Chapter 8

Adam watched Ben Hay go, limping heavily before disappearing from sight. Something told him that the limp was very exaggerated, but he couldn't be sure. Or maybe it was because of the hostility coming off Hay that Adam was willing to be so harsh towards him.

"You'll have to forgive my brother, Your Grace," Maggie said, her expression slightly embarrassed as she approached the stove. "He does have a problem with authority."

"Has he always been like that?"

"He's been through … some troubled times." Maggie glanced towards the door. "I don't know how he managed to stay in the army as long as he did. He was always written up for his insubordination. Ben says it was because he was a good soldier, but I think they just needed the numbers in his regiment."

Adam raised his eyebrows.

"He's a soldier?"

"Former soldier. He was injured in the last battle and told to return home. He's not medically fit anymore."

So that would explain the limp. Although Adam was still sure that the limp was more exaggerated than was necessary. Playing on sympathy or to make Adam feel bad? Maybe a bit of both; Adam wasn't going to draw conclusions. He would be more open-minded about it.

Besides, he had come here to see Maggie, not to antagonize her relatives.

Shifting around to sit at the table properly, Adam looked around. Maggie's house was not what he expected when he came looking for her. The Atterburys' housekeeper had told him the address, and Adam hadn't realized that it was actually a farmhouse. He could see the sheep in the nearby field, and chickens were running around. From what Adam could see, they had a couple of people working, but it looked like everyone was on equal footing.

"You've always lived here, have you?" he asked.

"I was born in this room." Maggie cast a look at him over her shoulder, a sly glint in her eye. "Was it what you were expecting?"

"I don't know what I was expecting. I've never visited a farm like this before."

"Well, it's not quite a farm. We have a few chickens for the eggs and a couple of cows for milk, but it's mostly for the sheep." Maggie nodded towards the window.

"Ma and Pa have a homemade goods shop in the city, and because the woollen garments are the most popular, we have our own sheep, so we don't have to pay someone else for the wool. We can just get it straight from the animal, and then Ma uses the loom and spinning wheels to create the demand for products."

"Really?"

Adam had heard about how self-sufficient working-class families were, and he shouldn't have thought Maggie was any different. To know that she was from a family doing this well for what they had was surprising.

"What's the shop called?"

"It's right by Regent's Park. Beauty and the Wool."

Adam blinked.

"Really? I've been in there."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Pretty much everyone in the ton would have been in there." Maggie took the saucepan off the stove and blew it out. "Give me a moment, and I'll make tea for you."

"Let me help." Before Adam had finished speaking, he stood up. "It'll be faster if I help you."

Maggie's mouth dropped open, staring at him like he had gone mad.

"What? You'll help me?"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a guest!" Maggie looked panicked. "And you're a duke! A duke doesn't do such things!"

Adam smiled, which seemed to make Maggie flush.

"Well, I think you've noticed by now that I'm not exactly the most conventional of people. And helping with tea when nobody's looking isn't going to hurt anyone, is it?"

Maggie blinked a few times. Then she flinched and put the saucepan on the counter, clasping her wrist with a look of pain.

"Ouch!"

"What's wrong?"

"Holding onto that pan, I forgot it was still hot." She headed towards the door. "I'll just stick my hand in some cold water. That should help. I'll be right back, Your Grace."

Adam was about to point out that she could put her hand in the sink, only to realize that the kitchen didn't have a sink. From the look of it, they didn't have running water, either. It was very simplistic and didn't have the extra things that kitchens in his households would have.

Standing here, looking at what Maggie grew up with, made it sink in a little more that their worlds were so far apart they could barely see each other. It didn't matter about the attraction the two of them had – Adam was certain that Maggie was aware of it as well – it could never happen. She would always be out of reach.

That left a nasty taste in his mouth.

He looked around, sizing up the kitchen. After checking a few cupboards, he found a couple of cups, saucers, and a teapot. He had seen his housekeeper make tea before when he was a small boy, although that had been years ago. It couldn't be that difficult to make a pot of tea, could it?

He had finished that, placed it on the table, and was looking around for the sugar when Maggie came back in. She was still holding onto her wrist, her hand close to her chest, but she didn't look like she was in as much pain. She stopped and stared at what was laid out on the table.

"What … you …?"

"You didn't expect me to play host, did you?"

"I … this …" Maggie shook her head, looking like she was in a daze. "How do you not find this beneath you?"

"Like I said, I'm not conventional. And I'm not about to let you do anything when you've hurt yourself." Adam gestured at the chair in front of her. "Sit down. It'll be fine. I don't think I'm going to poison you."

Maggie hesitated, and then she sat down. Adam picked up the teapot and poured, managing to keep his hand steady. The teapot felt a lot heavier than he anticipated, and the handle was beginning to make his fingers tingle. How did his staff manage with this all the time?

"I couldn't find the sugar bowl," he said as he put the pot down and sat across from her. Maggie shook her head.

"We don't have any. Nobody takes sugar in their tea in this house."

"Really?"

"We can manage without it." Maggie picked up her cup and took a sip. She blinked and then gave a nod of approval. "It's good. Maybe we should train you, Your Grace."

Adam laughed.

"Glad to know I can do something right." He picked up his own cup. "May I ask why you went to work for Baron Atterbury? From what I can see, you've actually got a good thing going with your family's business."

"My parents didn't want me to spend the rest of my life looking after the farm as well." Maggie smiled. "If you haven't noticed, this place absolutely stinks."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

Maggie laughed, and Adam tried not to think about how lovely that sound was. It was really not helping right now.

"You have noticed. I'm sure you commented on it when you arrived."

"Well, it is a bit … pungent." Adam cleared his throat and reached into his pocket for his handkerchief. "I have been stopping myself from needing to blow my nose."

"I'm not going to stop you. You will smell a bit of sheep manure when you leave, so you're going to need to get your clothes thoroughly cleaned."

"Duly noted." Adam blew his nose and pushed his handkerchief back into his pocket. His eyes did feel like they were still watering, though. "So they wanted you to do something that didn't have you smelling like sheep all day?"

"Pretty much. While women aren't given much independence, they wanted to know that I could manage things on my own. Most of my money goes back to them to help with the shop and the farm, but I've got my own savings." Maggie shrugged.

"I'm not a materialistic person. I normally just get what I need when I've got the money. And I'm good at utilizing my abilities to get things into working order without throwing anything away unless I have to."

Adam had heard about this before. He had even seen it with his staff as well. They were very good at making things last longer than they were supposed to. It gave him a newfound respect for everyone who had to do that; if he tried it, he would be laughed out of the ton.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

"Why did you come all this way, Your Grace?" Maggie asked, her smile fading. "It seems rather odd for a duke to come looking for a maid, especially not one in his household."

"I wanted to make sure you were alright. I didn't get a chance to speak to you the next morning, and then you and your employers had left."

"Lady Phoebe kept me busy, telling me that I shouldn't show my face to anyone. Then when we got back, she said that while she couldn't get her parents to dismiss me, I should go home for a few days as punishment for what I've done." Maggie pursed her lips. "She doesn't care that I was attacked, only that I supposedly showed her up."

Adam had got that impression as well. When he turned up at the residence to see Lady Phoebe and talk more to Maggie about what had happened, Lady Phoebe said that Maggie was not there.

She seemed very pleased with herself that she had supposedly put her maid in her place. Adam hadn't been happy with that at all, and he had been very brusque with the girl before leaving shortly after. Courting her was going to be a disaster; Adam knew that. He also knew that he should stop this right now.

But that meant he wouldn't be able to see Maggie, and Adam couldn't stop himself enough to pull away.

God, something was really wrong with him if this messed him up.

"I wanted to talk about what happened at my home. With the paint attack."

Maggie sighed.

"I thought I told you already about what happened."

"I need to hear it again. There might be some more about what actually occurred, something you missed in the initial telling."

Maggie still didn't look sure about it. She peered at him curiously.

"Why are you so focused on this? What's going on?"

"I'll explain everything once you tell me what you recall." Adam paused. "But you can't go around telling everyone. If people find out what's happened, they will start asking questions. Or whisper things that aren't true. I can't have my mother or sisters finding out about this until I know what's going on."

This was a gamble, given that Adam still had a few concerns about Maggie's involvement, but he was willing to take it if it meant he got to the bottom of things sooner. Maggie frowned, but she nodded.

"Alright. But I hope you can tell me everything in return, Your Grace. If I've got stuck in something I shouldn't, I want to know exactly what's happening."

"I understand."

If only Adam knew exactly what was going on himself.

#

Maggie didn't bring up anything further than what she had told Adam before. She hadn't been paying attention to extra details; she just knew that someone was trying to damage his property and was worried about the horses.

She was certainly horrified when Adam told her about what was happening with his home and how he suspected someone was going after him. From the look on Maggie's face, Adam was becoming more and more certain that she wasn't involved. Maggie was not an actress. She really had nothing to do with this.

Adam had pondered bringing her into this, but Maggie had ended up getting mixed up in it because of the attack, and she deserved to know what was going on. Part of him wanted her to know there was this problem and that she should keep away from him.

God, there were so many mixed signals in his head about Maggie and the attraction between them that Adam didn't know what he was going to do anymore. It was terrifying that this was happening, and it was intense. Adam didn't think he would ever encounter something like that, and he was stuck. Maggie was beautiful, sharp-minded, levelheaded, and intelligent. If she were a lady, she would be the perfect package for him, and Adam wouldn't have hesitated to ask her if he could court her.

But she wasn't. He couldn't have anything to do with her. And that was what stuck with Adam the most. He wished that he could have something to do with Maggie. In his mind, she would be ideal. And yet …

Maybe this was God's way of telling him he shouldn't have what he wanted. Not after what he did when he was a young man. Adam knew that he had done some bad things for the right reasons, and now it was coming back to bite him.

If this was God's way of messing him around, he had to be laughing at Adam right now.

After leaving Maggie's house, Adam headed back to his estate. He saw Ben Hay leaning against a wall while watching the sheep, the tousled golden head watching him with narrowed eyes as he passed by. Adam chose to ignore him; there was something about Hay that said he wouldn't be hospitable in any way.

There had been a lot of hurt behind his snarky words. Adam had seen it. Hay had gone through a lot of bad things, and while he had come out the other side, he wasn't completely there. Something had been held back, and he was more of a shell. It was clear that Maggie loved her brother, but even she had to see that.

There was also a lot of anger. Whether it was directed at Adam himself or just members of the ton, he didn't know. All Adam was sure about was that Ben had a lot of things to work on, and he should keep his distance.

Just after lunch, Adam returned, leaving his horse with the stable manager before going inside. On initial inspection and with a quick conversation with the stable manager, nothing untoward had happened for now.

But Adam knew they couldn't relax; it would happen when he was not expecting it. Whoever came to vandalize his property knew he had guests, and they were planning on it. Adam didn't know how they knew, but he would find out.

There was a loud squeal when Adam entered the foyer, and he couldn't help smiling even as he rolled his eyes. That squeal indicated that George was here. Sabrina always made that noise when he was playing with her. Something about swinging her around and lifting her off the floor. Adam was surprised nobody had been hurt yet; Sabrina was getting too old for this.

He entered the morning room to find his mother and sisters with George. Eleanor was laughing and Lady Banbury had her hands over her ears while George spun Sabrina around to the point that she was almost coming off the ground. His friend stopped when he saw Adam come in.

"There you are." He put Sabrina back on her feet. "I was beginning to think you were never going to show up."

"I just went to see someone. I didn't think I was out that long." Adam laughed when he saw his mother. "Ma, you can put your hands down. Sabrina's not that loud."

"You think?" Lady Banbury grimaced as she pulled her hands away from her ears. "How do little girls end up being so loud?"

Eleanor giggled.

"I wasn't that bad, was I, Ma?"

"Close enough." The dowager duchess beckoned her youngest daughter over. "Come here, honey. Give your mother's ears a rest."

Sabrina went over and sat on her mother's lap. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was tousled from the play.

"It's fun, Ma," she said. "George is just playing with me."

"And maybe you should stop doing that now. You're getting too big for that, darling."

George held up his hands.

"It's fine, Lady Banbury. I'm capable of picking Sabrina up."

"Famous last words, I'm sure." Lady Banbury gave him a slight smile and kissed her daughter's head. "Then I'll be saying, ‘I told you so'."

Adam exchanged a smirk with George, who simply shrugged. He was fond of Eleanor and Sabrina and always spent time with them. When they weren't meant to be having any visitors during mourning, George had been the one to come over and cheer the girls up.

He had attempted to do the same with Lady Banbury, but it had been a bit of a struggle; she was still scared of letting go and picking herself back up after her husband's death, almost like she couldn't allow herself to do it. It was as if she was scared of having a good time now she was a widow.

"I actually need to borrow George for a moment, Ma." Adam beckoned for his friend to join him. "We'll be back shortly. Will you be alright with the girls?"

"Of course! They're my daughters, Adam. Don't worry about me."

Eleanor gestured at the tea tray.

"We're going to be having lunch shortly, so don't delay it. We're hungry."

Adam waved in her direction before he and George left the room, heading through the house and into the study. It still felt strange going in there when he kept thinking it was his father's study.

"What is it?" George asked, closing the door behind him. "You said you were going to talk to Lady Phoebe's maid, weren't you?"

"I did. It just took a bit longer than anticipated."

Adam explained what Lady Phoebe did and what he gathered from talking to Maggie. When he finished, George was leaning on the desk with his arms folded. He frowned.

"So you think that Maggie isn't truly involved now?"

"I honestly don't think she is in league with whoever is doing this. Not with the way she reacted to everything."

"It could be an act."

"I don't think it is." Adam started to pace around the room. "Something keeps coming back to me, and it's been going around my head for a while now."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about, George. You're not that naive."

George sighed.

"You're talking about the thievery, aren't you? When we stole off the docked ships?"

"What if someone actually knew about it? That they saw us doing that and decided to hold onto it until further notice? When they thought it would hurt us the most."

"Then why is it only happening to you? Why not the rest of us?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're only focusing on me because I'm more high-profile now." Adam rubbed his hands over his face. Running his fingers through his hair made his scalp itch. "But that is a possibility. Although I can't think who it could be. Perhaps it was someone who worked on the docks at the time and saw what we did."

"Or it's just a coincidence, and you're getting paranoid," George pointed out. "It could be something else entirely."

This was becoming too much. It was just madness, and Adam was getting a headache over it. There was a possibility that it was a coincidence and someone was being an opportunist, but Adam couldn't shake the feeling that this was about when they were younger and stealing off the boats to give to those who actually needed the produce they took.

It was a crime, and Adam and his friends could have got into serious trouble had they been caught, but they had done it anyway. Adam felt good knowing that he had done something to give back to everyone else, but he couldn't admit that to anyone. Even with his title now, it would still get him into trouble. If his mother found out what he had done …

He did feel guilty about knowing someone else would have got the blame for everything he and his friends did, but there was too much at stake for confessing now. Part of Adam wanted to, but then he remembered his sisters. They did not need to grow up with that stigma. It was a horrible situation to be in.

"What do you think we should do now?" George asked.

"I think we're going to need to be vigilant about all this. We're going to have to keep our eyes open. Anything is possible right now." Adam moved towards the window and stared out into the gardens. "Whoever it is isn't going to be satisfied with what they've done so far. There's going to be more. And I'm worried about how and when it will escalate."

"When it will escalate?"

"I think it will. And I don't want my sisters to get stuck in the middle of it." Adam swallowed back the hard lump in his throat. "What if they go after my sisters? What if someone hurts them?"

George shook his head.

"That's not going to be the case. They're going to be safe. Nobody is getting their hands on them."

"Even so …"

"No, Adam. Don't think like that." George pushed off the desk. "Eleanor and Sabrina won't get hurt. They'll be absolutely fine. And whoever is doing this will stop once they get bored. Or they've put their point across."

"But they haven't told us what the point is, have they? Painting ‘traitor' across my property doesn't help much in knowing what's going on."

Although Adam had a pretty good idea. He was sure it was to do with his youth and what he and George did. He betrayed someone else to save his own skin; that had to be it.

And someone was going to get hurt sooner rather than later, and Adam really hoped that it wasn't his own family. Maggie had got hurt, and the thought of his sisters getting hurt frightened Adam.

Then again, the thought of Maggie getting hurt again made him feel nauseous. He couldn't let that happen.