She had worshipped him for as long as she could remember in her own childlike way, wanting to feel his eyes upon her and hoping to be the cause of their animation and admiration. But she was not foolish enough to think the feeling had ever been reciprocated, and nor was she naïve enough to believe she knew how to make him happy.
Besides, he had been in love with Isabel Morgan, the daughter of a local gentleman, and she had broken his heart when she had turned her attentions to Marcus’s half-brother and married him.
Because of Lowena’s lowly station in life, her unsuitability to form any kind of romantic relationship with a gentleman of his standing was without question. When he married it would be to a woman of his own kind, from a well-to-do family.
Standing before him, slightly breathless after her climb up from the cove, Lowena faced Marcus with her head held high. What his thoughts were she had no way of knowing. He was just standing there, looking at her, with a faint smile lingering on his firm lips. He had been too far away for her to hear what he had said to Edward, but no doubt he believed she had arranged to meet his brother at the cove. She was hurt that he might think that and that he would judge her.
‘Please don’t think I’m neglecting my work,’ she said, throwing him a cautious look. ‘Lady Alice said I could take the day off before starting my duties tomorrow.’
‘I don’t think that. I’m more interested in knowing why you came to this cove.’
Lowena saw that his eyes were on her, gauging her, watching for every shade of thought and emotion in her. She was conscious of a sudden feeling of embarrassment. There was still so much of the girl in her, at war with the young woman she had become, and this man had the knack of bringing it quickly to the surface.
‘Why do you look at me like that?’ she asked, meeting his eyes.
‘I was watching you on the beach—with Edward. Are you all right?’ he asked, looking at her more closely.
He’d noticed redness and slight bruising on her lips—the kind of marks left when a man had forced his attentions on a woman with little regard for the sensitivity of her flesh.
A fierce anger against his brother surged through him. ‘Did he hurt you?’
She shook her head. ‘No,’ she murmured, having no wish to discuss his brother. Averting her eyes, she said, ‘Lady Alice will be pleased—and relieved—that you are home at last.’
‘She is.’
As he spoke his eyes dropped down to the wet skirts falling about her legs and feet. Lowena instinctively looked too, and sighed.
‘I stepped into the sea,’ she explained. ‘My shoes are none too dry either.’
‘Perhaps you should have removed them before you took a paddle.’
‘I had no intention of taking a paddle, only—Well—Lord Carberry came...and...’
Marcus studied her with concern. ‘Are you sure you are all right?’
She nodded, gnawing at her bottom lip as the full impact of what she had done hit her. ‘Yes—But your brother is Lord Carberry—and—well, he made me angry and I almost slapped him. I should not have done that. Only what he did—forcing himself on me like that when I was most unwilling—it was inappropriate.’
Marcus frowned down at her. ‘Maybe it would be better if you did not walk alone, Lowena.’
Lowena’s face became tense. ‘Perhaps you are right, but I have always come to this cove. I come here to seek solitude, and if your brother was any sort of a gentleman he would not have followed me. He would have left me in peace. I was angry when I almost slapped his face. He was furious. I cannot imagine him not retaliating in some way.’
‘Did he threaten you?’
‘He—he said that I must have a care,’ she murmured, keeping to herself the threat Edward had made against Marcus, which caused her deep concern.
‘Did you make it plain that you do not welcome his attentions?’
‘Yes—at least I did try.’
‘I imagine you did. He should know better than to force his attentions on an unwilling girl who is almost young enough to be his daughter.’
‘I’m no longer a girl,’ Lowena retorted, with an audible gasp of indignation.
In the bright sunlight, as she turned her face towards him, Marcus could see that behind her defiance there were unshed tears shining in those eyes that looked into the very heart of him. She was truly lovely, and the time they had been apart had brought an added enchantment. She looked older, more grown up—indeed more a woman than a girl.
Her remark brought a curve to his lips. ‘My dear Lowena, I can see that. You are transparent. I may have been away for a long time, but I can still read you well.’
He looked at her thoughtfully, touched by her innocence. She possessed a tender femininity that touched a deep chord in him, and once again the urge to protect her that he had felt when he had found her that day abandoned in the wood overwhelmed him.
‘You have friends among the staff?’
‘Some of them. There is Nessa—Nessa Borlase.’
‘I remember Nessa. She is still with us?’
‘Yes. She was brought up not far from Tregarrick. When her parents died she came to Tregarrick in the hope of being taken on. I think I was about two years old at the time. She was fortunate that there was a vacancy in the laundry. She’s worked for your family for many years, and now works in both the house and the dairy—or wherever she is needed. Nessa looks out for me. She is always kind, and several times she has come between Edward and me when he has accosted me when I was working. I have always rejected his advances, so I can only assume that in anger he might try to malign my character to you, to besmirch my reputation. I beg you not to listen to him.’
‘I know my brother well enough, Lowena, so don’t worry. I won’t.’
She looked up at her companion, a serious expression in her eyes. She was no match for Lord Carberry physically, but Marcus was. Now he was home she was confident that he would protect her from his brother.
‘You’ve been gone a long time,’ she said quietly. ‘It is not my place to speak against your brother, but I am aware of something in him that should not be pushed too far.’
‘Do your fear him?’
‘Sometimes, yes. I feel him to be dangerous in some way.’
Marcus became thoughtful, clearly troubled. After a moment he took the reins of his horse. ‘Come, we will walk together to the cottage. I was on my way back from the mine and decided to take the longer route. It’s a good thing I did. I’ve spoken to my mother,’ he said as they walked side by side. ‘She will ensure your safety now you are no longer at Tregarrick.’
‘There is to be an annual get-together of the local gentry tomorrow night,’ Lowena said. ‘A large gathering is expected and I am to help out. I shall make sure that I am never alone. I imagine you were sad to hear about Izzy?’
‘Very much so. I was extremely fond of her—she played an important part in my childhood. Mother wrote to inform me of her passing. I’m sorry, Lowena. You must miss her.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, I do—and her girls. Hester and Kenza are married now, and living in Padstow. And Annie has gone to live with Hester and is to marry very soon.’
They walked together in companionable silence. Lowena was conscious of Marcus’s closeness—in fact she was very much aware of everything about him, and still could not believe he was home at last. It was like coming face to face with a stranger. Long of limb, the whole six foot three of him was lean, hard muscle—a military officer tailor-made.
Their long separation made her awkward and shy with him. She was uneasy, especially when those heavily fringed silver-grey eyes locked on hers. She had forgotten how brilliant they were. His hair was black and tousled, his flesh bronzed from long periods in the sun.
Quite suddenly she was conscious of an overwhelming impulse ask him to
stop, and to reach out and touch his face, to thread her fingers through his thick hair, to draw his mouth down to hers and touch his warm lips with her own. Ashamed of her wayward thoughts, feeling her cheeks burn, she lowered her head, almost having to run to keep up with his long strides. After a moment she glanced sideways at him. He appeared to be relaxed, his manner casual, in fact he was treating this meeting with a cool nonchalance that seemed inappropriate, considering what he had just borne witness to in the cove.
‘It—it is good to see you back,’ she murmured, unable to stand the silence a moment longer as they neared the cottage.
‘It would appear not a moment too soon.’ Marcus gave her a troubled look, and his voice, for the first time, was uncertain. ‘Edward is an attractive man. There are few young ladies who would shun him as you have done.’
Acutely aware of her dishevelled appearance, Lowena ran an ineffectual hand through her hair, which hung down her back in a shining tangled cascade. ‘I know, and you are right. I have seen them—rich and poor alike. But I am not one of them.’
Marcus glanced at her gravely. ‘I can imagine how your rejection must have battered his pride, and it will make him even more determined in the future.’
‘I’ve been too busy trying to avoid him to spare his pride.’
‘Set your mind at rest. I will speak to him. He may be lord of the manor, but that does not give him licence to go around molesting the servants—or anyone else, for that matter.’
Lowena was deeply touched by his obvious concern for her well-being, and it would be a relief if he did speak to his brother and ask him to leave her alone. However, she didn’t like being reminded of her lowly status. Thanks to Izzy’s teachings she could read and write, and converse in French with the best of them, but sadly that didn’t alter her station in life.
Marcus looked at her. With her hair floating like a cloud about her shoulders and down her back, she walked beside him with the sunlight gently caressing her form, the folds of her skirts falling and forming a circle round her feet. Her face was flushed from the heat, and with her head turned towards him her eyes were watching him closely. She looked breathtakingly lovely and stunningly arousing. He could feel himself responding—a fact that caused him some unease.
‘Do you like your work, Lowena?’ he asked, in an attempt to take his mind off her closeness.
‘Being a servant, you mean?’
He nodded.
‘It’s all right, I suppose, but I would like to think there is something more. I was told in the beginning that it was my good fortune to be given a place at Tregarrick, and that with good fortune came responsibility—that my conduct would reflect directly on the family and I must do the family justice at all times, keep their secrets and deserve their trust in all things. Which, I was given to understand, meant doing as I was told on the nights when your brother....’ She sighed. ‘Well, you know all about that. Izzy had such plans for me, and sometimes I fear those hours of learning were wasted.’
‘Come, now, Lowena, that is defeatist talk. Time spent learning is never wasted. We are what we make of things, and given your start in life you have done remarkably well.’
‘Izzy was a good teacher. If women are to have a future then they must be educated—that was what she told me early on in my life. I told her that surely all women had a future.’
Marcus laughed. ‘And what did Izzy say to that? Being the educated woman that she was.’
‘She told me that this is a male-dominated world and that if women are to be in charge of their own destinies then they have to do it through education. She said that women are as intelligent as men, but because learning is not as accessible to them they are looked upon as inferior. Why should women meekly accept the menial work in life when all they need is to be taught so they can do the same jobs as men? Izzy taught me so much—not only how to read and write, but the principles of mathematics, and to speak French and a little Latin.’
‘All of which will offer you more opportunities.’
‘Precisely. I am sure I am qualified to work with figures or books—or even to teach as a governess, or something of that nature.’
‘Then why are you working here at Tregarrick as a maid?’
They had reached the point where they must go their separate ways—he to the stables and Lowena to the cottage. She sighed dejectedly. ‘Because the right opportunity has not presented itself.’
‘If you wait for the right opportunity to come to you, you may find yourself waiting for ever. Why not go out and look for it? Take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and make your own destiny?’
She looked at him, at the laughter in his eyes. ‘You are laughing at me. No doubt you think I’m getting too big for my boots.’
The humour melted from his eyes and his expression became serious. ‘I don’t think that, Lowena, and I would never laugh at you.’
‘So if I am to better myself I have to help myself. Is that what you are saying?’
‘Something like that.’
She stopped and looked at him. ‘Someone like you—born into a wealthy family and with all the advantages that brings—will have no difficulty doing exactly what you want with your life. You know who you are, you see, and so does everyone else in these parts.’
‘That’s true—although I have been away for quite some time, so there will be many who do not remember me.’
‘That’s not true. Once met, you are a hard man to forget.’ Looking past him into the distance, she let a wistful look come into her eyes, and when she spoke again her voice was quiet. ‘I know who you are. What I don’t know is who I am. That’s the problem.’
‘And that troubles you?’
She nodded. ‘Yes—yes, it does. More than anything else I want to know who I am, where I came from. I want to know who my parents were—are. Perhaps they still exist. I wish I knew.’
‘I can understand you wanting to know,’ he said gravely. ‘I wish I could help. That day when I found you in the woods I had the feeling that I was being watched. Although I could not be certain. I believe that if I had left you there, whoever it was that was watching would not have abandoned you.’
‘I hope not. Surely nobody could be so cruel as to abandon a baby so callously. Izzy kept the clothes and the shawl I was wrapped in. She said they were quality, which led her to believe that my mother was of the gentry.’
‘You still have them?’
Lowena nodded and looked up at him with an air of resignation. Her lips smiled, but the sadness in her eyes remained. ‘Much good it will do me. But please don’t look so concerned. It’s not sympathy I seek. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know who I really am—I don’t even know the date of my birth—so I will have to treasure and make the best of what I have.’
* * *
Marcus watched her walk away. He would have liked to talk to her for longer. He had not wanted their conversation to end. He had not wanted her to leave him, and he was reluctant to analyse where that feeling was coming from.
Since Isabel had betrayed him with Edward, he had merely tolerated the women who had wanted him, treating them with nothing more than amused condescension. Not once had he looked at them with the sort of gentle warmth he’d shown Lowena in the last half-hour. When he was with her and she was smiling into his eyes some of his old warmth and the need for a closer relationship with a woman returned.
* * *
Lowena was heading for the cottage when she saw Nessa walking down the path towards her. On seeing her Lowena widened her lips in a warm and welcoming mile.
‘Nessa! How nice to see you. What are you doing here?’
‘I came to see if you are all right. Cook told me you have moved to the cottage. I missed you. It was sudden.’
‘Yes, I’m afraid it was.’
‘I know there was a run last night,
and that Captain Carberry has come home. Did your leaving have anything to do with that?’
Lowena nodded. ‘He saw me on the cliff and was angry with Lord Carberry for involving me in the smuggling. He insisted that I move out of the house right away.’
‘Then I thank the Lord for it. At least under Captain Carberry’s watchful eye you should be safe.’
Lowena glanced at her sharply. ‘Safe? Why do you say that, Nessa? Am I in danger? If so, in what way?’
‘Heavens, Lowena, I am not blind. It’s no secret that you’ve caught Lord Carberry’s eye. You certainly have the ability to attract him, even when you’ve done nothing to provoke it. As I said, you’ll be safe at the cottage—which will make it easier for me when I leave Tregarrick. I would like to know you’re settled in your work.’
Lowena stared at her in alarm, thinking she must have misheard. Nessa couldn’t possibly leave. ‘You’re going away?’
‘Yes, love. I’m going to Saltash to take care of my aunt. She’s had a nasty turn and has taken to her bed. She needs someone to care of her.’
The news that Nessa was to leave Tregarrick hit Lowena hard. Nessa had always been there. She couldn’t imagine her not being there. ‘I’m sorry about your aunt, Nessa, but—I shall miss you.’
‘I know you will, love, but I have to. You’ll be all right. I’ll worry about you—but then, when haven’t I?’
Nessa’s voice was soft, but very sure. There was an air about her that Lowena knew well. She had seen it many times before in the past, beginning when she had been a small child and Nessa had come to call on Izzy and taken tea with her. She had also seen it at those times when Izzy had died and when she had gone to work at Tregarrick. She had always seemed to be there when some seemingly insurmountable barrier had stood in her way. There was something steadying about Nessa’s calm presence and it made her work easier.
Of course Lowena couldn’t know that Nessa didn’t mind scrubbing floors and scouring pans and lending a hand in the dairy if she could be near Lowena, somewhere she could watch her grow and protect her if need be.
The Foundling Bride Page 7