“Newberry would be the poorer for your absence. You have done so well. I know your mother is very proud of you, and of Louisa too.” He glanced around. “But I do not truly need the income of the position. I am wealthy enough to live how I like. There is much that could be done at Newberry, particularly hiring new staff to ease the pressure on the old, and I could help with that I suppose. When Maitland returns, he will undoubtedly want to do things his way.”
“You have considered what Newberry needs already?”
“Only in passing. I could not help but notice a great many things need to improve. For example, your sister and cousins should not be hauling baskets of fruit about. If there were more able-bodied gardeners in service, they would never have to.”
Sally shifted uncomfortably.
“How do you think I should answer him? Should I take it or not?”
“I could not say.” She swallowed. “Mother says you do not have a home.”
“I do not yet. For the past few years, whenever I was able to come ashore, I have stayed at the Fladong’s Hotel in London. It has been good enough for a bachelor.”
“But one day you will want to have a family.”
“I already wanted that,” he said quietly, and her heart skipped a beat. “With you, in fact. But that does not seem likely anymore, does it?”
Her eyes stung. He had said he wanted her, but she had not realized just how deep his intentions ran. If she had not been engaged when Felix had first come to Newberry, would she have said yes to Ellicott straight away? Would Felix have offered for her hand again?
So far they had managed to patch up their differences, but she was a long way from trusting her heart to him.
“I think you should consider it,” Sally murmured. “You are liked by everyone here.”
His hand twitched toward her. She stared as it came to rest on the cushion beside her, and the compulsion to take it overwhelmed her momentarily. Everything would have been so easy if she had married him. No family but a brother. No home of his own. She could have gone on as she was, managing the estate alongside Felix, visiting her sister in the middle of the night when she was troubled. Felix was an easy man by and large and had never been demanding of her time and attention. He understood her devotion to her family better than anyone.
She took a deep breath and glanced across the room. Ellicott was talking again, remarking on the features of the new home she would live in with him. A place she should yearn to see. But she could not imagine herself as his wife and living anywhere but here at Newberry with Felix.
Felix hissed suddenly and she glanced at him quickly. He lifted Horace from his legs, leaving tiny claw marks in the black fabric of his breeches. “Even your cats seem to like me. Perhaps a little too much.”
Sally removed Horace from his grip and their hands brushed around the cat’s middle before he pulled away. “It is good to know they like you. I have to leave them behind now.”
“That seems unfair.”
“Ellicott has dogs, so it will be safer for them. I could not bear to place them in harm’s way.” She hugged Horace a moment, then let him leap from her arms. “So how long do you think you might remain ashore this time?”
“I have still no idea, but I am not anxious to return to my ship. Not anymore.” His gaze warmed, and a sensuous smile curved his lips, making her think of how warmly he regarded her when she’d been strewn across his bed.
When he flicked his tongue over his lips, she could not keep her eyes from him. “You are not wishing to go back?”
“What do you think?” he said in a deeper tone that struck her senses like the flick of his tongue against her most intimate places. “I would like nothing better than to get to know you all over again, sweetheart.”
She blushed as she pressed her knees together, drowning in his heated stare. She was powerless to prevent the reaction, not when she wanted to rediscover everything about him too.
“Sally, come over here and tell this old fellow how lovely Shropshire is in the summer,” Ellicott called out.
Sally closed her eyes to break Felix’s hold on her, sucked in a sharp breath, and then let it out softly. “Please excuse me, but please give my grandfather’s offer serious consideration. It would be good to have you here, and I would like to see you again.”
“I will be waiting.”
Sally stood and hurried to her betrothed before she made any promises. If she was going to reconsider marrying Ellicott for Felix, she had better decide and quickly. Breaking an engagement would be expensive and embarrassing for the family at this late stage.
She smiled at Ellicott. “I could not say, having only ever visited your home in the autumn.”
“The autumn months are lovely too.” Ellicott took a drink from a passing waiter and then tossed back the entire thing. Sally frowned at the empty glass. Was that his fifth drink this evening?
Uncle George moved away as Ellicott curled her arm about his and held her at his side. He led her to take a turn about the room. “What were you whispering to Captain Hastings about?”
“A message from Rutherford,” she said, noticing Felix was watching them. “Nothing of importance.”