Starcross Lovers: A Silver Foxes of Westminster Novella (Starcross Castle Book 1) Read online

  Harry sighed, dropping his sack and turning to frown at Nick, crossing his arms. “I’m not going to humiliate myself by asking her to spell it out.”

  Nick laughed and set his sack down at the end of the row. When he stood, he slapped Harry’s back. “Then you’re not a lovesick fool, you’re just an ordinary fool.”

  Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch his friend across the jaw or admit that he was right. “It’s easy for you. You’ve got a sweet, pretty girl eating out of your hand. Poppy adores you.”

  Nick shook his head and let out an ironic laugh. “You think my life is easy?”

  “Yes,” Harry admitted. “I do.”

  Nick headed back to the wagon, sending him an ironic sidelong smirk. “You’re forgetting about Mavis.”

  Harry blinked, but rather than feeling reassurance over the fact that his friend had as many knots in his romantic rope as he did, it only depressed him further.

  He headed back to the wagon, thumping Nick’s back in solidarity when he got there. “Love’s a fickle strumpet, and we’re stuck in her thrall.”

  Nick laughed, hefting another sack into his arms. “At least you’re willing to admit you’re in love.”

  The comment stuck with Harry, like a bone he couldn’t swallow. He’d skated around the edges of admitting what his true feelings for Ginny were for ages. It had been so easy to chalk it all up to lust, the need to get between her legs and feel her skin against his. But that was only part of the story.

  The restlessness and foul mood stayed with him as activity at the new mine picked up. By the beginning of September, all anyone at Starcross Castle and in the surrounding towns and villages could talk about was Lord Peter’s new tin mine. Everyone wanted a part in it, and to his credit, Lord Peter kept finding ways to make not only the miners, but the local populace feel a part of the excitement.

  “We’ll need labor for the pump houses as well as buildings to house the engines for all the steps of the extraction process,” Lord Peter explained to Lady Mariah and Miss Victoria as they settled into seats on the hillside near where Ginny and Adler had had their picnic. Two dozen men or more were already hard at work on the site, building the initial structures that would be needed before mining could begin in earnest.

  Harry had come along on the outing to see to the horses. The only way Lord Peter was willing to let his wife ride out to the mining site was if she rode the smoothest and tamest horse in the stable, and if Harry was on hand to make sure that no trouble arose. And, Lord Peter had secretly confided in him, to take the ladies’ horses back at the end of the day, when he planned to have a carriage arrive to fetch them. Harry found the way Lord Peter balanced concern for his pregnant wife with his need to let her have her way in all things both smart and admirable.

  “What are all those strange holes and crevasses?” Miss Victoria asked, nodding to several areas in and around where the men were working. She remained standing after Lady Mariah and Lord Peter had taken seats in the grass.

  “Those were some of the natural caves Adler and the others explored as possible sites to open the mine,” Lord Peter explained. “But those two proved to have less potential in terms of ore—” He pointed to a pair of caves that looked more like cracks in the landscape farther inland. “—and the one over there is too close to the cliff’s edge for comfort.”

  Miss Victoria nodded and glanced toward the cliff. More hills, the beach, and the Channel were visible just a few miles away. “I’m going to take a walk to see it all,” she announced.

  “Oh, Victoria, wouldn’t you rather stay here with us?” Lady Mariah looked to her with deep concern.

  “There are more than a few dangerous spots down there,” Lord Peter added. “You should wait until the area has been built up a little more.”

  “I can handle walking around a few piles of stones and lumber,” Miss Victoria told her sister with an impatient sigh. “It’s not like I’m going to throw myself off the cliff because of my ruined virtue.”

  Harry caught himself wondering how much of a handful the young woman had been before events earlier in the summer had changed her. “I’ll walk with her, my lord,” he said, then turned to Miss Victoria. “If you’d like, miss.”

  Lord Peter exchanged a look with Lady Mariah, and they both glanced to Miss Victoria. Miss Victoria still seemed put out, but she sized Harry up, then sighed and said, “Very well. You can walk with me.”

  Harry stepped out from his post beside the horses and headed down the hillside to join Miss Victoria. “Would you like me to lend you an arm, miss?”

  Victoria sent him a wary glance. “Part of me wants to say yes, since you’re a handsome man. A woman can never go wrong on the arm of a handsome man.”

  Harry’s mouth twitched into a grin.

  “But I don’t want to give my sister the satisfaction of seeing me cowed,” she went on.

  “It’s not being cowed to accept help when it’s offered, miss,” Harry reminded her.

  Miss Victoria huffed an ironic laugh. “It is when you have a sister who treats you like a tiny bird with a broken wing.”

  Harry didn’t answer. It wasn’t his place to comment on the events of the early summer, although it was widely whispered among the servants that Lord William had treated the unfortunate woman abominably before dying, possibly raping her. Harry couldn’t tell if Miss Victoria’s prickly manner was a result of that abuse or if she’d always been a little on the fierce side. She reminded him of Ginny in a snit, though, and he knew better than to question a woman like that in a mood.

  They walked down into the valley where loads of stone, brick, and lumber were laid out, or being transformed into the buildings that would be the backbone of the new mining operation by the preliminary workers. Harry knew a little about mining from his brothers, and was able to sketch a simple picture of what kind of works would be needed to process the raw ore, how long it would take to dig the mine to a workable depth, and where he guessed houses might be built for workers who currently lived too far away for practicality.

  “The cliffs concern me a bit,” he admitted as they rounded the edge of a building that was more than half constructed.

  “Why? What’s worrying about cliffs?” Miss Victoria asked. “I mean, other than straying too close and falling off.”

  Harry winced and rubbed a hand over his face. “They have a way of eroding when you least expect it. What looks rock solid to us could be as quick to shift as sand.”

  “Somewhat like life, Mr. Pond?” Miss Victoria asked.

  He answered with a lopsided grin and a sigh. “Somewhat like life.”

  They walked on, each lost in their own thoughts. For a while, they walked along the cliff side, but Miss Victoria gradually headed back in to where the cluster of mining buildings was taking shape.

  “Do you mind if I sit here and look out at the sea for a bit?” she asked when she spotted a row of barrels up against the completed wall of one of the new buildings.

  “Not at all, miss.”

  Harry walked with her to the wall, but remained standing as Miss Victoria sat. It was actually pleasant to stand there with her in companionable silence. The workers had gathered at the far side of the construction site to enjoy tea, so the only sounds they heard were distant chattering and the rush of the wind over the hills.

  “Do you know, I used to despise pastoral silence,” Miss Victoria said at length.

  “Really, miss? I’ve always found it helpful for clearing away useless thoughts.”

  She glanced up at him and smiled. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me about you.”

  Harry shifted uncomfortably, unsure if she was insulting him or if the comment was meant as a compliment.

  “My sister thinks you’re a fine fellow,” she went on, as if in explanation. “Although I understand you’re in the midst of some sort of romantic turmoil.”

  “I…um….” Harry struggled for something to say to the bold comment.

  Miss Victori
a waved as if dismissing what she’d said. “If you’d have asked me in the spring, I would have said that romantic turmoil was exhilarating and, well, romantic. But I think we both know it’s not as much fun as it’s advertised to be.”

  “No, miss,” he answered, simply because he couldn’t think of anything else.

  Miss Victoria sighed, gazing out over the sea. “I think I would give just about anything to marry a good, quiet man right now. Adventure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

  Harry couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh and shake his head.

  “You don’t agree with me?” Miss Victoria asked.

  “Oh no, miss. I most certainly agree with you.” He just wished that Ginny agreed as well.

  Miss Victoria sent him a weary smile. “You’re going to make some woman a fine husband someday, you know.”

  “Me?” Harry leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “I don’t think so, miss.”

  “Really?” she blinked up at him. “Why not? You seem ideally suited for life as a husband and protector.”

  He tried not to let his smile grow too bitter as he answered her. “Not me. For certain reasons, I’m not the marrying sort.”

  “I doubt that,” Miss Victoria said. “Don’t you have a girl you’ve been walking out with? I could have sworn you had a sweetheart.”

  “No.” It was Harry’s turn to stare longingly at the horizon. If things kept going the way they were, he’d spend his life gazing out over the ocean, wondering what Ginny was doing a world away in Australia. “No, I don’t have a sweetheart,” he said. “And I don’t imagine I ever will.”

  “That’s a shame,” Miss Victoria said.

  But it wasn’t her comment that drew his attention back to the half-constructed building. A flash of movement at the edge of the wall turned out to be the edge of a dark grey skirt disappearing around the corner. A dark grey skirt like the kind Ginny wore in her position as lady’s maid. Harry frowned and straightened, then marched to the edge of the wall, stepping beyond it to see who had been spying on them.

  Sure enough, he was just in time to see Ginny jogging away from the building, toward the hill where Lady Mariah and Lord Peter still sat, very close together, deep in conversation. He hadn’t been aware she was at the mine site, let alone close by.

  “Ginny,” Harry called after her. She didn’t turn around, or even slow her steps. “Gin—” He gave up with a sigh and turned to lean against the wall, scrubbing his face with one hand. There was no need to ask whether Ginny had heard his conversation with Miss Victoria.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Miss Victoria said, studying him with a concerned frown.

  “It’s nothing, miss,” he sighed. “It was just Ginny, Lady Mariah’s maid. We…we have an…we’re friends.”

  “Friends.” Miss Victoria arched a brow. She shook her head and stood with a sigh. “Romantic turmoil indeed.”

  “Just friends, miss,” Harry reminded her.

  She hummed as if she didn’t believe a word he said, then held out her arm. “For the rest of our walk, you may escort me.”

  Harry had to hand it to the young woman. As depressed as her spirits were, she was still incorrigible. “Yes, miss,” he said, looping her hand through his elbow.

  “Let’s take the long way back to my sister,” she said. “And along the way, you can tell me all about how you’re just friends with Ginny.”

  That was it. That was the last time Ginny was going to get her hopes up. She’d heard from Harry’s own lips that he wasn’t interested in marriage. Which meant he wasn’t interested in marrying her. She couldn’t decide if she was angry or miserable as she marched back to the group of workers where Stephen stood.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?” Stephen asked her, his bland, boring smile in place as she stopped with a huff beside him and crossed her arms.

  “Yes,” she clipped, not bothering to hide her frown. She’d told him she wanted to look at something at the edge of the cliff, but in fact, she had seen Harry wandering with Miss Victoria and was curious to see if the same spark that had been between them in his office the other day was still there.

  Because for three nights she had lain awake, second-guessing everything she knew or thought she knew. Harry had been showing off when he interrupted her picnic with Stephen. The only reason a man showed off in front of a woman was if he wanted her in some way. She’d tossed and turned for three nights, wondering if she was wrong about what he thought of her and whether there had been some kind of misunderstanding all these years.

  But no, Stephen was right. She’d found what she was looking for. What she needed to do next was clear.

  “Is everything all right?” Stephen asked when he escorted her away from the workers and around the valley to the hill where Lady Mariah sat. She’d come out with the wagon Lord Peter had arranged to help Lady Mariah back to the house, but had wandered into the valley to say hello to Stephen, and to spy on Harry.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said, her voice higher and louder than it should have been. “It’s a beautiful day, the mine is coming along nicely, and we’re all set to have supper together in Truro tomorrow.”

  “Yes,” Stephen said with a proud smile. “I’m quite looking forward to that.”

  Ginny tried to reward his enthusiasm with a grin, but when she looked up, all she noticed was Harry and Miss Victoria heading in the same direction they were. Harry looked up as well, his eyes dark with sorrow…which didn’t make a lick of sense, as far as Ginny was concerned. Their paths converged halfway up the hill.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Travers,” Stephen said, touching the brim of his hat to Miss Victoria.

  “Hello, Mr. Adler. How are you this fine afternoon?” Miss Victoria asked.

  “Splendid. Positively splendid.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  Ginny ignored the small talk, looking deliberately ahead of her to where Lady Mariah and Lord Peter were scooting apart and trying not to look as red-faced and guilty for what was probably more public affection than they wanted to admit to. Lord Peter stood and came to greet Stephen.

  “How are things coming along?” he asked.

  “Very well,” Stephen answered.

  Ginny broke away from him and went to her mistress’s side, helping her to stand, ready to ignore another small-talk filled conversation.

  “We could use more workers to build the pump-house, though,” Stephen went on.

  “You haven’t had enough volunteers from town?” Lord Peter asked.

  “We’ve had an admirable amount of offers,” Stephen said, “but many of the men can only come for limited amounts of time, as they have jobs elsewhere.”

  “I’ll come and help,” Harry said, shocking Ginny into paying attention.

  “You’ll what?” she asked before she could stop herself.

  Harry sent a quick look in her direction before turning to Lord Peter. “If you can spare me an hour or two, my lord.”

  “Are you certain you’d want to do something as manual as construction?” Lord Peter seemed as shocked as Ginny was.

  Harry shrugged. “The mine is my family’s livelihood, even if it isn’t mine. I’d like to do whatever I can to help out, for their sake.”

  Lord Peter’s brow went up, and he smiled. “Well then, I couldn’t say no to an offer like that. I’ll have Snyder go over your schedule to see if there’s a time when we can spare you from the stables.”

  “Thank you, my lord.” Harry bowed respectfully.

  “Ginny, would you mind fetching my shawl from Lady Jane’s saddlebag?”

  Ginny was forced to drag her incredulous stare away from Harry and to curtsy for Lady Mariah. “Yes, my lady.”

  The last thing she wanted to do was leave the conversation while Harry was being so…so…. But her duties to her mistress came first.

  As it would happen, Lady Mariah also walked with her to the horses. “What is that look for?” she asked when they were out of e
arshot of the others.

  Ginny sent Harry one last frown over her shoulder, then glanced to Lady Mariah. “I can’t figure out what he thinks he’s up to, my lady,” she said.

  Lady Mariah blinked. “What do you mean, ‘up to’? It seems to me that he’s being generous with his time.”

  “He doesn’t need to have anything to do with the mines, my lady,” Ginny said, her tone implying that Lady Mariah was being naïve.

  “He said he’s doing it for his family.” Lady Mariah looked back at her as though Ginny had given her more lip than she should have.

  “I suppose you’re right, my lady,” she said, lowering her head with the deference that was due her mistress. A moment later, she snapped her head up to meet Lady Mariah’s eyes. “I just can’t help but feel like he’s trying to prove some kind of point. He doesn’t like Stephen at all.”

  Lady Mariah arched a brow. “Stephen, is it?”

  “Mr. Adler.” Ginny pursed her lips and glanced back to the men and Miss Victoria. “The other day, when I had lunch with Mr. Adler, Harry rode by looking all….”

  “All?” Lady Mariah’s eyes sparkled.

  “I think he was trying to make me jealous.”

  “Wouldn’t Mr. Pond be the jealous one, seeing as you were lunching with another man?”

  Ginny sighed, shaking her head and reaching into Lady Jane’s saddlebag to retrieve Lady Mariah’s shawl. “I just heard him say he isn’t the marrying kind, that he doesn’t think he’ll ever marry.”

  “Perhaps.” Lady Mariah tilted her head to the side, “he said that because he doesn’t think he can marry you.”

  “My lady, you are not helping the situation,” Ginny said, wishing that her mistress were the sort of countess who remained cold and aloof with her servants after all. The friendly meddling was a hundred times worse than being thought of as inferior in every way.

  “Well,” Lady Mariah said, throwing her shawl around her shoulders. “Whatever the case, you don’t have to decide anything right away.”