Robert’s face settled in more serious lines. ‘You do know that no matter what happens, Lowena, you can always count on my full support, don’t you?’ he said gently.
His quiet offering touched Lowena deeply. ‘Of course I do,’ she said, walking close beside him along the path towards the house. ‘But it won’t come to that. My time spent at Tregarrick in the employment of the Carberry family is well and truly in the past.’
* * *
‘You seem angry, Marcus. What has happened?’ Juliet asked when he came in from the garden.
‘What has happened? I would have thought it quite obvious. Lowena left us to begin an affair with a man who is old enough to be her father,’ he uttered dispassionately, keeping his words devoid of concern, determined not to let Juliet see how much Lowena’s affair angered him. ‘Ever since she walked out of Tregarrick I have been making desperate enquiries into her whereabouts—it was as if she’d disappeared into thin air. And now I know the reason why I couldn’t find her. The existence of a lover is the only thing that makes sense.’
‘You are jumping to conclusions, Marcus. Did Lowena actually tell you that the gentleman you saw her with is her lover?’
‘She didn’t have to.’
‘There might be an innocent explanation for her being with him.’
Marcus fixed his ice-cold eyes on his sister. ‘What sort of explanation could she possibly have? They were together—he even touched her face, for God’s sake, for all to see.’
Furiously he looked away. The bewitching, artless young woman who had always held a place in his heart—the woman he had made love to so passionately—had turned out to be as cold and calculating as Isabel.
‘There has to be another explanation. It think it’s time we found out the truth.
They didn’t have long to wait.
Marcus watched the French windows, knowing the exact moment that Lowena entered on the arm of the man he had seen her with in the park.
‘Good Lord!’ exclaimed the gentleman next to him softly. He had paused on his way to the refreshment room to speak to Marcus. ‘What an exquisite creature—far too exquisite to be flesh and blood. Wesley’s damn lucky, if you ask me.’
‘Wesley?’ queried Marcus.
‘Sir Robert Wesley—from your part of the world. Well, Devon—just over the border.’
‘Really?’ Marcus murmured, his interest pricked. ‘I am not familiar with the name.’
He watched Lowena come closer. His anger having dissipated somewhat, he had to admit that she was a breathtaking vision. Meeting her hot, amber gaze across the distance that separated them, he saw she looked as dangerous as a suppressed tropical storm.
‘Some would say she has landed on her feet,’ he said.
‘I’ll say. It would seem this young lady is the fruit of an affair Wesley had with her mother—dead now, I believe. Can’t say if they were ever married. All a bit of a mystery, really.’ He sighed, shaking his head mournfully and moving on.
Marcus stood rooted to the spot, the revelation grinding through his brain like a million hammers. Burning rage at his own stupidity and blindness poured through him. At last everything was beginning to fall into place. But why had she not said anything? And how long had she known about the family that had abandoned her?
‘Well, well!’ Juliet breathed, having made her own enquiries and utterly delighted by what she had been told concerning Sir Robert Wesley. Coming to stand beside Marcus, she smiled into his stunned face. ‘It would appear Lowena is Sir Robert Wesley’s natural daughter. What a turn-out. Who would have thought it?’
‘Who, indeed?’ Marcus replied, beginning to feel like a complete and utter idiot as he remembered how he had been so ready to judge and condemn as he watched the object of his gaze now walking gracefully across the room, her hand resting on Sir Robert’s arm, keeping her head high, her deep red hair resembling a beacon of light. ‘She’ll regret this.’
Juliet laughed softly. ‘More like you’ll regret your accusation. You were too hasty to judge her, and if her father is aware of it he will be none too pleased. You, dear brother, are going to be down on your knees for a very long time, begging for her forgiveness.’
‘You know I never go down on my knees,’ he retorted dryly. ‘What do you know about Sir Robert?’
‘He lives in Devon—an old family, by all accounts. He’s wealthy—extremely so—and the owner of a silver mine. At least you have something in common. He has no other offspring. Whether Lowena is legitimate or not remains to be seen, but whatever the case she will be a very rich young woman.’
‘Then she must watch out for fortune-hunters.’
‘That is true. She’s about to become one of the most sought-after young ladies in London. Are we likely to see you in the running, Marcus?’ Juliet asked, eyeing her brother closely.
‘I’m afraid not. She wouldn’t consider me, even with a gun against her head.’
Juliet laughed softly. ‘Be that as it may, Marcus, I think we should go and speak to them. After all you have played a large part in her life. I’m sure Sir Robert would like to meet you.’
* * *
As the evening progressed Lowena was acutely aware of Marcus’s presence, feeling his razor-sharp gaze on her as he prowled among the guests. He seemed to radiate a barely leashed strength and power. There was something primitive about him, and she felt that his elegant attire and indolence were nothing but a front meant to lull the unwary into believing he was a civilised being while disguising the fact that he was a dangerous savage.
She found the memory of their altercation and their kiss still very much on her mind. It made her feel quite ill even at the same time as her pride forced her to lift her chin and rebelliously face him across the room, meeting his ruthless stare in mutual animosity as she took to the floor in the ballroom with an exuberant young man.
* * *
With his shoulder propped against a pillar, his brows drawn together in thoughtful concentration, Marcus watched Lowena dancing the intricate, lively steps of a country dance. Her movements were dainty and graceful, and she was looking at her partner with the most innocent expression on her face.
He continued to watch her, and when she again took to the floor and took her place in a progressive dance, where one’s partner constantly changed, observed how her face positively glowed with whispered compliments. He experienced an acute feeling of jealousy and wanted to annihilate every one of her partners.
Ever since that night he had made love to her his tortured imaginings had caused him to exist in a state of righteous fury, and he didn’t know how much longer he could stand it. The memory of what they had shared became more alive with each passing day. It touched him and lived inside him, was visual and tactile, had odour and taste and warmth. It had been perfect, and because he was powerless to banish the memory from his mind he longed to savour its potency once more.
Never had he seen her look so provocatively lovely, so regal and bewitching—and he would not rest until she belonged to him.
He argued with himself—asked himself why he was behaving like a churl towards her. Was it because she had damaged his male pride by leaving him so abruptly at Tregarrick? Was it because she had taunted him by making him believe that the man who was her father was her lover?
Whatever the reason, it was time he made amends. At Tregarrick she had told him that she loved him. Did she still love him? Or had he broken her spirit and driven a stake through her heart? But then he smiled, remembering how, in the garden tonight, she had stood up to him as no other would dare to. No—her spirit was still intact. And God help him if he should ever destroy that.
Pushing himself away from the pillar, he drew himself up to his full height, telling himself that something must be done to heal the breach between them before it destroyed them both.
Chapter Nine
Breathless, her feet aching and her head spinning, Lowena declined the next admirer who tried to claim her in the dance. Excusing herself to her father and Deborah, she made her way to the ladies’ retiring room. Secretly she had hoped that Marcus’s anger towards her might have lessened, and that he would ask her to partner him in the dance.
But as she had twirled about the floor she had been aware of his tall figure, of him watching her. There had been a tension in his stance, and his expression had been dark and brooding.
Any hopes she’d had of ending the night without another confrontation with him were quashed when she emerged from the retiring room and he stepped in front of her.
‘At last,’ he said with impatience. ‘I was beginning to think I would never get you alone. I want to talk to you.’
Taking her arm, he drew her into an alcove, away from curious eyes. Shaking her arm free, she glanced up at him.
She was uncertain of his mood after their angry and extremely bitter exchange earlier, which had opened up so many painful wounds between them, and her expression was wary. His face was etched with tension, his eyes as hard as granite. With his relentless ways and implacable will he must have now found out the truth, and had followed her to the retiring room to intercept her.
‘Go away,’ she retorted irately. ‘I have no wish to speak to you.’
‘On the contrary. There are things we have to discuss.’
‘Then if I am to remain,’ she said sharply, ‘I would be grateful if you would observe the proprieties. I have no wish to be the subject of idle or malicious gossip.’
His smile was one of condescension. ‘If you are afraid that there will be a repetition of my earlier conduct, I will set your mind at rest. I simply want to talk to you. Until you have answered all my questions you are quite safe.’
She glanced at him warily. ‘And afterwards?’
His eyes gleamed wickedly. ‘We shall see.’
Lowena glared at the handsome, forceful, dynamic man towering over her, looking so disgustingly self-assured. ‘Anything we had to say has been said. After everything that has happened, how dare you feel you have the right to approach me? There will be more than a few raised eyebrows if you are seen loitering outside the ladies’ rest room.’
‘It is worth the risk to get you alone. You look as if you are enjoying yourself,’ he commented, noticing her high colour and shining eyes.
‘Very much—although I confess to feeling a little exhausted. What is it you want to talk to me about? Your attitude earlier and all those dreadful things you accused me of being were unforgivable.’
As Marcus looked down at her he reminded himself that no matter what she did or said he must be patient and understanding. But with her chin raised defiantly high and her eyes hurling scornful daggers at him it was all he could do to bridle his temper.
‘What the hell did you think you were playing at, letting me believe Sir Robert Wesley was your lover? Damn it, Lowena, you should have told me he was your father.’
Lowena quivered, half with apprehension about his reaction to the news of her true identity and half with relief that he knew at last. Her face working with her emotions, which had for the moment got the better of her, she gazed up at him reluctantly. ‘Yes, I should, and for what it’s worth I am sorry.’
Marcus eyed her warily. ‘You are?’
‘Yes, but you had so clearly already made up your mind about the situation.’
His eyes shone softly down into hers. ‘I could happily shake you.’
‘I’m sure you could.’
‘You made a complete idiot of me with that silly charade.’
‘I think you made an idiot of yourself without any help from me. You shouldn’t have been in such a hurry to think the worst of me.’
‘You didn’t enlighten me. In fact you were enjoying every moment of my discomfort. Faced with such evidence, you cannot blame me for thinking you had got caught up in some sleazy affair. And you played along with it—no doubt enjoying watching me make a fool of myself. I congratulate you. You are a superb actress, whose talents would be best suited on the stage.’
‘I should have told you who he was—and I would have if you hadn’t jumped to the wrong conclusion. You were so pig-headed about it that I couldn’t resist letting you suffer in ignorance a while longer. I would have introduced you if you hadn’t been in a temper.’
‘With good reason.’
‘Maybe.’
‘How did you find out that Sir Robert Wesley is your father?’
‘Nessa told me.’
‘Nessa?’
‘Yes. She knew all along. It was Nessa who left me in the woods that day—the day you found me. She told me everything I’ve wanted to know all my life.’
He stared at her in disbelief. ‘And you knew this when you left?’
‘Yes.’
‘And yet you didn’t think to tell me—or my mother? She deserved better from you, Lowena. It was badly done. She was sick with worry when you didn’t return.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Her apology took him off guard and he raised an eyebrow.
‘I hate myself for hurting Lady Alice. When I told her I was going away with Nessa I had only just found out who my parents were and that my father—whom Nessa had been told was dead—was alive. The knowledge was so immense I hadn’t had time to take it in. I couldn’t bring myself to speak of it.’
‘And Sir Robert? Did he know about you?’
‘No, not until I turned up on his doorstep. At the time I was born he was in Mexico. My mother died shortly after my birth. Nessa, who was my mother’s maid, told me my grandmother was a hard, unfeeling woman. When my father returned to England she didn’t tell him he had a daughter. He loved my mother and would have married her.’
‘And your grandmother? What happened when your mother died? Why didn’t she keep you with her?’
‘She didn’t want me. She couldn’t bear the scandal an illegitimate child would bring. If Nessa hadn’t taken me she would have sent me to the orphanage.’
‘Good Lord! I cannot believe Nessa has known the truth all these years. Why didn’t she tell you before? Why keep it from you?’
Lowena gave him a brief account of Nessa’s circumstances at the time, and the events of the day she’d left Lowena’s grandmother’s house, taking her to find her father and what she’d found at Castle Creek.
‘When you found me and took me to live with Izzy Nessa found work at Tregarrick. It meant she could keep an eye on me. When she saw I was happy and well looked after, she decided to remain silent.’
‘But Nessa was leaving her employment at Tregarrick. Was that why she decided to tell you?’
‘It was one of the reasons.’
‘And the other?’
‘She had just found out that my father was alive.’
‘And your grandmother? Is she still alive?’
Lowena shook her head. ‘No. There was a fire. The whole of Beresford Hall was burned to the ground. She—she couldn’t get out in time.’
‘I see. How do you feel about that?’
‘I don’t know. What she did was cruel. She ignored my existence. I doubt even had she still been alive she would have welcomed me with open arms.’ She looked up at him. ‘Were you angry when I didn’t return to Tregarrick?’
He looked at her sharply. ‘Yes—if you must know I was furious. But most of my anger was out of concern for you—and the greatest part of it was directed at myself. After all, it was my fault that you fled.’
‘Juliet told me that you looked for me?’
‘Of course I did. I care about you, Lowena—more than you realise. I deeply regret asking you to leave Tregarrick—handing down rulings and opinions as if, in my arrogance, I k
new what was best for you. I underestimated you—and you soon put me in my place. It didn’t take me long to realise what I had done—what I had lost. I desperately wanted to know you were all right. I went to Saltash to see Nessa, thinking she must know where I could find you—only to be told when I got there that her aunt had died and Nessa had vanished.’
‘She came to Castle Creek to find me. She’s still there.’
Lowena glanced towards the refreshment room just in time to see her father and Deborah disappearing through the door.
‘I think it’s time I introduced you to my father and stepmother.’
‘Did you tell him that I thought you were his mistress?’
‘Of course.’
Marcus rolled his eyes. ‘Good Lord, Lowena. Have you no mercy? Is my shame not bad enough? No doubt he is impatient to meet me at dawn in some secluded place and offer me a choice of weapons.’
‘The idea did have a certain appeal, but he’s more likely to offer you a glass of his finest brandy. He did see the funny side, and was rather flattered that someone as old as he is still thought handsome enough to have secured a young paramour. Although I don’t think Deborah—his wife—was quite so amused.’
Marcus’s eyes softened. ‘I’m glad I was mistaken. And are you enjoying London? You appear to have fitted in well with your new life.’
She smiled. It was a cynical smile. ‘New life? Yes. I suppose it is. But it is not what I sought.’
‘No?’
She shook her head. ‘Finding out who I am does not mark a happy ending to all that has gone before. It is simply a beginning—the ushering in of a new phase in my life. Naturally I am happy that I know who I am at last, where I come from and that I have an identity—and I have grown to love my father dearly. But this life...’ She sighed. ‘In truth there are times when I find it hard to laugh and smile with people I don’t know and perhaps wouldn’t like it if I did. I’m not very good at it, I’m afraid.’
‘You appeared to be at ease when dancing with your admirers.’
A light flared in her eyes and she drew herself up haughtily, preparing herself for another assault by his temper. ‘And why not? I was enjoying myself—and, as you will have seen, I have learned to dance without stepping on toes.’
The Foundling Bride Page 20