“Oh, no, never,” protested James. “I admire her intellect.”
Mr. Richmond grinned. “Believe me, James, she will. But if you love each other, that won’t matter.”
“But she doesn’t love me,” James protested.
“Not yet. But then, up until now, she wouldn’t have been likely to love anyone. But something has happened because of Sidmouth, I am sure, although I have no idea what it could be to send her back to Yorkshire without speaking to us.”
“Will you all return home now?”
“Oh, no, not at all. In fact,” declared Mr. Richmond, “I am going to send you after her. Oh, not right away. We need to give her a day or two at home. But I think you need to make your interest as clear to Lynette as you have to me.”
“You mean propose to her?”
“Perhaps not that immediately. But tell her you have my permission to court her. And ask hers. And get her back down to London, James,” he added with a rueful laugh. “For we have only a short time before May Eve, and I want her with me in Padstow!”
* * *
Chapter 2
3 Lynette arrived home in Sedbusk just after dark. She gave the hired driver his pay and directed him back to the inn at Hawes. Picking up her bag, she looked around her, drinking in the fresh smell of grass. It was good to be home again, away from the smoke and fog of London and the mad whirl of the last few weeks. She would have to face what had brought her home, but not until morning, she decided, and knocked on the front door, hoping that Janie was still there.
It took a minute or so for Janie to answer, and when she did, she peeked out and asked sharply who was there.
“It is me, Janie. Lynette.”
“Miss Lynnie! Whatever art tha doing here, lass? Tha’s supposed to be in London.”
At the sound of Janie’s soft Yorkshire voice, Lynette felt tears come to her eyes.
“It was all too much for me, Janie. Are you going to invite me in?”
Janie pulled her into her arms and gave her a big hug. “Tha’rt lucky tha caught me here. I had just fed t’cat and t’stable lad and was on my way home to my own dinner. Coom into the parlor and I’ll light t’ fire.”
The journey from London had been tedious and tiring and it was very good to be taken care of after two days of strange inns.
“There is only eggs and bacon, lass, and soom day-old bread.”
“That sounds wonderful, Janie.”
Lynette surprised herself by eating ravenously. She hadn’t wanted food since the evening Lord Sidmouth had kissed her. But the warmth and safety of home relaxed her and she more than did justice to Janie’s supper.
“Did tha coom alone?”
“Yes. I was finding it all a bit overwhelming, but I didn’t want to spoil anything for Kate.”
“And do tha parents know tha’rt here, lass?” asked Janie.
“Yes, Janie,” Lynette said, smiling at the woman’s stern tone.
“And they let tha travel alone?”
“I left them a note,” Lynette confessed. “I just needed to come home.”
“Now, now, tha is here and safe. But that must send them a letter, telling them tha arrived.”
“I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“I have to leave, lass, and go home and cook supper for my George. But I do not like leaving tha alone.”
“I won’t be alone, Janie. I’ll have Mott, and Jake is right over the stable. I will be fine, truly.”
“If tha is sure, I will go now and be back early in t’morning.”
“Thank you, Janie.”
“Good night, lass, and welcome home.”
Lynette stayed by the fire for a while, watching the flames die down. Mott had jumped into her lap as soon as she finished eating and was purring loudly, happy to have a member of the family home. “Coom on, tha great beast,” she crooned, as she draped him over her shoulder, and picking up a lamp, climbed the stairs to her own room. She deposited him at the foot of the bed, knowing that by morning he would be curled up next to her, and slipping out of her dress and into a nightrail, crawled under the covers and was asleep in minutes.
* * * *
The next morning she was awakened by Mott, who had jumped onto her chest and was peering into her face.
“Tha’s a great pain in the arse, tha mangy cat,” muttered Lynette. “Aye, and tha only understands broad Yorkshire, eh? Oh Mott, it is good to have your company, even though you are exactly what I called you!”
But Mott had done his job, which was to wake her up. He was not in the mood for cuddling, and so he jumped off the bed and stalked to the door, giving her one look over his shoulder before he went out.
Lynette pulled on her wrapper and stood by the window, looking out over the pastures and up toward the scree. It was a sunny morning and looked to remain so. It was, therefore, a good day to seek out Gabriel, and as she remembered why she came, she gave an involuntary shiver. She had managed to put it out of her mind as soon as she boarded the coach, but now she had to think about it. Something more than Sidmouth’s kisses had brought on that awful, nameless feeling, and Gabriel most probably held the key. She pulled on her most comfortable walking dress and went down to breakfast.
Janie was there, eager to hear all about the great ladies and gentlemen she had met, and so Lynette described an evening out in London, from the crush of carriages at the door of a great house to the blazing ballrooms and lavish suppers.
“And tha waltzed, lass?”
“Yes, Janie, many times.”
“Has tha waltzed with that nice Lord Clitheroe?”
“Yes, Janie,” Lynette answered with a faint blush.
“Good. He would make a fine husband for tha, Miss Lynnie.”
“Janie! I am not looking for a husband. And I have no idea whether Lord Clitheroe is looking for a wife.”
“Tha might not be looking, lass. But tha needs one. And I saw the way he looked at tha.”
“I do not want to sound conceited, Janie, but you know I am often admired for my looks. That does not mean a declaration of marriage is soon to follow.”
“I know tha face draws them like moths to a flame, lass. But Lord Clitheroe is different, I’d be willing to wager.”
“Lord Clitheroe was attentive, but no more so than others.”
“Oh, aye, I bet t’other one was. Now he would not make tha a good husband.”
“Lord Sidmouth! Hardly.”
“But he might make Miss Kate one,” added Janie thoughtfully.
“Lord Sidmouth and Kate? Why they almost seem to dislike each other!”
“Aye, lass. Well, that is the way it often begins. My George and I could barely stand the sight of each other at first.”
“Janie, I didn’t know you have taken up matchmaking in your old age,” teased Lynette.
“I know tha and tha sister as well as anyone, my lass, and I have a good idea of what sort of man would suit tha. And it was no accident that those two arrived here. It was meant, mark my words.”
“And now you sound like a fortune-teller!”
“Tha just wait and see, lass.”
* * * *
Lynette found herself smiling over Janie’s predictions as she walked up the path toward Gabriel’s hut. Lord Sidmouth and Kate, indeed. And then the thought of Sidmouth wiped the smile off her face. The path she took was next to one of the low stone walls that marked one pasture from another. She ran her hand over the top as she walked and wondered about her memory, if that’s what it was, of being pushed back against a wall just like it.
When she got to the hut, the old shepherd was already gone, which meant she had to climb farther. She hoped that he had not ranged too far today, for she had no energy to wander from pasture to pasture.
She was almost halfway up to the scree when she heard a dog barking. Hoping it was Benjamin, she headed in the direction of the sound and was relieved to see Gabriel leaning on his staff and watching the dog drive two sheep down from the top.
“Gabriel,” she called.
He turned, completely surprised by her call.
Lynette waved and climbed quickly, so that she was beside him almost before he recognized her.
“Miss Lynnie! Whatever art tha doing here? Tha is in London.”
“Now, how could I be here and in London at the same time,” she teased.
“Hast t’family coom back?”
“No, Gabriel. The rest of them are still in the city.”
“Is soomthing wrong, lass, that tha left? Were tha not asked to waltz enough waltzes,” said Gabriel, laughing his raspy laugh. “Or did tha scandalize soomone with tha heathen studies?”
“Gabriel!”
“Aye, well, I may not be at t’assemblies, lass, but I hear t’gossip. Tha’rt a rare one for drawing them in and then shocking them off.”
“I was very well behaved in London,” replied Lynette. “I never even uttered the word ‘fertility,’ I’ll have you know.”
“Then why hast tha coom back?”
“To see you, Gabriel,” Lynette answered in a very different tone.
“To see this dirty old shepherd, when tha has all the dooks in London after tha?”
“Gabriel, something happened when I was in London. I was… I am not sure how to explain this. Is there some place we can sit down?”
“Coom over to t’rocks, lass. I’ll spread my coat out to keep tha clean.”
Lynette smiled to herself at that. The rocks were likely to be cleaner than Gabriel’s old coat. But she thanked him and sank down gratefully on one of the boulders that studded the scree. Gabriel perched next to her and peered down.
“Na then, lass, what happened to tha?”
“Do you remember Lord Sidmouth?”
Gabriel looked blank.
“Harry Lifton. The man you and Benjamin rescued.”
“Oh, aye, t’ young soldier. I forgot he were a lord.”
“A marquess. He was very attentive to me in London.”
“Aye, and not t’only one, I wager.”
“But the most persistent. He took me out on a balcony a few nights ago. We had been dancing, and it was quite warm and we wanted some fresh air. And he kissed me,” she added, with her eyes lowered in embarrassment.
“Did tha not want him to, lass?”
“No.”
“And did he stop?”
“No.”
Gabriel struck the ground with his staff. “Mayhap Benjamin and I should not have rescued him after all. I would not have thought him to be that sort.”
“To be honest, Gabriel, I don’t think he is. He thought I was enjoying it.”
“And tha wasn’t at all?”
“Something happened, Gabriel. I was bending back over the railing to get away, and he was leaning over me and kissing me harder and all of a sudden…a horrible feeling came over me. And when I tried to figure it out later at home, I remembered. It was as though I was here, and you were here, too. You were shouting to someone to let me go.” Lynette’s voice was shaking, and it took all her courage to look up at Gabriel. “Was I only remembering a nightmare, do you think? Or did something happen?”
Gabriel placed his hand on top of hers and looked down at the ground in front of him. His face, which was reddened from all the years spent outdoors, was even redder from the embarrassment of having Miss Lynnie talking to him about things he shouldn’t be hearing.
“ ‘Twas no nightmare, lass,” he finally got out.
“Then someone did do something to me? Was it when I was about nine or ten, Gabriel?”
Gabriel’s hand clenched over hers, and she winced with the pain.
“I am sorry, lass,” he said when he realized what he had done. “I am not sure I can tell tha.”
“I must know, Gabriel. Please don’t be embarrassed for me.”
“ ‘Twere Thomas Halloch.”
As soon as he said the name Lynette shuddered, and she immediately saw the flushed face, smelt the bad breath of Thomas Halloch, a shepherd who had worked for them for a short time. It came back in that instant, as though his name were the key to it all. His name and Gabriel’s voice.
* * *
Chapter 24
She had been almost ten that summer. She’d been a great reader, even then, and as different from Kate as she was now. Kate, when she played, was likely to play in the barn with the new kittens or ride the fat old pony their father had bought them, or tag along with Gareth. Lynnie joined her sometimes, but what Lynnie most liked to do was pretend. Sometimes she would have Kate act out a scene with her from the Robin Hood ballads. In fact, one time they were sent to their rooms supperless when they came home dripping wet after acting out Robin and Little John’s fight on the log bridge. Lynnie, being the taller one, was Little John.
On that particular morning, however, Lynnie had been Gareth, setting out to rescue Lynette, their father having passed on his love for the Arthurian cycle to her. She was never a lady when she pretended, not even when the lady in the story bore her name. No, she wanted adventure. She had gotten up at dawn, thrown an old cloak over her, grabbed bread and cheese from the kitchen, and was out before the sun began to burn off the early morning mist.
Everything was dripping with moisture. It was wonderful to be out on such a fog-enshrouded morning, before anyone else was stirring, and she was so caught up in being Gareth that the shape that came out of the mist seemed to be only a creature of her imagination. Until he stopped her by grabbing her arm.
He said nothing, and perhaps that was the worst of all. She was walking along, completely absorbed in her “rescue,” and then, suddenly, rough hands were pushing her back against the stone wall. Someone’s mouth was over hers, pushing her lips open.
They were well out of sight of the house, and with his mouth covering hers, she couldn’t make a sound. To her horror, his hand went between her legs, as though drawn there by a magnet. She wondered what she could have done, that he would touch her there. She almost fainted with relief when he moved it away, only to realize that he was fumbling with her dress, pushing it over her hips so that he could reach under it. His fingers found her most private part, and as he tried to push them into her, she gasped with the pain.
It was then that she screamed, and through the fog saw another shape approaching. At first she thought it was the man’s companion, but when she heard him shout, she realized it was Gabriel.
“Let her go, tha bastard, let t’lass go.”
Halloch pulled back from her, as surprised as she was at the apparition, for so Gabriel seemed, emerging from the mist.
He was on her attacker in a moment, pulling him off Lynette, and leveling him with one blow to the chin. Lynette looked down, as though from a great distance at the man writhing at her feet. Gabriel was beating him about the shoulders with his staff, using words that Lynette had never heard before. Just as Gabriel lifted his staff and looked ready to drive it down the man’s throat, Lynette reached out.
“No, Gabriel, no. You’ll kill him.”
A great shudder went through the old shepherd, and he lifted the staff slowly. Halloch rolled out from under the poised weapon and half crawled, half ran down the fellside. Gabriel turned to her and she almost fell against him.
“Art tha all reet, lass? He didn’t harm tha, did he?”
“No, he only kissed me,” said Lynette, when she could speak.
“Art sure?”
Lynette could not, would not tell of that hand seeking out her private self. She could not tell Gabriel, and she could not ever imagine telling her parents, ever in her life. For if she told them, they would look at her and know that it was something in herself, in Lynnie, that had drawn his hand there.
“Let me get tha home and we will tell tha parents. They’ll have the sheriff on him for sure.”
“No, Gabriel, please don’t.”
“What does tha mean, lass. Of course I have to tell tha father.”
“No, Gabriel, please,” she begged. “I am sure Halloch will ne
ver show his face around here again. I cannot tell anyone. It is too shameful.”
Gabriel protested, but Lynette became half-hysterical, and so he gave in. She had gone through enough, and he was afraid to put her through any more. And likely in a few days when she had gotten over it, she would tell her parents herself.
“I will bring tha down to t’house, lass. And tha must promise never to coom out alone like this again.”
Lynette nodded her agreement, and Gabriel led her to the back door.
“Art sure tha’rt all reel now?”
“Yes, Gabriel. And thank you.” Lynette gave the old shepherd such a look of gratitude, that he thought his heart would crack within him when she turned and squaring her small shoulders, walked into the house alone.
* * * *
“I was never sure I did reet, lass, not telling tha father.”
“It was the right thing to do, Gabriel. Truly, I could not have borne their questions.”
“And did tha not remember from then to now, lass?” he asked wonderingly.
“I must have pushed it out of my mind almost immediately, Gabriel. And it was only Lord Sidmouth’s behavior and the feeling of the balcony railing against my back that reawakened the memory.”
“I’d like to get my hands on that young man then.”
“No, he really did do no more than kiss me, you know. Perhaps, in some strange way, he did me a favor, for he woke up a part of me that has been asleep for many years.”
Gabriel looked over and saw the tears streaming down Lynette’s face. He put his arm around her and drew her close. “Ah, lass, do not grieve thaself over this. It all happened so long ago.”
“But I still feel that it was somehow my fault, Gabriel. I should not have gone out so early. I must have done something, at some time, to give him the idea that I would welcome such behavior…”
“Nay, lass,” said Gabriel sternly, grasping her shoulders and looking into her eyes. “Tha was on tha father’s farm. Why should tha not be able to walk it safely. Halloch was a… Well, I cannot say it in front of tha.”
Heartless Lord Harry Page 10