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you, Mr. Harrow. I had to leave my luggage at the rail station. I’d like very much to borrow a cart, or get a ride into town so that I might reclaim my things.”
    When she offered up Lord Brendall’s sandwich, he looked at her briefly before going back to his work.
    “I’ll take you after we’ve eaten. We had an early start this morning, and my back’s not going to take much more lifting today. There’s not much good to be said about getting older if you were to ask me.”
    Abby couldn’t help but smile. Thomas was very friendly, and so different from his wife. She needed friends right now. She missed her sisters, and had felt so alone since leaving them. To be welcomed in any small way in this farthest reach of En gland seemed a bit of a blessing.
    She ducked her head again, feeling unusually shy.
    She was never shy. Perhaps she was just sentimental when thoughts of her sisters clouded her mind. Or perhaps was blatant disregard she received from Lord Brendall making her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. He had a way about him. He looked right through her as though she weren’t standing five feet away.
    Did the man dislike everyone, or was there something she’d done to offend him? She was sure it was the first and not the latter. Because, for the life of her, she couldn’t think what she’d done wrong since last night.
    “Where shall I meet you, then?” she asked Thomas.
    “Come sit here with an old man for a bit. I find I like the company of a beautiful young woman.”
    Beautiful? Hardly. Emma, her oldest sister, had always been the beauty in the family. Abby had always thought herself rather plain. No sense in dissuading him. Every girl liked to be charmed with pretty words. Just because she had no desire to marry didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a little flattery once in a while. And it wasn’t as though Mr. Harrow was a contender for her hand.
    “I’ve yet to meet my charge.” Abby hesitated before drawing nearer. “I really should look for him before we set out.”
    “Jacob will be in the stables,” Thomas said. “I wish you luck. He’s a wily one. He’ll slip out of your fingers the second you blink.”
    “I’m sure I’ll manage.” Perhaps the child was a little wild. She’d been like that: daring, adventurous, clever . . . slippery as an eel her father had always been wont to say.
    Thomas chuckled and bit into his sandwich. Lord Brendall finished up with the mortar and sat on a tree stump nearby with his sandwich in hand. He seemed content in remaining silent and continued to ignore her existence.
    As though her thoughts were carried on the wind, he suddenly turned his head and stared directly at her, the silvery blue of his eyes trapping her like manacles about her wrists. His sudden regard robbed her of breath. His eyes were even more beautiful in the full light of day. The blue so light, so clear and unusual that she couldn’t stop staring into them. She was making an imbecile of herself, but for the life of her, she couldn’t drop her gaze.
    “If Jacob’s not in the stables, he likes to wander the ruined parts of the attic and upper floors of the
    main house.” His voice was gravelly and deep.
    “This is a usual occurrence, then?” At least she had found her voice. “This wandering around and hiding?”
    She couldn’t blame the child when the father seemed so cold. Distant. There was something dark about him that warned her to guard herself carefully around this man.
    “Does he ever leave the castle grounds?”
    “He’s got no need to. There’s nothing outside the walls that would interest him.”
    “Why is it, my lord, that you’ve accepted an advertisement for a governess and not a tutor to prepare your son for school?”
    She bit the inside of her cheek and clenched her fists in her skirts. A bold tongue was a sure way for Lord Brendall to send her away.
    “You ask too many questions, Miss Hallaway. It’s my business what I do with the boy.”
    Taken aback,