The Inheritance (37 page)

There were already several men and a brace of horses trying to rescue the machinery when Daisy and Nicholas had arrived on the scene. Instead of watching from atop his horse, as past dukes had done in days gone by, Nicholas was off his horse in an instant and put his London-tailored shoulder against the huge metal wheel along with the men in muslin shirts.

Nicholas never saw the stunned looks on the faces of Severn’s tenants, never saw the consideration that replaced it and the admiration that followed that. Daisy did.

When the steam plow was free, Nicholas asked enough questions to discover the problem and wrangled a promise from Peters to be more careful in the future. He shook hands with the other men—as equals—before mounting his horse and continuing his ride.

Daisy had tried to explain the significance of what
he had done, but Nicholas had brushed off her compliments.

“I only did what any neighbor would do,” he said.

Daisy had realized then, for the first time, what growing up in America had done to Nicholas. He had no sense of class, of social distinctions. He judged a man the way he expected to be judged. For who he was. It was a radical proposition, but one that she realized would do the duke no harm in the eyes of his people.

He might treat them as equals, but it would be generations before they would be able to see the duke as anything except what he was. Severn. Whom their parents had served, and their parents before them. And whom their children would serve. It would be interesting to see how those beliefs were moderated over the years.

Daisy’s attention was drawn back to the pasture by Nicholas’s exclamation.

“By God, here it is! This is what’s causing the problem.”

Daisy nudged her horse toward the spot where Nicholas was kneeling on the ground with Johnson beside him. He held a small plant with prickly spurs.

“Larkspur. It isn’t locoweed, but it’s a near cousin,” Nicholas said. “You’re going to have to move the cattle out of this field until you can get rid of this stuff.”

“Move them where, Your Grace?” Johnson said. “I haven’t any other field.”

Nicholas scratched his head. He turned to Daisy and asked, “Any suggestions?”

Daisy was both pleased and surprised to be consulted. This was what she had imagined it would be
like, the two of them working together, making decisions. It was hard to believe it was actually happening.

“Daisy?”

She flushed. If she kept daydreaming he would think she was a nitwit and look elsewhere for advice. The answer to his dilemma came in her next thought. “Squire Templeton has a field he might be willing to lease for a short term.”

Nicholas turned back to Johnson, and as the two men rose to their feet he said, “I’ll speak to the squire this afternoon. If he agrees, I’ll be back to help you drive the cattle over there today.”

“That won’t be necessary, Your Grace. I can manage.”

“You’ll need some help, won’t you?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Then I’ll be here.”

Johnson’s eyes skipped to Daisy, and she saw the confusion there. It was hard for his tenants to understand this American duke, who was willing to labor beside them. “As you wish, Your Grace. I’ll wait to hear from you,” Johnson said.

Daisy noticed an aura of excitement about Nicholas after they had left Johnson’s farm. “What has you shifting in your seat?”

His eyes gleamed as he turned to her. “I’m going on a cattle drive. I hadn’t thought I missed things like that, but it seems I have. I think I’ll ask Colin if he wants to come along. He might enjoy the adventure.”

“What about me?”

“Ladies never go on cattle drives,” Nicholas stated flatly.

Which only made Daisy more determined to join him. Nicholas must have recognized his mistake because he quickly amended, “Ladies usually don’t go on cattle drives. It’s dirty, dusty work, Daisy. You won’t like it.”

“I’ll judge for myself,” she said.

Nicholas grinned. “This I’ve got to see.”

Daisy never made it to the cattle drive. But neither did Nicholas. Something else came up. Something so amazing, so astonishing, that it took him completely by surprise.

Daisy dropped her riding crop in the hallway as she entered Severn Manor with the duke on her heels. Thompson started to retrieve it for her, but she waved him away and bent over to get it herself. “Thank you, Thompson. I can—”

As she stood, the blood drained from her head, leaving her woozy. Afraid she was going to fall, Daisy reached out and caught Nicholas’s arm to steady herself.

“Daisy?”

“Nicholas, I—” Everything got dark around the edges. Daisy realized as she fell what was happening. “I think … I’m going to … faint.”

Nicholas bellowed for help as he caught Daisy in his arms. Servants came running from all corners of the house.

“Go for the doctor. Turn down my bed. Get her some tea. Get cool water and bring it to my room.” Nicholas shouted orders, then headed upstairs. He wanted to get Daisy alone where he could examine her and find out what had happened.

Fear clawed at him, and he realized how much the woman in his arms meant to him. It was no longer a
matter of simply enjoying her, being intrigued by her, being delighted with her. He needed her. He couldn’t survive without her.

He loved her
.

Nicholas forced that thought away. Now, when she had fainted for no good reason, was no time to admit to feelings she probably wouldn’t welcome, nor to feelings he wasn’t sure he welcomed himself.

He carried her to his room and lay her on the bed. Jane was already there and pushed him out of the way. She unbuttoned Daisy’s riding jacket and the blouse beneath it.

Nicholas’s mouth flattened in rage when he saw how tightly Daisy’s corset was tied. No wonder she couldn’t breathe!

“Get that damned corset off her,” he said, “before I rip it off myself. I don’t want her wearing another one, do you understand me?”

Jane didn’t cower before him, knowing she had been hired by the mistress and that it was the mistress she served. “Fashion requires—”

“Be damned to fashion! I won’t have her tied up in one of those again. The woman fainted, for heaven’s sake. It’s a wonder she hasn’t done so before now.”

“It wasn’t the corset that caused it!” Jane retorted. She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” With Nicholas towering over her, Jane wasn’t so sure of herself as she might have been.

“If you know anything, you’d best tell me. I’ve
sent for the doctor, and any secrets you’re keeping won’t be secret much longer.”

“Then he can tell you,” Jane said primly.

“Tell me what?” Nicholas roared.

“Her Grace is with child,” Jane blurted.

Nicholas stared at her, disbelieving. “She’s barren.”

“The doctor only said he didn’t think she could have another. And His Grace, the previous duke that is, never came to her bed after she lost the child.”

“Get out,” Nicholas said.

“But, Your Grace—”

“Get out before I pick you up and throw you out.”

Jane left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Nicholas sank down onto the bed beside Daisy. The jacket of green velvet had been peeled open along with her blouse, and the corset he had blamed for all her trouble pushed her breasts up enticingly. But his eyes were drawn inexorably down below her waist. He laid his palm on her gathered skirt, but couldn’t feel any difference in her shape. Her belly was still flat.

Our child is growing inside her
.

He hadn’t imagined having another child. Hadn’t planned on it. Didn’t know what to think of it.

Unfortunately, Daisy came out of her swoon too late to keep Jane from spilling the truth and too soon for Nicholas to have come to terms with the cataclysmic news he had just been given.

Daisy raised a hand to her head and opened her eyes slowly to adjust to the light in the room. Everything came back to her, how she had dropped her riding crop and leaned over to pick it up and then
fainted dead away. She decided Nicholas must have brought her to his bedroom so she could recover.

“Nicholas?”

“You lied to me.”

“What?”

“About having children. You lied to me.”

He knew. Somehow he knew about the child. Of course. That was what had caused her to faint. Dr. Fitzsimmons had warned her to tread carefully, not to
try
to do too much. And somehow Nicholas had figured out the truth. Or someone had told him. She had seen the doctor when she first missed her courses, and he had confirmed what she had only hoped. She had promised to take care of herself, to eat well and to get enough sleep and to moderate her activities. He had told her she could continue riding for a few more weeks. He had also warned her not to get her hopes up, that it was doubtful she could carry the child to full term in any event. So she had been afraid to let herself hope. She had made him promise not to tell Nicholas, and he had agreed.

But, under the circumstances, maybe he had been given no other choice. “Did the doctor come?” she asked.

“Not yet, but he’ll be here soon.”

“Then how—”

“Jane told me.”

“Oh. I wanted to tell you myself.”

“When were you planning to let me in on the secret?”

“In another month.”

“Why wait?”

“To be sure. I couldn’t believe it had really happened
at first. Years ago the doctor said I could never have any more children.”

“It seems he was mistaken.”

Daisy smiled, but had to grit her teeth to keep her chin from quivering. “Yes, it seems so. He also said there’s a chance I could lose this child, as well.”

Nicholas hadn’t given much thought to the fact her first child had died. That this one might die, also. He was torn between feeling elation at this miracle and forcing himself not to care, in case something went wrong.

For Daisy, it was already too late. She already loved the child, though it had been growing inside her a mere two months.

“When will the child be born?” Nicholas asked.

“In the spring.”

Nicholas huffed out a breath of air. Suddenly there was a great deal more at stake in the decisions that needed to be made than there ever had been before. He couldn’t leave Daisy behind with his child. Wouldn’t leave her. If she knew that, she could easily use the child as a means of blackmail to force him to stay. Assuming the child was born alive.

He would never abandon a child of his. He knew too well what the consequences could be. He wondered for an instant if Daisy had planned this all along. It seemed too coincidental that she should become pregnant when she had told him she couldn’t have children. It was impossible to know what to believe. He intended to speak with the doctor and find out the truth.

Daisy reached out and touched Nicholas’s hand, which lay on the bed beside her. “Nicholas? Are you glad? About the baby?”

“At least this one will be legitimate.”

It wasn’t the answer she had hoped for. “I’m excited,” she said. “And a little frightened.” He would never know how much courage it took for her to admit her fear. She looked up and for a flickering instant saw terror in his eyes.

He does care
, she thought.
More than he’s willing to admit. And he’s as scared as I am
.

“Nicholas.”

She waited for him to look at her. His expression was masked now. She had no way of seeing past the wall he had put up against her.

“What is it, Daisy?” He sounded annoyed, and she decided this wasn’t the best time to confront him about his feelings.

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“Dammit! If you’ve got something to say, say it!”

She hadn’t expected the explosion of anger. It was a sign of how just how unsettling he found the prospect of having another child.

Nicholas left the bed and paced the length of the room, tunneling his hands through his hair in agitation. “Talk to me, Daisy. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking how lucky we are, Nicholas. Imagine, a child, when I believed it to be impossible.”

“A child only complicates things,” he said. “You seem to have forgotten we have a little problem.”

“What problem?”

“I won’t stay in England, and you won’t go to America. Who gets the child, Daisy? Tell me that!”

Daisy felt a moment of panic. Surely he wouldn’t take the child with him when he left! No one separated a newborn babe from its mother. Yet from the
stern look on his face, anything was possible. “We have until the spring, Nicholas. That’s plenty of time to make a decision.” To come to a compromise, she thought. But she could see no compromise that would work now that a child had entered the picture.

Fortunately, the doctor arrived and their argument was cut short. Nicholas left the room and paced the hallway while Dr. Fitzsimmons examined Daisy. The doctor was an old man, and Nicholas wondered how competent he was. His only comfort came from the knowledge that the doctor had saved Daisy’s life once before under similar circumstances.

“How is she?” Nicholas asked as the doctor left the bedroom.