The Charmer Read Free

long. "Is that dirt on your forehead?"
    "Probably. I find I can't
escape the stuff out here."
    "I suppose not." He indicated
the pruning knife. "What are you doing with that?"
    "Pruning."
    "And what's in the
pails?"
    "Dung from Cowdrey Farm's
cows mixed with soil."
    He pulled a face. "It looks
like hard work."
    "I can manage, and I enjoy
being out here with my orange trees." It was true, she did like gardening,
but she could certainly use some help. Not that she would tell Jeffrey she
couldn't afford a laborer. Any mention of money, or her lack of it, would only
bring up the topic of her marrying again, something she wished to avoid. With
Farmer Cowdrey having asked her countless times already, she was becoming an
expert in avoiding the subject altogether. And avoid it she must. Two
disastrous marriages had proved to her it wasn't a state she wanted to enter
into again, ever.
    "I can provide one of my
gardeners to help you if you like," Jeffrey said.
    He'd never offered her staff
before. Considering he loathed spending money on things that didn't directly
improve his own estate, it was quite a generous offer. What did he want in
return? "Thank you, but I can manage."
    He regarded her closely, still
frowning. Jeffrey was always frowning it seemed, so unlike her late husband,
his older cousin. Phillip had been dark-haired and silver-tongued, a
combination that meant everyone liked him, particularly women. Jeffrey was more
serious, hardly ever laughing with abandon as Phillip used to do, and flirting
wasn't an art he'd mastered. Most of the village women crossed the road to
avoid speaking with him.
    Susanna knelt down on the ground
and dug through the fertile mix of dung and earth in the pail.
    "That reeks," Jeffrey
said. "Must you do it now?"
    "I have to put it around the
trees."
    "This moment?"
    "I can think of no better
one." She stood and eyed the nearest tree several feet away. Her lower
back ached just thinking about moving the pail and digging through the dung and
soil. "Would you mind dragging the pail over there?"
    "Me?"
    She turned to look at him and
almost burst out laughing. He had his wrist pressed to his nose, the white lace
cuff trailing over his mouth and chin like a snowy beard. "I see no one
else here."
    Half his face may have been
covered, but it didn't hide the disgust in his eyes. "This is why you need
a man to help you."
    She refrained, just, from pointing
out that he was a man.
    "What about your
servants?" he went on. "Can't one of them help?"
    "They're busy and too aged
for this type of work in addition to their usual duties."
    "You should replace them with
more able-bodied ones." He took a step back and she sighed. It seemed
Jeffrey was like his cousin in one respect. Neither liked to get their soft,
white hands dirty.
    "Jeffrey, why have you come
here?"
    "To offer you the use of one
of my men for your garden."
    He'd come just for that? Surely
not. "No, thank you."
    "You won't need to pay
me."
    "No."
    "But you can't do this on
your own! Look at you. Your knees are dirty and your skin is brown!" He
sniffed. "And that smell. It's disgusting and unseemly. A woman of your
station should be inside sewing, not mucking about in filth. Admit it, Susanna,
you're in over your head with those orange trees. I don't know why you care
about them so much. They take up all your time since you came back here. You
should have left them to die after your mother's passing." He must have
known he'd over-stepped because he had the decency to flush and look away. He
knew how much Susanna had loved her mother. The trees were her legacy. She
would not let them wither.
    "Thank you for your
concern," she said carefully lest the wave of emotion washing through her burst
out. "But I do not want your help."
    He pursed his thin lips so that
they disappeared entirely. "Susanna," he finally said on a sigh.
"Why do you thwart me so when all I want is to care for you? As my cousin,
it's the least I can do. Allow my man to help." His gaze