The Belle of Belgrave Square (Belles of London #2)(92)

“That one’s going to be mine!” Daisy called back, shaking the ladder in her enthusiasm. The ancient wood gave out an ominous groan.

Julia’s foot slipped from the rung. “Oh!”

Jasper was at her side an instant before she fell. He caught her neatly in his arms.

She clung to his neck, gazing up at him in amazement. “Jasper! Thank heaven. For a moment I feared I was about to do myself an injury.”

Jasper glowered at her, his heart threatening to beat straight out of his chest. If she had fallen—if she had hurt herself—

The prospect was enough to make his temper boil over.

“What do you mean by climbing up there?” he barked at her. “Can’t you see how dangerous it is? You might have broken your blasted neck!”

Daisy’s face drained of excitement. “It was my fault. I told her to climb it.”

“It’s not Daisy’s fault,” Julia said. “I went up the ladder of my own accord. There are kittens up there. Did you know that?” Her hands slid to his shoulders. “Oh, do put me down. And stop scowling. Nothing happened. I’m quite safe.”

He unwillingly set her feet down on the straw-covered floor. The mewling of kittens punctuated the silence, as if in explanation of her reckless behavior.

“Kittens?” he ground out. “We don’t even own a cat.”

“She’s wild,” Daisy said. “From the moors. Julia says we can tame her.”

“Julia?”

Daisy flushed. “She said I could call her that.”

“I did.” Julia set a reassuring hand on Daisy’s narrow back. “And we’ll try to tame them. I can’t promise it will work.”

“We’ll use cheese and milk, won’t we?” Daisy gave Julia an expectant look. “Then the mama cat and her kittens will be ours to keep.”

“I hope they will,” Julia said. “Your papa doesn’t object, does he?”

Jasper ran a hand through his hair. “What I object to is the pair of you climbing up a rotting ladder into a rotting hayloft. The whole of this stable may come crashing down at any given moment.”

“It can’t be that dangerous,” Julia said. “You keep Quintus here, don’t you?”

“Of course not. He’s stabled in an outbuilding on the other side of the Hall. Cossack will be kept there as well. That’s what I was coming to tell you.” He marched them out of the stables and back into the yard. “The horses have arrived.”

Julia’s face lit up. “What? When?”

“Just now. Ridgeway’s man has brought them. He’s been on the road since Sunday, traveling in stages.” Jasper addressed Daisy. “Run up to the Hall and tell your brothers. They can come out as soon as their lessons are done.”

Daisy was off like a shot.

Julia moved to follow after her.

Jasper caught her hand, bringing her to a halt in front of him.

She gave him a puzzled look.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” he said.

Her expression softened. “I didn’t mean to scare you. All I could think of was seeing the kittens.”

“Clearly. You forgot everything I’ve told you about being careful.” He reminded her again, “There are parts of this estate that need to be torn down and built anew. Until they are, you must take care to avoid them. If anything happened to you—”

“I’m fine. Even if I had fallen—”

“Don’t,” he said gruffly. “You’ve no idea what it does to me to think of losing you.”

Understanding registered on Julia’s face. “I really did scare you, didn’t I?” She twined her fingers through his. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’ll be more careful in future, I promise.”

My dear.

She hadn’t called him that since their wedding night. He’d been trying to earn back the privilege ever since. At last, it seemed he had.

He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a rough kiss to her knuckles. He’d have rather kissed her lips. But this was neither the time nor the place for such intimacies. “See that you are,” he said. “I’m trusting you to look after yourself—and Daisy.”

“Daisy’s in no danger. She knows the whole of the estate backward and forward. She’s been showing it to me.”

“Anyplace in particular?” he asked as he offered her his arm.

Julia took it, accompanying him back up the uneven dirt drive at a leisurely pace. “We visited her mother’s grave.”

“Of course you did.” Jasper couldn’t prevent a surge of bitterness from coloring his words. It seemed that every inch of progress he made with his new bride was doomed to be undone by constant reminders of the past. “I suppose Daisy gave you an earful.”

“She did.” Julia walked with him in silence for several steps before asking, “Was the children’s mother not good to them?”

“Not in the usual way of mothers. She had her own survival to think of. Everything else was an afterthought.”

“I’m not asking if she was neglectful. I’m asking if she was cruel.”

Ah. Daisy had been talking.

Jasper gave Julia a thoughtful look. “You must have made quite an impression on Daisy for her to confide in you.”