Adam took Gabriel through a series of large rooms, surprisingly low-ceilinged for the age of the house, but each one giving an impression of space and light and a comfortable, lived-in air, and furnished with the taste she would have expected from a family who dealt in the buying and selling of beautiful things.
‘I like your home,’ she said at last, as he locked up behind them.
‘So do I. But it weighs on me like a millstone sometimes.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m the one who’s going to have to keep it up one day, though God willing that won’t be for a long, long time yet.’ He smiled as they reached the stable door. ‘My place is on a smaller scale, but the decor’s all mine. And I warn you, it’s a bit different from my mother’s.’
Adam was right. After the muted pastels of the main house the rooms in the Stables came as a surprise. Walls painted in primary colours formed a glowing background for flagstones and oak beams, and lived in harmony with antique pieces acquired over the years on Adam’s treasure hunts. The fittings in the ochre-painted kitchen were modern, but the round oak table and ladderback chairs were very like those at Haywards. The vibrant green dining room housed a dark refectory table, the small entrance hall a shelf of ancient pewter tankards ranged against a sky-blue wall. But the sitting room, which doubled as Adam’s study, was less strident, with a long-case clock against one of the amber walls, a fire ready laid in the stone fireplace, and a vast sofa drawn up to a huge window set in what had once been the main entrance to the stables.
Adam gestured towards the stairs. ‘Bathroom’s up there. Would you like to tidy up?’
Afterwards, on the landing, Gabriel couldn’t resist a look inside Adam’s room, where the ornate brass of a very large bed reflected tawny orange walls.
Adam was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. ‘So what do you think of my retreat?’
‘Impressive.’ She smiled a little. ‘I took a peep into your bedroom. What a fantastic bed!’
‘Part of my saleroom booty—like most of my possessions. Are you hungry?’ he added.
‘Not enormously. A sandwich, maybe?’
‘Wise choice. My culinary skills are limited.’ He ushered her into the kitchen. ‘Sit down at the table. What filling would you like?’
‘Whatever you have.’
Adam was neat and deft with his movements, and in a surprisingly short time set a platter of sandwiches on the table and told her to tuck in.
‘These are good,’ Gabriel said, savouring avocado and Parma ham.
Adam smiled. ‘Thank you, madam, I aim to please. But, organised type that I am, I admit I had this particular occasion in mind when I went deli shopping yesterday.’
So he had planned this in advance. ‘I like your taste in colour,’ she told him, taking another sandwich.
‘Some people find it garish.’
She shook her head. ‘It works well with the black beams. And the bedroom is terrific.’
‘Halfway round when I was painting it the colour seemed so overpowering I got cold feet—’
‘You painted the bedroom yourself?’
He looked down his nose at her. ‘I painted the entire house myself.’
‘Gosh,’ she said, impressed. ‘I apologise.’
‘What for, exactly?’
‘I assumed that young Mr Dysart would have hired professional decorators,’ she said frankly.
‘Why are you so convinced I’m some kind of playboy?’ he demanded, and held out two long, capable hands. ‘These are used to hard work, believe it or not. I may be a fourth generation Dysart of Friars Wood, but I work damned hard to make sure that I’ll be able to go on living here once I inherit.’ His face shadowed. ‘My sisters refuse to face the fact that my parents are mortal and won’t be here one day.’
‘I can understand that,’ said Gabriel with a shiver. ‘And if I’ve jumped to other wrong conclusions where you’re concerned, Adam, I’m sorry.’
He looked her in the eye. ‘So shall we start again, Gabriel Brett?’
She made no attempt to misunderstand him. ‘I thought we had. Anyway, it’s pointless to be at loggerheads if we’re going to see each other every day until I finish your restoration.’
‘And what happens then?’ he demanded. ‘Will you go back to the city pavements?’
She shrugged. ‘I have other work on hand besides yours, remember. When I finish your canvas I’ve got several more waiting in line.’
‘Good. That means you’ll have to stay to finish them.’
‘I’ll stay until I’m satisfied Dad’s completely well and fit to manage on his own,’ she assured him.
‘Then I hope Harry will be sensible and take a very long convalescence,’ said Adam, then frowned. ‘But how will that affect your job?’
‘I’ve resigned. I’ve given my father’s health as the reason, but it was time I made a move.’ Gabriel smiled philosophically. ‘I might even set up on my own. I’ve got plenty of contacts. Jeremy’s dealt with me through the firm up to now, but he’d probably deal direct if I went solo.’
‘Haven’t you discussed it with him?’
‘Not yet. He’s in the States. I’ll tell him when he gets back this week.’
‘Whereupon he’ll come rushing down to see you?’
‘I think it more likely he’ll expect me to go rushing up to see him.’
‘Then he’s a fool,’ said Adam flatly, and got up. ‘Coffee?’
‘Yes, please.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Though I mustn’t be long—’
‘You’re tired?’
‘No. But I’d rather get back to Haywards before dark.’
‘In that case,’ said Adam, ‘I’ll drive you back right now and you can make the coffee.’
‘Good idea,’ she said, and gave him a teasing smile. ‘Worried someone might steal Henrietta? I think you’re in love with her, Adam Dysart.’
He laughed as he collected his car keys. ‘Best way to conduct a relationship—worshipping from afar.’
‘Still smarting over Della?’
He looked blank, as though he had no idea who Gabriel was talking about. ‘Not in the least.’ He ushered her outside and locked up, giving her a very straight look as he held the passenger door open. ‘I’ve hardly given Della a thought in the excitement of discovering the painting. And you,’ he added very deliberately, giving Gabriel cause for much thought on the drive home.
The June evening was still light when they arrived, but inside the house it was already dark.
‘I usually turn all the lights on at this time,’ she said casually, ‘so excuse me for a minute.’
Adam took a look into the shadowy hallway. ‘I’d better come with you.’
‘Be careful,’ she warned, ‘some of the beams are low.’
Adam frowned as he followed her down the stairs at last, every one of which creaked loudly with his weight. ‘Noisy place you’ve got here. Do these creaks and groans keep you awake at night?’
‘A bit,’ she admitted.
He perched on the table, watching her as she made their coffee. ‘I’ve got beams at the Stables, but they’re not as stereophonic as yours. Nor as ancient, of course.’
‘Parts of this house go back to the seventeenth century,’ said Gabriel. ‘I’m only comfortable here in the kitchen. There’s precious little comfort else down here with most of the furniture gone. I don’t know how Dad puts up with it.’
‘Maybe Harry’s just used to it. He told me he was brought up here.’
She nodded. ‘Aunt Lottie took him in when he was eight, after his parents drowned.’
‘Boating accident?’ said Adam.
‘No. My grandmother got a cramp swimming in the sea. My grandfather tried to rescue her but neither of them survived.’
Adam winced. ‘Where was your father?’
‘Here with Aunt Lottie while his parents went off for their first weekend alone together.’
Adam pulled out a chair for her, then sat opposite, his
face sombre. ‘A sad story,’ he commented.
‘And I wish I hadn’t brought it up,’ she said with feeling, then smiled brightly. ‘But I’m only here alone for another fortnight or so. And my radio does wonders to drown out the sound effects.’
‘Does it have batteries, in case there’s a power cut?’
Gabriel eyed him in horror. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll buy some tomorrow evening after I finish.’
‘How about candles and torches and so on?’
‘Plenty of those,’ she assured him, and smiled. ‘But nice of you to think of it.’
‘Contrary to your opinion of me, Miss Brett, I can be very nice indeed,’ said Adam with emphasis.
‘I bet you can!’ She pushed her hair behind her ears, eyeing him curiously. ‘In fact it’s a mystery to me how someone as eligible and “nice” as you, Adam Dysart, is still unattached.’
‘Ditto, Miss Brett,’ he returned. ‘There must have been other men in your life before the absent Jeremy.’
‘One or two,’ she said demurely, and Adam laughed.
‘At the very least!’
‘Because I’m over thirty?’
‘No. Because you’re an intelligent, attractive woman, Gabriel Brett, whatever age you happen to be. Doesn’t marriage appeal to you?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘It didn’t work out for my parents, so why should it for me? Besides, it’s fashionable to be thirty-something and single. Bestsellers are written on the subject.’ Gabriel raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s your excuse?’
Adam leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped behind his head. ‘I can’t afford a wife. At least, not at the present time.’
Gabriel stared incredulously. ‘Oh, come on. You’ve got a great home, career, a stable financial background. What more do you need?’
‘Quite apart from the small detail that I’ve never found someone I want to marry, I’m saving every penny,’ said Adam, surprising her.
‘Would it be rude to ask what for?’
‘Not at all. When Friars Wood comes to me at last, I intend to be in a position to pay my sisters their share of what it would fetch on the open market. Not,’ he added, ‘that any of them want me to, or will dun me for the money. Leo and Jess, my two older sisters, are married, and very comfortably so. Kate might need the money more, but wild horses wouldn’t make her admit it.’
‘What about the fourth sister?’
He shook his head. ‘She’s actually a cousin, though we don’t think of her that way because my mother’s brought her up from birth. Fenny was left very comfortably off by my Aunt Rachel.’
‘But that still leaves a lot to find.’
‘Maybe the Singleton portrait will swell the coffers a bit.’
‘I hope so. I’ll do my very best to make a good job of it.’
‘There’s no doubt about that.’ Adam got up. ‘I must go. Thank you for coming with me today.’
‘Thank you. I wouldn’t have missed meeting Miss Henrietta for the world!’ Gabriel’s smile faded as she met the look in Adam’s dark, intent eyes.
‘Have you forgiven me at last?’ he asked abruptly.
‘What for, exactly?’
‘Are my sins so numerous, then?’ He came round the table and held out his hand to her. ‘I was referring to my adolescent lack of manners.’
‘Lack of interest,’ she corrected.
Adam retained her hand as she stood up. ‘I’m interested now.’
‘In me, or my skill as a restorer?’
‘Both.’ He stood looking down into her face, which was a new experience for Gabriel. She was used to looking Jeremy Blyth, and most of the men she knew, straight in the eye.
‘Would you be quite as interested if I were still fat and spotty, with braces on my teeth?’ she demanded, flippant to hide her response to his touch.
‘Probably not,’ he said frankly. ‘But you wouldn’t have spent the day with the equally spotty beanpole I was as a teenager, either.’
‘I don’t remember your spots,’ she said, surprised.
‘I don’t remember yours either, so I vote we forget them and fast forward to the present.’ He looked down into her eyes for a moment, then took her in his arms and kissed her. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that all day. Every day since I met you again, in fact,’ he muttered, and kissed her again, with a hunger which took her breath away.
‘I thought so,’ said Gabriel unevenly at last, tipping her head back to look up at him.
‘No objections?’ he said huskily.
She smiled a little. ‘A goodnight kiss between two consenting adults is fairly harmless.’
‘To you, maybe, but it’s done serious damage to me,’ whispered Adam, and kissed her with a savouring lack of haste far more erotic than a fierce onslaught. At last he pushed her away and stepped back, his eyes glittering darkly. ‘I must go—while I can.’
Perilously close to begging him to stay, Gabriel went to the door and opened it. ‘Goodnight, Adam, and thank you for today.’
‘All of it?’
Their eyes met.
She nodded slowly. ‘Yes. All of it.’
Adam touched a hand to her cheek. ‘Goodnight, Gabriel. I’ll wait outside until I hear you lock the door.’
CHAPTER SIX
THE house felt very empty once Gabriel was alone. She had a hasty bath, and afterwards wished she hadn’t. Refreshed and wakeful, she lay sleepless for what seemed like hours, the radio no buffer tonight against the creaks and groans of ancient timbers as the house made the transition from daytime heat to the relative coolness of the summer night. But in spite of her restless night Gabriel was up early next morning, so eager to get to grips with the portrait she was surprised when a knock on the door interrupted her a good hour before the others were due.
‘Good morning,’ said Adam, as matter-of-factly as though he appeared every day before breakfast. he handed her a paper bag. ‘I’ve brought you a present.’
‘Why, thank you,’ said Gabriel, secretly flustered at the sight of him. ‘Good morning to you, too. Can I interest you in some coffee?’
‘You certainly can.’ He smiled smugly at her exclamation of delight when she found the bag was full of batteries.
‘How very sweet of you!’ On impulse Gabriel reached up and kissed his cheek. ‘I had a bad night wondering how I’d cope if the electricity failed! How did you know which size?’
‘I noticed your radio during our lighting up tour.’ He sat down at the table, eyeing her hopefully. ‘I don’t suppose you could manage a slice of toast with the coffee?’
‘As many as you want! How about some scrambled eggs?’
‘If you’ll share them with me,’ he said promptly.
Only a few days beforehand Gabriel would have found it impossible to believe she could breakfast with Adam Dysart and enjoy the experience, but now it was a pleasure to talk shop with him over the kind of meal she normally never bothered with.
‘You do realise that if this painting is valuable, maybe I shouldn’t be restoring it at all?’ she asked at one point. ‘Once I start removing the actual varnish I might find some serious damage.’
‘But I can’t sell it the way it is. Anyway, it’s no Turner, Gabriel.’
‘True. By the way, you’ve come out of your way to bring me my present this morning,’ she added. ‘Won’t you be late?’
‘One of the advantages of being the spoilt son and heir,’ he said, straight-faced, ‘is the fact that someone else can do the opening up bit.’
‘So you don’t make an early start every day?’
‘I was joking. Normally I’m first on the scene.’ He smiled into her eyes. ‘But today your batteries were more important. I had a bad night last night, one way and another. Amongst other things keeping me awake I was imagining what would happen if you get a power cut.’
‘I switch on my trusty torch and light candles,’ she said promptly.
‘But without power the burgl
ar alarms would be deactivated, and your security lights won’t work,’ he pointed out, then cursed under his breath as the colour left her face.
‘I never thought of that,’ said Gabriel faintly.
Adam reached for the coffee pot and refilled her cup. ‘Now I’ve really frightened you,’ he said with remorse.
She smiled valiantly. ‘Just as well to face facts. Though there’s a trip switch that usually brings the power back on if it’s nothing too serious.’
Adam took her hand. ‘I know. I checked.’
‘I almost took you up on your offer and rang you last night,’ she confessed. ‘I was convinced I heard something.’
He eyed her sharply. ‘Inside the house?’
‘No. Outside. I had a look through a crack in the curtains, but nothing. And the lights were too bright for me to miss anything.’ She shrugged. ‘A fox, probably, or a badger.’
Adam’s grasp tightened. ‘My offer to sleep on the sofa still holds.’
‘Gabriel, can we have the keys—?’ Wayne stood in the open doorway, scarlet to the roots of his curly hair.
‘Hi, Wayne,’ said Adam, releasing Gabriel’s hand without haste.
‘Sorry, I’m a bit late this morning.’ She smiled at Wayne serenely and delved into her bag for the bunch of keys. ‘If you and Eddie would open up I’ll be with you shortly.’
‘Sure, fine—sorry to interrupt.’ He shot off like greased lightning, and Gabriel sat back in her chair and collapsed into shared laughter with Adam.
‘That’s my reputation gone with the wind—thank heavens it wasn’t Miss Prince, my father’s cleaner, or I’d be right in the mire,’ she gasped at last, and gestured at the table. ‘Neither of those two will believe that breakfast was all we shared, either.’
‘True,’ said Adam, and sighed heavily. ‘Pity.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We might as well have enjoyed the night of riotous sin they’re both imagining.’ He got up, leering lasciviously. ‘Another time, maybe?’
Both Wayne and Eddie were so silent when the three of them were working in the barn Gabriel took off her mask after a while, pushed the headband up and beckoned them over.
‘Look, you two. It’s no big deal who you catch me breakfasting with,’ she said bluntly, ‘but just to set things straight Adam brought some batteries round for my radio first thing this morning.’ Which sounded so unlikely Gabriel wished she hadn’t bothered.
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