Finally, Harriet glanced back at Chase. “What were we—oh, yes. Our shearing system.” She tossed her head slightly, a tendril of brown hair escaping over one ear. “We built some narrow pens that will only hold one sheep. You just have to loop a rope about its neck and it will be held in place so you can shear it. It should be ridiculously easy.”

“One can only hope,” Chase replied, though he had his doubts. “So far, nothing about the sheep business has been what I’d call ‘easy.’”

Her chin seemed to jut a bit at that. But after a moment, she said in a rather genteel voice, “You are right. Mr. St. John, you have been most helpful this week. Please accept our thanks for your assistance.”

Her tone was almost warm. Chase was impressed. It must have cost her pride plenty to be able to pull that off. “You are quite welcome, Miss Ward.”

“It was no problem, I assure you.” She peered up at him, all wide brown eyes and thick, curling brown lashes. A faint scattering of freckles decorated her nose. “I assume that since you will continue being the captain, you will also continue to help us with the shearing.”

Chase almost choked. “Isn’t it enough that I am willing to play the part for your nosy neighbors?”

“It’s only for a week and since you, yourself, said you weren’t on a schedule—” She met his gaze with a hopeful look.

But for the first time, Chase saw a flicker of uncertainty. “Miss Ward—Harriet, if you need money for the bank payment, I could—”

Harriet’s shoulders stiffened. “No. I already had to pay back the bank; I will not owe money again.”

Blast it all, who said anything about a loan? “Wait a moment! You don’t understand. You won’t owe me a thing—”

“I don’t take charity, either, if that’s what you are going to suggest.”

Bloody, stiff-necked fool. Chase’s temper began to simmer. “Look, it’s not as if—”

“It’s not as if we need it.” Her mouth thinned with displeasure. “Do you think we are not capable of making the final payment? For I assure you that we can and—”

A jangling sound made Harriet turn. Ophelia rode up on one of the farm horses, the old animal plodding along.

Chase gritted his teeth. Yet another interruption. Bloody hell, could no one in the family do anything without turning to Harriet for advice? It made private speech with the woman almost impossible.

Ophelia pulled the horse to when she reached the wagon. “There you are, Harri. I was looking all over for you.”

“And now you’ve found me. What do you need?”

Chase scowled. They were in the middle of a field, for chrissakes. How could they get interrupted so oft?

“Something’s wrong with Stephen. Mother asked him to accompany Sophia to Colonel Parker’s to visit the colonel’s wife, and he refused quite rudely, then stomped off to the library.”

“That doesn’t sound like him.”