saying. Seemingly someone approached ’im when he were in The Red Lion t’other evening. Said that if he wanted the position, he’d ’ave to take it right away. He’s been given until this evening to make up ’is mind.”
The Earl’s silver-grey brows snapped together, clearly betraying his staunch disapproval. He considered this underhanded way of acquiring employees totally unacceptable. Why, it smacked of nothing short of poaching! Yet, at the same time, he could quite understand Clem’s wishing to improve his lot, and felt it would be very mean-spirited on his part not to let the young groom go simply because he and Trapp would be put to the trouble of finding a suitable replacement.
“If Clem wishes to leave us, then we must accept the situation with a good grace,” he responded at length, echoing his thoughts aloud. “It’s unlikely we’ll find a replacement at a moment’s notice, so I’ll arrange for one of the lads at Jaffrey House to come here.”
“There may be no need to put yourself to the bother, sir,” Trapp surprised his lordship by announcing. “As luck would ’ave it, someone wandered into the mews this morning in search of work. Seemingly, he’s been away in foreign parts for a number of years. Brown as a nut he be, so I don’t doubt the truth o’ that. Came back after his old master died, he told me.”
His lordship was not enthusiastic. “Who was his late employer, do you know? Can he supply a reference?”
“No, sir. Happen there were a spot o’ bother on the boat journey home. Lost all his belongings, so he told me.”
“Mmm.” His lordship’s brows once again met at the bridge of his thin, aristocratic nose. “You know my views, Trapp. I’m never altogether happy about employing people who cannot provide a reference, especially strangers.”
“Aye, sir. I do know.” Trapp raised a hand to scratch his grizzled hair: a habit of his when pondering a ticklish problem. “And, ordinarily, I’m of a similar mind. But I ’ave to say that this fellow knows a thing or two about beasts. It just so ’appens that Miss Sophie’s filly was in one of her frisky moods when he wanders into the mews. Had her quietened down in a trice, so he did. Beasts, I reckon, ’ave a deal more sense than most folks. And what I always says is, if horses take to a cove, then he can’t be all bad.”
There was perhaps more than a grain of truth in this simple philosophy, his lordship decided, and he took a moment or two more to consider the matter. “Very well, Trapp. If you’re willing to give this stranger a chance, that’s good enough for me. If he doesn’t prove suitable, I can, as I’ve already mentioned, send to Jaffrey House for a replacement.”
Although he had given his consent readily enough, his lordship was not completely happy with this unexpected turn of events. Was it mere coincidence, he wondered, watching his henchman leave the room, that soon after his groom had been offered a new position, someone should have turned up looking for work? A wry smile tugged at the corner of his thin-lipped mouth. Perhaps he was just getting too cynical in his old age, he decided, his mind returning to something else which had puzzled him during the past few days.
Why, he wondered, had there been a marked lack of interest of late shown by eligible young gentlemen in his daughter? Since the night of their ball he had not received one offer, verbal or otherwise, for Sophia’s hand. He was not so foolish as to suppose that he would be likely to receive a proposal of marriage every single week for the duration of their stay in town. Nor was he such a doting father that he imagined for a moment that his daughter, lovely though she was, would be to every man’s taste.
There was no denying, either, that Sophia could be troublesome on occasions, and any gentleman hoping for a quiet life would do well to consider long and hard before proposing matrimony to her. Only a gentleman with a stronger will than her own could ever hope to keep Sophia under control. Surely, though, somewhere in the length and breadth of this land existed a gentleman of good birth quite capable of keeping a tight rein on a troublesome filly? His lordship could only hope that this was so, and that it wouldn’t be too long before this ideal mate crossed his daughter’s path.
The door opened and the subject of his thoughts, looking perfectly charming in a lavender silk gown and matching bonnet, swept into the room. The sweetly angelic smile on her face, as she tripped lightly across to the desk, would fool most gentlemen into believing that by nature she was compliant. A grossly inaccurate supposition which any poor deluded fool might make, he decided, his suspicions surfacing anew.
“What on earth have I done to make you scowl so, Papa?” After placing a kiss on the soft, silver-grey hair, she perched herself, uninvited, on the edge of his desk. “Anyone seeing that disapproving look of yours might suppose that I’d been up to some mischief.”
“It is not beyond the realms of possibility that you have been, my dear,” he responded drily, thereby igniting that gurgle of feminine laughter which never failed to bring a smile to his own lips. “Where are you off to this morning, decked out in all your finery?”
“I’m going out with Mama in the carriage to visit Madame Félice. I’m due there in an hour for the final fitting of my new riding habit, and we mustn’t be late, otherwise we might find ourselves having to return some other time.”
“My, my! How things have changed!” his lordship remarked, in the same dry tone. “In my day no seamstress would dare to dictate what time a member of the aristocracy was to arrive at her shop.”
“Ah! But she’s no ordinary dressmaker, Papa. Anyone who is anyone has a gown made by Madame Félice,” Sophia remarked, wickedly mimicking the élite hostess whose ball she had attended the previous night. “Ordinarily, as you know, that wouldn’t weigh with me, but I am desperate to have my new habit finished. I haven’t ridden once since we arrived in town.”
This innocent admission jogged his lordship’s memory, and he wasn’t in the least surprised by Sophia’s crestfallen expression when he apprised her of Clem’s wishing to leave, and the reason behind the young groom’s decision.
“I shall be very sorry to see him go, Papa. I always preferred Clem to accompany me whenever I went out riding.” Slipping lightly from the desk, she went over to the door, but turned back as a dreadful thought suddenly occurred to her. “That doesn’t mean I shall be forced to take Trapp with me for the duration of our stay in town, does it? I shan’t be able to do a thing without his reporting my comings and goings straight back to you.”
“And wouldn’t that be a good thing!” his lordship retorted, wickedly teasing, and then laughed outright as Sophia gave a haughty toss of her head before sweeping regally from the room.
No, it certainly would be no bad thing for someone to keep an eye on the little monkey, he reiterated, silently revising his own plans for the forthcoming weeks.
Although he enjoyed good health, he was no longer a young man, and had decided long before they had embarked on this visit to the metropolis that he would be leaving the supervision of his most trying offspring in his wife’s very capable hands. He had adjusted reasonably well already to town hours, but was very well aware that he no longer possessed the stamina, or the inclination for that matter, to throw himself headlong into the social whirl. None the less, it would not do him a mite of harm, he decided, if just every once in a while he accompanied his wife and daughter out for an evening. His added presence would certainly ensure his daughter’s good behaviour. Furthermore, it would not hurt to have a word with Trapp, just to ensure that this new man was well aware that he must keep a strict watch whenever he accompanied the daughter of the house out on what might very well turn out to be a daily ride, if the weather continued fair.
Although Sophia had said very little when she had learned of Clem’s wishing to leave, she was very upset by the unexpected news. Clem had been her personal groom for more than ten years. Unfailingly vigilant, while at the same time allowing her free rein, he had proved to be the perfect bodyguard and companion during those innumerable rides they had taken across the Earl’s Northamptonshire acres. Some would consider, she didn’t doubt, that her manner towards the young groom had been far too free and easy, but Sophia had looked upon Clem more as a friend than a servant, and