The Two Lords of Wealdhant Manor (7 page)

Straightening up and clearing his throat, Algernon smoothed down his waistcoat. “Yes, Cullen?”

“Forgive the interruption, sir,” Mr. Cullen said. “The foreman needs to speak with you about some of your options before he begins the renovations in your bedroom.”

Algernon sighed. “Yes, Cullen. I suppose I ought to see to that at once.”

Mr. Cullen’s gaze flicked briefly toward Jasper. “Yes, sir.”

“Very well.” Algernon started for the door.

“Sir,” said Mr. Cullen, stepping forward to tidy Algernon’s neck cloth with his usual professional fastidiousness, still serving as both butler and personal valet.

When he was released, Algernon glanced back at Jasper, who was standing where he’d been left. His shoulders were hunched, neck muscles tensed. Algernon fought the impulse to lick that proud throat.

“Jasper…” Algernon bit his tongue, uncertain.

Jasper watched him, brown eyes guarded.

“Come with me,” Algernon offered, on impulse. He wanted to try again and to have Jasper as an ally, in order that he might keep him close and kiss him again and again.

Holding his gaze for a moment, Jasper nodded once and then crossed the room to his side.

Mr. Cullen stepped forward. “If I may, Mr. Waltham.”

Jasper stiffened, scowling Mr. Cullen with surly distrust as the valet-cum-butler tidied his waistcoat and hair with swift professionalism.

Algernon bit his lip to contain his amusement. He suspected that Jasper had never in his life enjoyed the services of a valet, and this wasn’t the first time that Mr. Cullen had helped to neaten up the amorous dishevelment which Algernon left in his wake.

“Thank you, Cullen,” Algernon said, as appreciative as ever of his employee’s discretion.

Mr. Cullen nodded in acknowledgement and stepped back.

“Shall we?” Algernon said to Jasper. His voice wavered, feeling uncertain about their new arrangement and what exactly it entailed.

Jasper stepped up to his side, following him out of the room.

As they reached the stairs, Jasper’s hand curled around the back of Algernon’s elbow, holding it with light possessiveness as they walked together up the main stairwell.

Algernon allowed it, but he lifted his chin higher and pulled his shoulders back, wanting it to be perfectly clear to everyone involved that
he
was the lord of the manor here.

Jasper’s hand stayed where it was.

When they reached the door to Algernon’s chambers, Algernon paused, glancing over at Jasper. He couldn’t read the expression on his companion’s face. Jasper’s brown eyes were alert, possibly edged with distrust, and his square-jawed face was blank.

Algernon swallowed back the urge to kiss him. “Be my ally, Jasper,” he murmured. Jasper was still very close to him, and in the momentary privacy of the hallway, the connection between them felt weighty with significance. “Things are going to have to change in Wilston, but if you’ll face them with me I will do everything I can to accommodate your wisdom and advice.”

Jasper watched him inscrutably for several seconds, and then leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of Algernon’s jaw.

A thrill went down Algernon’s spine at that intimate gesture of agreement. Grinning with delight, he reached for the doorknob.

A
lgernon enjoyed very much
the new pleasure of waking up in Jasper’s arms.

Jasper’s solid body was warm, which was especially pleasant in contrast to the January chill of the room. A fire was burning cheerfully in the grate across the room, but it could only do so much to mediate the cold that pooled in the bones of the old stone manor.

It seemed that Jasper was especially affectionate and possessive when he slept, keeping his arm looped around Algernon’s waist.

Rolling over to face his lover, Algernon pressed soft kisses up the column of Jasper’s throat. Jasper smelled like apples and vanilla, and being around him was addictive. More so because of how utterly indignant he was about everything. Algernon wanted to invent an ever-lengthening list of new experiences to inflict upon Jasper just for the pleasure of how Jasper set his shoulders and scowled.

A few of those scowls from yesterday had been successfully smoothed away by kisses. Algernon had learned so far that sometimes Jasper could be coaxed with sweetness, and sometimes he could be tempted into angry and heated kissing, but in the end it would always be logic and the inevitability of a situation that would win him over.

Jasper stirred in his sleep, woken by the kisses, and Algernon kept it up, nipping at Jasper’s jaw to wake him fully.

Growling, Jasper woke and rolled them over, pushing Algernon down onto his back and blinking sleepily at him.

“Good morning, Jasper,” Algernon whispered.

Jasper’s pale cheeks coloured as he tensed, visibly uncertain of himself.

Enjoying the sight, Algernon clasped a hand around the back of Jasper’s head and pulled him into a kiss.

Jasper resisted for only a moment before he melted into it, returning the kiss with pure sweetness for a few more seconds before rolling off of Algernon and getting up.

Algernon groaned in objection to his lover’s departure. “Jasper,” he said, but Jasper ignored him, going to relieve himself and then making use of the water in the basin on Algernon’s vanity table in order to perform his morning ablutions.

The bed was far too warm and comfortable to leave, and from here Algernon had a view of Jasper’s naked body. He stared openly, biting down on his own lip as a surge of desire went through him. “Jasper,” he repeated plaintively.

Jasper made a grunting noise which Algernon decided to interpret as a query.

“Come back to bed.”

Jasper’s eyes narrowed just enough to make it clear he was considering the offer.

Algernon licked his lips, and was rewarded immediately for it when Jasper’s eyes darkened with lust.

Drying his face, Jasper tossed the towel down upon the vanity and came over to kiss him again. Algernon scooted over to give him room in the bed and sealed his body close against Jasper’s warmth, tugging the blankets up over them.

“We can’t,” Jasper said between kisses, “spend the entire day in bed.”

Algernon flicked his tongue over Jasper’s upper lip before replying. “We perfectly well can.”

Jasper grumbled and lifted up to break the kiss. “It would be irresponsible.”

Algernon’s eyes rolled toward heaven as he sought for patience with Jasper’s stubborn convictions. “We could spend only
half
the day in bed.”

It was satisfying, at least, that Jasper seemed to consider that.

But in the end he shook his head and got up, leaving Algernon cold and wanting.

“Jasper!” Algernon exclaimed, disappointed and annoyed by Jasper’s apparent aversion to comfort and pleasure.

“We have work to do.”

Yawning, Algernon deigned to sit up in bed. He regretted it at once as his bare chest was exposed to the air of the room. “What, the library? It will keep.”

“The library, and the railway.”

Algernon’s hands clenched in the covers, not liking the challenging edge to Jasper’s voice as he said that. “What of the railway?”

“Are you oblivious or intentionally obfuscating the issue? Mr. Sutton wants to lay locomotive tracks across the estate, and I know perfectly well that it was him who sent you.”

A chill went through Algernon’s blood at that, wanting to guard the fact that Mr. Sutton had Algernon almost entirely in his power. “Mr. Sutton needed an heir to sell him the land, and he turned up me.”

Jasper’s mouth opened, most likely on an objection or insult with regards to the veracity of Algernon’s claim, but for once he shut his mouth again without comment.

Algernon forged forward. “For heaven’s sake, Jasper, you make it sound like some conspiracy. I don’t work for the railway, and I am Tabitha Allesbury’s great-grandson.”

“Do you intend to sell him the land?” Jasper asked, eyes narrowing.

This time it was Algernon’s turn to gape speechlessly. He cleared his throat and returned the glare. “I haven’t decided. And I’m not having this conversation in the nude.”

“Get up, then. Dress. If you’re the Lord of the Manor, then take some responsibility.”

Frustrated at Jasper’s constant challenges to his authority, Algernon lounged rebelliously back into the pillows. “I am not getting dressed until I have bathed, and I am not getting out of this bed until a bath is drawn.”

Jasper scowled at him. “What, and am I to draw it for you?”

“Certainly not, but if you are determined to be up and dressed you may as well fetch a servant for me.”

“So that you may lay in like a slug-a-bed?”

Algernon smiled beatifically at him. “Just so.”

Snarling with irritation, Jasper pulled on his boots and stormed from the room.

Algernon watched him go, pursing his lips with disappointment and wondering whether Jasper would indeed inform a servant. His eyes flicked toward the bell cord by the bed, which had not yet been repaired and currently went absolutely nowhere. Either he could face the cold of the room on his bare skin, or he could further annoy Jasper by staying in bed.

Eventually Mr. Cullen would come to check on him, all the sooner if he happened to witness Jasper leaving. Rolling onto his stomach, Algernon reached for the book he’d left in the nightstand and settled in to read while he waited for everything to be sorted out. Sooner or later he would be adequately supplied with bath and breakfast. Then his correspondence, swordplay exercises and perhaps a lengthy walk upon the grounds.

By the time he got downstairs to his study, it was clear that Jasper had left the house and gone off on some business of his own. Algernon hoped that he would return of his own volition and in a friendly, affectionate manner. Wealdhant was vastly more pleasant while Jasper was in a civil mood, and Algernon could not help but wonder whether Jasper’s temperament might improve with a steady diet of pleasure and affection.

There was a letter from Mr. Sutton waiting upon his desk. Heart lurching with terror, Algernon snatched it up and read it over.

Algernon felt ill as he folded the paper. “I quite understand, Mr. Sutton,” he murmured into the silence of his study, and crossed the room to toss the letter into the fire.

Jasper would certainly be the worst of the trouble. As obstinate and bull-headed as he was, he would certainly dig his heels in on every possible avenue regarding the railway. But as long as he could be coaxed with kisses and rational explanation, the railway’s interests could be settled without too much trouble.

And if Algernon had Jasper at his side as an ally, the villagers would be eager enough to obey the combined authority of the owner of Wealdhant, the Railway Company with their official Act of Parliament, and their own beloved Lord Jasper.

The paper crisped and curled as it burned. Algernon clenched his fist, hating that his introduction to the people of Wilston would have to be arranging their eviction or relocation. First, he’d need to figure out which houses were in the railway’s path, and then he would need to determine how to get Jasper docile and pliant enough to help him approach the residents in question. It would be unpleasant, but there was simply no other way.

A
s the door
shut behind him in the hall, Jasper hesitated. Algernon was waiting for him in bed, sweet and impish. His lips twitched with the urge to smile at the memory of Algernon’s playfulness. It was all too tempting to stay with him, in bed and in Wealdhant.

There was nothing urgent demanding his attention. The grounds were dormant in January, and the fruit trees had already been pruned and mulched. The garden soil had been tilled, last year’s harvest had been canned, the seeds had been dried and stored. The hedges in the ornamental garden had been trimmed, the roses had been mulched and the mulch had been checked for fungus.

He could find things which needed his attention. There was always something to do around the grounds of Wealdhant or in the village, but there was nothing which could not be put off to another day.

If he went back, Algernon would greet him with kisses.

Jasper’s heart ached, but he let go of the door handle and headed away down the hall. Algernon was too tempting. It was too much of a risk to lose himself in that temptation when Algernon’s aims for Wealdhant were so much in question. Even though Algernon had promised that they were allies and had sought Jasper’s input on the changes he was making, he’d only done so on a superficial level. Jasper had no choice as to whether or not the renovations were enacted, he could only make minor suggestions as to how they would be enacted.

Algernon’s words goaded at him. He hadn’t decided whether or not to sell the land to the railway, and would not listen to argument.

Half of Jasper’s heart and mind wanted to lose himself in the sweetness of Algernon’s affection and lust, but the other half distrusted his new paramour.

Mr. Cullen’s eyes followed him as Jasper crossed the front hall, but the butler made no comment and Jasper didn’t stop to speak with him.

Outside, the day was clear and the air was fresh. Jasper breathed it in, relieved to be away from the difficulty Algernon presented and yet still longing to return to him.

It was all folly. Never mind that Algernon offered exactly what Jasper found most tempting in all the world, and Algernon himself was so irresistibly appealing. If Jasper let it turn his head, the results would be detrimental for Wilston.

What mattered was that Algernon gave him some authority in Wealdhant. As long as Algernon wasn’t entirely idling with him, his relationship with Algernon gave him a reason to be in Wealdhant. He could enter and leave at any time and none of the servants would question him. They might even obey him, if he put his position to use.

A position equivalent to the
mistress
of the lord of the manor. Jasper’s lip curled and his fists clenched.

Ginevra was sitting by the fire stitching when Jasper returned home. “Jasper!” she exclaimed, dropping her work into her lap and staring at him. “Where in the world have you been? I hardly expected you to be gone for the entire night.”

He hesitated, knowing that his duty as elder brother and head of the household was to see to the moral guidance of his sisters, and the truth hardly depicted him as an exemplary model of either morality or sense.

“Jasper.”

Sighing, Jasper entered the main room and set his hat down upon a side table. “I was with Mr. Clarke.”

Her eyes widened. “You stayed the night with Mr. Clarke?” She swallowed, wringing uncertainly at her hands over the significance of that. “The weather was not
very
bad.”

“No,” Jasper agreed, understanding that she was seeking some alternative to the truth and finding none. “I stayed with Mr. Clarke on a…” Cheeks heating, Jasper focused his eyes upon the grain of the table beside his hat. “On an
intimate
basis, Ginevra.”

“Oh,” she said. “Oh my.”

There was a flat silence after that. Ginevra fidgeted with her hands.

“Did he,” she said at last, leaning forward to whisper. “Did he seduce you?”

Jasper barked a laugh, not at all certain how to respond to that. “I confess that I kissed him first.”

“Oh,” Ginevra said, eyes wide with fascination. “Did you seduce him?”

“Ginevra!” Drawing his hand over his face, Jasper sighed. “Indeed, there was relatively little seduction on either side. I kissed him, he responded. He did tell me that it was not the first time he had … done so. With another man. Or rather he implied…”

“You never told me you were a sodomite.” Ginevra said, folding her hands in her lap and regarding him with a smile that was half innocent and half wickedly teasing.

“Ginevra!”

She laughed, and the uncertainty of the moment faded. Ginevra knew, and would be his ally in the matter.

“I did think you were rather preoccupied with Mr. Clark, although I thought it was simply a friendship or a feud. This is much more interesting. Is it a secret?” she asked.

“Of course it’s a secret.”