A Season to Be Sinful Page 20

  Midge actually went airborne. “That is boat racing!”

  Laughing, Lily directed them to get their boats and promised she would inquire about a luncheon for them to take. She had to call after them as they went charging ahead to their own rooms. “Meet me at the tradesman’s entrance and use the back stairs.” She poked her head into the hallway in time to see Dash disappear into his bedchamber. “And whatever you do, do not go to the lake without me!”

  Shaking her head, her smile happily indulgent, Lily returned to the classroom and straightened the table where they had been working. She stacked and squared off Pinch’s papers, Midge’s drawings, and Dash’s primers, returned quills and ink pots to their stands, and pushed their chairs back into place. Before the last chair was righted, she heard the boys charging back into the hall, scrambling to see who would be the first to reach the stairs.

  She followed at a much less hurried pace, stopping first in her bedchamber to retrieve her hat and shawl. With the boys gone, the entire east wing of the great house seemed inordinately still. Lily remembered assuring Sheridan that he would not be troubled by their presence, that neither she nor the boys would be underfoot. In the two months since their arrival at Granville Hall, she had never failed to be impressed by how easily that assurance was kept and how often the reverse of it was not.

  In truth, Sheridan had never offered any promise of privacy. Naturally it was not something he needed to extend in his own home; he had a right to go anywhere. Lily realized early on that she’d made the faulty assumption that he would wish himself anywhere but where she and the scoundrels were. This did not turn out to be so. Although his lordship was not a regular visitor to the schoolroom, neither was he a stranger. From the outset he showed considerable interest in what the boys were learning, suggesting subjects and books, even casually testing them.

  While the boys enjoyed his visits—even the testing—it was something of a reprieve for Lily that she had not seen Sheridan for more than a sennight. She did not inquire after him. She believed that such an inquiry demonstrated an unseemly interest that she was anxious to avoid, and moreover, it was always possible that he was actually in residence and merely tired of the schoolroom.

  Pinch, though, showed no compunction about asking after the master of Granville Hall and had learned after the first day of missing him that Sheridan was gone from the estate. It seemed he was invited to a house party at the home of their neighbor Sir Arthur Meredith and had given no indication if he would be gone for a few days or a fortnight. Word had also reached Granville from London that Wellington and Blücher had defeated Boney at Waterloo, and Lily was aware that this news could also delay Sheridan’s return as there would be extensive celebrating.

  So it was with some confidence that there would be no interruptions that Lily had suggested the science lesson at the lake. The boys were waiting for her at their arranged place, and when she appeared with a large covered basket over one arm they whooped with excitement.

  Dash offered to tote the basket, but Lily refused. Each boy was carrying a ship he’d built himself, and she had too much respect for the effort to risk damaging one of them. Even with three hungry lads anticipating a substantial luncheon, the basket was still the least valuable item being taken to the lake this afternoon.

  Lily snapped open the blanket covering the basket and laid it out on the grass. The breeze was sufficiently strong for her to require help to keep it anchored. Midge set a plate at three of the corners, while Lily placed the basket on the fourth.

  “Shall we eat?” she asked. “Or is it to be the races first?”

  The response was unanimous and resounding. “Eat!”

  Laughing, Lily knelt and began breaking up a crusty round of peasant bread still warm from the oven. She cut wedges of sharp cheddar, then sliced two pears in half so they all might have a taste of one. There was a large skin filled near to bursting with cool cider, and the boys dutifully held out their glasses while she poured.

  They settled back and enjoyed their repast while the sun beat down on them and the wind lightly whipped their hair about. Occasionally a fish would jump in the lake, but this no longer elicited any untoward excitement as they had all learned none were man-eaters. A flock of geese roamed a nearby bank, poking at the grass and each other with their beaks. A few took to the air, circled overhead, then dove at the lake. They skimmed the reflective surface, splashing and stirring the water until they made a wake that resembled nothing so much as a trail of liquid diamonds.

  Dash leaned back on his elbows and stretched his legs in front of him. Sunshine brightened his pale yellow hair and put pink in his cheeks. “I say, Miss Rose, it’s a good life ’ere, ain’t it? I guess we buggered ol’ Ned Craven right enough, leavin’ Lunnon the way we did.”

  Lily gave Dash a sidelong glance, but her reproach was less effective than the light cuffing he received from Midge and Pinch.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Wot’s a proper word for bugger?” He received a second cuffing for that.

  It was not surprising this form of discipline from his friends became a tussle. Lily let them go, watching them only to make certain the wrestling did not become a fight where blows were exchanged in earnest. The day was simply too splendid to take exception to their antics. They rolled in the grass, first away from the lake, then perilously close to it. Laughing and shouting, they had the tireless energy of puppies as they crawled over one another in an effort to scramble up the bank toward the designated safe spot of the blanket.

  When they finally arrived, they were panting hard. They collapsed around Lily, covering the blanket with sprawling limbs. She merely smiled. It was indeed a good life here.

  It was the light rumble of the ground under the blanket that caused them to finally stir. Pinch lifted his dark head first, looking immediately to the road for the source of the vibration. Dash popped up next, then Midge. They each cupped an ear for better reception of the familiar sound.

  “Is it ’is lordship’s carriage?” Midge asked.

  “Don’t know yet,” Pinch said.

  Dash rose to his knees. “I think it might be.”

  Lily pushed herself up to her elbows. She’d also felt the vibration caused by the approaching carriage, but unlike the boys, it was never a question in her mind that it was anyone other than Sheridan.

  Dash jumped to his feet as the horses appeared rounding the curve at the far side of the lake. He was quickly joined by the others, and they remained standing, greeting the arrival with long, sweeping waves of their raised arms.

  Pinch glanced over his shoulder at Lily. “Do you think he saw us?”

  “If he’s in the carriage, I’m certain that he did.”

  “You didn’t wave.” His tone was more curious than accusing. “Aren’t you glad he’s returned?”

  “It’s good that he’s back safely, yes.” It was not quite an answer to Pinch’s question, but it was all that Lily was prepared to say on the subject. The boys fell on one another again just as if there had been no interruption. This time Lily stopped them, raising her voice just above their laughter. “Shall we begin the lesson?” she asked. “Gather your ships and let’s go to the water.”

  That was where Sherry came upon them not long after. He stood higher on the bank and off to one side, loath to draw attention to himself while the boys and Lily were so engrossed in their activity.

  They were all standing where the water could lap at their bare feet and ankles. Shoes and stockings had been flung in the grass just beyond the reach of the wavelets. Jackets lay scattered on the bank as well. The boys wore their shirts only loosely tucked, and there were large damp patches on each of them. The short pants were unbuttoned and rolled above their knees, and Midge looked as if he might have already taken a spill.

  For practical reasons, Lily’s attire was similarly disheveled. Her skirt and petticoat were hiked halfway up her slim calves and held in place by the shawl wrapped around her waist. She wore a broad straw hat and an apr
on to protect her calico dress, and she had her sleeves rolled back to her elbows.

  It was Sherry’s observation that not only did she look perfectly at her ease, but with no effort on her part she lent the notion of disarray a certain elegance.

  He stood awhile longer, watching them huddle around the ships. Lily bent several times and fiddled with Dash’s replica of the Egyptian single mast, adjusting the boom at its foot. Dash looked on worriedly, while Pinch and Midge impatiently shifted their weight from one foot to the other wanting the race to be underway. Their ships, a Roman merchantman with twin topsails and a long, shallow, square-rigged vessel like the Vikings might have used, were harbored safely between their legs.

  “Is there a problem?” Sherry asked as he approached. The scoundrels greeted him with open smiles; Lily’s was more reserved. It also seemed to him that she was no longer so completely at ease. It made him wonder if he had stayed away too long from Granville or not long enough. “May I see the ship? I should like to have a go at it.”

  Since Lily had the vessel in her hands, she began to move to the bank with it. The boys started to follow as well, talking over one another as they welcomed Sherry’s return.

  “Did ye see us waving?” Pinch asked. “We knew it was ye come back to Granville before we saw yer carriage proper.”

  “Like rumblin’ thunder, it was,” Midge told him.

  Dash nodded. “But it was just under the blanket, rollin’ through the ground. It’s good o’ yer lordship to come back for the races. ’Ow’d ye know they would be today?”

  Pinch jabbed Dash with a sharp elbow. “’E ain’t come back for the races. ’E come back because the bleedin’ party’s ended.” He glanced guiltily at Sheridan. “Beggin’ yer lordship’s pardon.”

  Sherry schooled his smile and held up a hand. “You should be begging the lady’s pardon, Master Pinch.”

  Pinch dutifully turned to Lily and made a most sincere apology. Not quite under his breath, he added, “I did ’ear ’im tell Mr. Kearns it would be a bloody dull affair, though.”

  Sherry cleared his throat and accepted Lily’s gently arched eyebrow as the reproach that was due him. Pinch, he noted, escaped a reprimand for listening at doors and tattling. “Let’s have a look at that boat, shall we?”

  Lily started to approach, but Sherry stayed her when he began to unbutton his frock coat. “My lord?”

  “Stay where you are, Miss Rose. I shall come to you.” It was a bit of a struggle to remove the close-fitting frock coat, but he managed the thing just as Dash was about to step forward to tug on a sleeve. He handed it to the boy to place with the others, then dropped to the ground to remove his boots and stockings. Midge collected those items and tossed them up the bank away from the water.

  “Yer stock, m’lord,” Pinch said. “It’ll fall as limp as a fop’s wrist if you wade in with it.”

  “Pinch!” Lily said.

  “Wot? It will.” He waggled his wrist up and down to show the full effect of such limpness. “Just see if it don’t.”

  “It’s all right,” Sherry told Lily quickly. To his way of thinking Pinch had shown remarkable restraint in not referencing any other part of a male’s anatomy that had occasion to go limp. “I’m removing it now.” He tugged on the neckcloth, loosed an intricate knot, then unwound it. Dash was at the ready to take it and pitch it up the bank.

  Sherry stepped up to the water’s edge, rolled his trousers halfway to his knees, then waded in. Silt squished between his toes. When the wind lifted, it pressed his shirt to his chest and rippled his dark hair. He grinned quite openly at Lily, holding out his hand for the ship. “You would do well to temper your astonishment, Miss Rose, lest a sand swallow mistake your mouth for a nesting place.”

  Lily’s jaw snapped shut. She placed the ship in Sheridan’s outstretched palms, almost daring him to repair the thing.

  “It appears to be the boom,” he said unnecessarily. He gave Lily full marks for not speaking from behind clenched teeth. “It was no easy task to secure the first time.” He pulled it out and examined the end. “It requires a bit of trimming. Do any of you lads have a knife?”

  It was Lily who produced one from inside her apron pocket. She accepted the ship back while he trimmed the boom.

  “I think a notch is the answer here, Master Dash. It is too bad we did not arrive at that solution at the outset.” From the corner of his eye he saw that Dash was fairly twitching in place, twisting one tail of his shirt in his hands and rocking on the balls of his feet. He was also studying the water, not regarding the improvement in the design of the ship. Sherry was late to the realization that Dash had not told Lily that there had been help with the project. From the manner in which Pinch and Midge had also fallen quiet, Sherry suspected they had kept the same secret.

  “You will want to know, Miss Rose, that I pressed the lads to permit me to assist them with their ships. It is a particular fondness of mine, and they were good enough to indulge me.”

  “Truly.”

  Sherry decided the only way she could have served up more cynicism was if she had used a platter. “Certainly,” he said. “When I was not much older than they are, I built an armada. Cybelline sunk the thing right over there.” He pointed to a small outcropping of rocks where a pair of ducks were preening. “As I recall, it was revenge for some trick she thought I’d played her. I had not, of course, because one doesn’t play tricks on women. Right, lads? One is fair minded and honest in their dealings with women.”

  There was a lot of nodding of heads and some cautious optimism that they would be out of Dutch and back in Lily’s good graces. Lily, however, was made of sterner stuff.

  “This principled conscience of yours,” she said, “the one that compels you to deal fairly and honestly with women, would it make an exception, mayhap, when you wish to protect three young scoundrels who applied to you for help against the express wish of their governess?”

  “Ye’ve done it now,” Pinch said under his breath.

  Midge nodded. “Riled ’er up good and proper.”

  Dash hung his head more pitifully than before. “Never knew anyone to ’ave the knack of it the way ye do.”

  Lily cocked an eyebrow at Sheridan. “It’s no good, my lord. You cannot be both abashed and amused. One rather negates the other. You would do well to study these poor fellows and learn how it is done.”

  “You are a harsher critic than my own governess,” he said. “She was taken in often enough.”

  “That is because she wasn’t taught by the good sisters at Sacred Heart.” Lily held out the model ship. “Can you repair it?”

  Nodding, Sherry finished making the notch in the boom and reattached it. He tested it several times, saw it would hold, then raised his hands to indicate he was done.

  Lily returned the vessel to Dash and accepted her knife back from Sheridan. “Thank you. It was good of you to lend assistance.”

  Sherry inclined his head. “Do we begin now?”

  “You wish to stay?”

  He did not mistake that she was not eager for him to do so. “Of course. It is to be a boat race, isn’t it?”

  “It’s to be a science lesson disguised as boat race.”

  “Even better. Science is also a passion.”

  “Very well.” Lily led the way to slightly deeper water and directed the boys to hold their boats for a moment. “Let us examine the hulls, shall we? Do you see why the Roman merchantman is called a round ship? Now look at the narrow lines of the Viking vessel. Can you tell me how they will perform differently in the water?”

  Sherry stood slightly back from them, offering no comment but listening to everything. He observed that Lily did not condescend to her pupils. She challenged them. The questions she put to them had no simple answers but required that they consider ideas they had learned in the classroom and put them to use. If she addressed a notion they had not yet discussed, she required them to experiment and employ their own eyes to draw conclusions. They were allow
ed to ask questions freely; in fact, she encouraged them. When she didn’t know an answer she applied herself to arriving at one by the same methods she asked them to use. If she was not satisfied with the breadth of her own knowledge, she was not so proud that she could not turn to him for help.

  In precisely that fashion, Sherry found himself being included in the lesson, part teacher, part student, all admiration.

  The boat races proved to be more exciting than any of them anticipated. The Viking longship, with its simple square-rigged sail and narrow hull, was the winner more often than not, though with no Lilliputian aboard to turn the deep oar, it frequently went off course. Since the Roman round ship and the Egyptian barge sailed off course as well, they had a good time of it predicting where they would run aground.

  Midge fell into deep water first, though whether by design or accident was a question Lily raised when Sherry hauled him back safely. Pinch announced in dramatic tones that his ship was in danger of falling off the edge of the earth and promptly dove after it. Once again, Sherry was called up to make the rescue. When Dash slipped under, Sherry responded by bringing him up and promptly pushing him down again.

  Lily waded away and sat down in the grass while the boys—and there were four of them now—splashed and leaped and dived and sputtered. They abandoned their ships first, then gleefully sank them. Hoisting each child in turn, Sheridan hurled them like cannonballs at the vessels.

  “The captain goes down with the ship, lads. It’s the law on the high seas.”

  “But we’re pirates! We ’ave no ’onor!” Pinch’s protest came to nothing as Sheridan tossed him anyway.

  The splash was large enough to reach Lily on the bank. She didn’t flinch from it. The spray of water stung far less than her tears.

  It was little more than an hour after Sheridan took his dinner that he came upon Lily in the garden. Although he hadn’t inquired, the boys told him where she was when he went to bid them good night. It was, of course, one of the reasons he sought them out.

  She was sitting on a stone bench, looking out toward the lake. An unopened book lay in her lap, her place marked by the insertion of her index finger. Her posture was erect, even stiffly held, and he wondered if it had become so in anticipation of his approach. Surrounded on three sides as she was by the palest of pink roses and deep emerald leaves, the effect was rather like she was wearing them as a mantle.