Page 95 of An Alleged Rogue

“I’m off, my lord,” Toole said. “I shall be in touch.”

He ran for the carriage, and Emily gasped.

“A raindrop!” she cried. “I felt it on my cheek.”

The thunder crashed again, and without further warning, the heavens opened. From the orchard, a cheer arose. Adam’s throat tightened. He had lost track of how many miracles he’d witnessed this evening.

Emily tugged on his arm. Rain was streaming down her face, but she was smiling. “Come, Adam. We are needed in the orchard.”

Chapter 30

The next morning, one third of the orchard resembled a wasteland. The ground between the river and the orchard was trampled and muddy. Blackened piles of ash were all that remained of the tumps. The trees closest to the footpath were burned to the ground; others stood as black skeletal reminders of what they had once been.

Adam wandered through the charred remains, pausing occasionally to study a singed branch or a tree that was burned on only one side.

“It’s a right mess, ain’t it, m’ lord?” Henry approached from the cart shed.

“It is rather,” Adam said. “But if it had not been for Mr. Hadford’s men and all the rain last night, we might have lost everything—including the house.”

“There’s no disputin’ that. We ’ave a lot to be thankful fer.”

Adam kicked aside a couple of charred metal rings at the base of a blackened stump—all that remained of the buckets Oliver and Phoebe had left behind. He shuddered at the thought of how close they had both come to serious injury. That no one had been killed during the horrific events of the night was astounding.

By the time Adam had finally reached his chambers, the first light of morning had broken through the storm clouds. The last flames had been doused by the rain, Mr. Hadford’s men had returned to Charwell Park, and his own household had retired to bed. A warm bath had done much to dispel the clinging smell of smoke and soothe his bruised and battered body, but only complete exhaustion had prevented him from lying awake to dwell on all that had changed in a matter of hours.

In the full light of day, however, it was impossible to ignore Freddie Payne’s work of destruction.

“What have we lost, Henry?”

“All the Genet Moyle trees,” he said. “And half a dozen King of the Pippins. I reckon the Blenheim Oranges were close enough to the house that they were spared.”

“And the tumps that burned were essentially our entire Genet Moyle crop.”

“Yes, m’ lord. They were the last we harvested, so they ’adn’t been sitting out as long as the others.”

Adam had guessed as much, but Henry’s confirmation of their loss made it seemed more real. Regret hung heavily on his shoulders.

“Was anything in the cart shed damaged?”

“No, m’ lord. And mercifully, the stables with all them extra horses from Charwell Park in it was spared as well.”

So they still had the small quantity of cider they had already barreled. But more importantly, the mill, the press, and Molly remained functional.

“Your butler told me I would find you out here.”

Adam and Henry swung around to see Mr. Hadford approaching through the scorched trees.

“Good day, Hadford,” Adam said. “I hope you are none the worse for your fall last night.”

“No more so than you, I imagine. From what I gather, the scene in which I played a part was not your first encounter with Payne last night.” He eyed Adam grimly. “I believe I may owe not only my own life but that of my daughter to you, Dunsbourne.”

“How is Phoebe?” It was the question that had been circulating in Adam’s heart and head ever since he’d awakened.

If Mr. Hadford wondered at his use of his daughter’s given name, he gave no sign. Instead, he sighed. “If her mother’s fussing is any indication, she remains precipitously near death’s door. Based on personally observing her eating a hearty breakfast in bed this morning, however, I believe she is more likely to expire from maternal smothering.”

Adam chuckled. “I hope neither scenario is correct.”

“Yes, well, I remain hopeful that after a couple of days, Phoebe will prevail and her mother will allow her out of her room.” He gazed around the blackened ground. “What have you lost?”