no one, of course. The Hunters seem to be an extraordinary family.”
“You’re up to something, aren’t you? You look like a pig in clover.”
Dagonet grinned. “Who, me? It’s not my fault that Catherine Hunter’s living at Lion Court.”
“You promised me you would not involve her.”
“Kate Hunter has already entangled me, my friend. I’m a helpless victim, ensnared by the Lorelei.”
“I wish I could tell when you’re being serious.”
“I’m always serious, my dear friend, especially about the fair sex.” His green eyes were bright with laughter, as if they had never been shadowed. “Cousin George doesn’t deserve to live under the same roof. However, if I’m to win that roof back for myself, the presence of Miss Catherine Hunter cannot be allowed to stop me.”
Chapter 5
They were enjoying a spell of extremely hot, dry weather, perfect for the late harvest. Two days after Catherine’s sisters had discovered a stranger playing David Morris’s harpsichord, Lady Montagu had decided to take the air. She planned to visit her neighbor, Major Cartwright, and had taken Charlotte and George with her in the landau. Since, in Mrs. Clay’s opinion, her mother’s companion was not a necessary accompaniment on any social visit, Catherine was able to spend the glorious day mostly as she pleased.
After quickly taking care of the minor chores that Lady Montagu had left her, Catherine walked across the Lion Court estate down to the home farm, where the workers were taking in the last of the grain. The men formed a long line down the field, each bending and lifting in rhythm, their short badging hooks flashing in the sun. The standing wheat fell neatly, until a scattering of half sheaves replaced the waving golden carpet.
Each man then worked back up the other side of his ‘natch’ until he had another half sheaf, which he bound to the first in a single movement. The women, coming behind their menfolk, stacked the finished sheaves together into shooks to cure, until the field was covered in neat rows of the tiny stacks.
Catherine propped herself on a large stone near the gate and watched. Sometimes one of the women paused to dash a hand across a hot forehead or rub at an aching back, but no one
“Cathy’s just as pretty as Amelia. It’s cruel that nobody says so. I think brown hair is just as good as gold.”
“And so do I. I’m a great admirer of brown hair, but you will keep that a secret from your sister Kate, won’t you?”
Annie nodded very earnestly. Her own hair was the exact color of a brown mouse and she had always been in despair over it. “I’m very good at keeping secrets.”
“Good, because I shall ask you to keep another one and not tell anyone that I’m here. Will you do that?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die!”
Within moments Dagonet had her in merry laughter over another story entirely.
Amelia looked around at the sound. “He’s charmed Annie, anyway. If you wish me to accept him as a friend, of course I will, for your sake.”
David Morris smiled warmly. “I should have told you before, but he wants nobody to know that he stays with me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, you know. I owe him my life more than once.”
“And so you trust him absolutely?”
“We were together more than four years in the Peninsula, Amy. Dagonet is the truest, bravest fellow I have ever known. What happened at Lion Court all those years ago, I don’t know; he won’t talk about it. But I will never believe that Charles de Dagonet has ever done anything deliberately cruel or dishonorable in his life.”
And since that gentleman and Annabella were at that moment distracted over a joke, David stole a quick kiss from his beloved.
* * * *
“I apologize freely, David, if my presence embarrassed you with your betrothed,” Dagonet said after the young ladies had gone. “It comes from being such a desperado. They will tell no one, of course. The Hunters seem to be an extraordinary family.”
“You’re up to something, aren’t you? You look like a pig in clover.”
Dagonet grinned. “Who, me? It’s not my fault that Catherine Hunter’s living at Lion Court.”
“You promised me you would not involve her.”
“Kate Hunter has already entangled me, my friend. I’m a helpless victim, ensnared by the Lorelei.”
“I wish I could tell when you’re being serious.”
“I’m always serious, my dear friend, especially about the fair sex.” His green eyes were bright with laughter, as if they had never been shadowed. “Cousin George doesn’t deserve to live under the same roof. However, if I’m to win that roof back for myself, the presence of Miss Catherine Hunter cannot be allowed to stop me.”
Chapter 5
They were enjoying a spell of extremely hot, dry weather, perfect for the late harvest. Two days after Catherine’s sisters had discovered a stranger playing David Morris’s harpsichord, Lady Montagu had decided to take the air. She planned to visit her neighbor, Major Cartwright, and had taken Charlotte and George with her in the landau. Since, in Mrs. Clay’s opinion, her mother’s companion was not a necessary accompaniment on any social visit, Catherine was able to spend the glorious day mostly as she pleased.
After quickly taking care of the minor chores that Lady Montagu had left her, Catherine walked across the Lion Court estate down to the home farm, where the workers were taking in the last of the grain. The men formed a long line down the field, each bending and lifting in rhythm, their short badging hooks flashing in the sun. The standing wheat fell neatly, until a scattering of half sheaves replaced the waving golden carpet.
Each man then worked back up the other side of his ‘natch’ until he had another half sheaf, which he bound to the first in a single movement. The women, coming behind their menfolk, stacked the finished sheaves together into shooks to cure, until the field was covered in neat rows of the tiny stacks.
Catherine propped herself on a large stone near the gate and watched. Sometimes one of the women paused to dash a hand across a hot forehead or rub at an aching back, but no one
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