Jayne Fresina by Once a Rogue

Author:Once a Rogue [Rogue, Once a]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

In a matter of days Lord Oakham made his first parry, the gift of two pheasants in honor of Mistress Carver’s new houseguest. John demanded they be returned at once, but Lucy insisted they were sent to her and therefore she would keep them. His mother agreed. Two plump, succulent birds were always welcome at her table, wherever they came from.

Mistress Carver teased her son for his sudden concern. “I don’t recall such hesitancy about the providence of other birds you came upon by chance on Lord Oakham’s land in the past, John, when you just happened to have a bow at hand.”

He stormed out in a foul temper.

The next gift was a basket of fruit, prompting John to exclaim, “Doesn’t he know mine are the finest orchards in all Norfolk? We don’t need his blasted fruit.”

Once again they kept it, Lucy thrusting a large strawberry between his pouting lips just to silence his complaints. His teeth very nearly caught her fingers too.

Finally, after this procession of gifts, Oakham himself appeared at their gate, making an impromptu visit with a large ham under one arm and a bottle of Gascony wine. He played the part of the concerned, interested neighbor very well, discussing the harvest yield expected and admiring the sheep flock he’d seen John driving down the lane recently. He asked after Mistress Carver’s health, for he’d recently heard she was under the weather, and then he congratulated them on the fat, thriving new family in the sty.

“I’m the head swineherd,” Lucy piped up proudly. It burst out of her before she remembered her vow to remain quiet and demure in Oakham’s presence. She didn’t want him getting any further ideas of having seen her somewhere before and she certainly didn’t want John accusing her of flirting again.

“Is that so, dear lady? Then you do an excellent job.” Oakham smiled broadly. “Perhaps I should hire you away from young Master Carver,” he added with a sly wink.

John stood in such a hurry they all jumped a few inches. “She’s staying here with me.” He paused. “Until Nathaniel comes back,” he added gruffly. “She was left in my charge.” He strode to the fire and stood with his back to the room. Vince trotted over to sit beside him, always alert to any change in his master’s mood.

Lucy sipped her wine, hoping to calm her nerves. It was never her intention to make such a tangled mess of things for John Carver, but she knew he was just as confused by it all as she was. He was a hard-working man with a life and a family. It made what she had done that night in May all the worse, all the more hurtful. He should be married to a good woman like Alice Croft, and for as long as she stayed in his house, she was in the way.

“I hear you made a good sale with your fleeces this spring,” Lord Oakham ventured. “All sold to Winton in Norwich.

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