"Indeed. When I saw the size of your father's surgery, I assumed that the family lived in the building too."
"Ah, well my uncle used to live there until he moved away. Although my father does own the building. In any case, my mother would never agree to living in a shop. She's a terrible snob," Mariah said with a roll of her eyes. "It would be beneath her to live there. So we live here."
"You are refreshingly honest, Miss Bolton," was his response.
"I'm glad you approve. Most people find it shocking."
"By most people, you mean your mother?" he guessed with a grin.
"And my sister."
"You have a sister? Does she also indulge her hobby at the surgery?"
Mariah guessed from his tone that he knew exactly what she did at the surgery and that she wasn't some spoiled debutante whose father indulged her silly whims.
"Lord, no!" she exclaimed now, "Lillianne would faint clean away if she had to get her hands dirty."
At this, Mr. Haverton gave a bark of laughter which did funny things to Mariah's insides.
"She is not like you?"
A gurgle of laughter escaped her.
"She is frivolous, flirtatious, well-behaved and beautiful," said Mariah as they reached the stables, "so, no. Not like me at all."
Mr. Haverton frowned at her.
"If she is beautiful, she is like you," he said quietly.
Mariah ignored him because really, he shouldn't say such things and she hadn't a hope of resisting him if he continued to do so.
"Here we are," she said instead, leading him in to where his horse was being fussed over by Jimmy, the stable boy.
"'Tis a beautiful animal you have here, sir," Jimmy said as Mr. Haverton approached.
Mariah didn't listen to his response as she set about readying the horse and gig but she could see him smiling at young Jimmy and she was grateful to him for it.
Jimmy had come to them hungry and alone some years before, after his father had left and his mother had passed away. Mrs. Yates had brought him to Dr. Bolton for treatment of a broken leg, though he would not say how it had been broken, and once he'd recovered the good doctor had offered him a roof over his head and work in the stable. It had proven to be a good decision for all involved, for Jimmy was a pleasant lad and a hard worker.
"Miss, let me do that," he suddenly spoke from behind her.
Mariah dutifully stepped back and watched as he attached the gig to Bonnie, their biddable mare.
"Miss Bolton, you will surely freeze without a cloak or bonnet," Mr. Haverton's voice sounded behind her, startling her and exciting her all at once.
She could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck and knew that if she stepped back just a fraction, her body would come into contact with his own. The temptation was almost overwhelming but the man made a good enough point to distract her.
He was right.
There was no way she could travel in just her gown. Warm as it was, it would be no use against the bite of the winter wind. And the fichu she wore at the neckline was no substitute for a heavy cloak.
Mariah frowned in consternation. "You're right," she admitted. "You make your way back now, and I shall come directly."
"I do not mind waiting."
"Well, I mind you waiting," she blurted out then coloured at his raised brow.
That had sounded unpardonably rude and he hadn't been rude at all today. She wondered if there was something wrong with him, actually, since he was so different to yesterday.
"That didn't come out right," she said with what she hoped was an endearing smile. "It's just, well, my mother doesn't actually know you are here and if she were to find out it would be, er, difficult for me."
"How so?"
"Well, frankly, because she'd either try to have you married off to me or my sister before you'd finished introducing yourself. She would absolutely forbid me from working at the manor house if she knew you were in residence. And…" She felt a familiar blush blossom in her cheeks "…I may have intimated that you had a family. A large one."
His brows rose again. "How large?"
"There was possibly a mention of children coming out of your ears," she admitted unenthusiastically.
"Ah."
"Quite."
"Well then, I suppose I shall see you at the manor house."
"You're not angry?"
"Frequently. But not with you. And not about this," he answered cryptically.
Mariah didn't waste time wondering at his meaning, however. She watched as he rode out onto the road. Then she turned and snuck stealthily back into the house to retrieve her cloak.
So much for not seeing him again.
CHAPTER SIX