Sir Thomas looked appalled. ‘My dear, I would not dream of depriving you! Your friend must surely have come by it quite honestly!’ He pushed it into her hands. ‘Pray keep it!’
‘Oh no!’ Lavender handed it back, suddenly quite desperate. ‘Sir—’
‘I am sure the mystery can be easily solved,’ Lewis said, unwittingly making matters worse for his sister. ‘Lavender, where did this come from?’
Lavender frowned at him. ‘It was just a gift! Lewis, pray do not concern yourself—’
Lewis frowned in his turn. ‘You are being confoundedly mysterious about this, Lavender! A gift from whom?’
‘From Mr Hammond!’ Lavender said, blushing. She had not wanted to confess it, for it seemed too personal to admit that Barney had been giving her presents. She tried to remember what he had said about the book’s origins. ‘Perhaps he bought it from the bookseller in Northampton! I cannot recall—’
‘No one is suggesting that he stole it!’ Caroline said mildly. ‘We shall ask Mr Hammond how he came by it, and the mystery shall be solved!’ She turned to Sir Thomas, who was still turning the book over in his hands. ‘In the meantime, dear sir, as it is an old friend, I pray you rediscover it with pleasure! Now, is there anything else we can do for your comfort?’
Sir Thomas reassured her that he was very well served, and the party went up to bed shortly after. The storm was still rumbling in the distance, and Lavender lay awake for a while, puzzling over the botany book and its origin. Sir Thomas had said that his son had borrowed the book originally, but where it had been since, and why it had come into Barney Hammond’s hands, was a complete mystery. She could remember now that Barney had told her he had inherited the book from his mother and that he could not understand the Latin text. Lavender wondered if Eliza Hammond had been able to read Latin and frowned over the mystery.
Lavender turned over and thumped the pillow into a more comfortable shape. It was cool and comforting under her cheek. It seemed too soon to seek Barney out again when he had specifically told her that they could no longer meet. Yet now she knew she would have to tell him about Sir Thomas, and ask him how a book with the arms of Kenton had ever come to be in his possession.
The following morning was overcast but warm, as though the thunderstorm had failed to lift the humidity that hung over the countryside like a blanket. Caroline sighed and claimed that her clothes were already sticking to her and that the heat made her feel indisposed. Lavender resolved to take refuge in the woods with her sketching paper until she had decided when she dared to approach Barney again.
They were still at breakfast when they heard the sound of a carriage on the drive and the knocker sound a moment later. Fluting female tones wafted on the air. Caroline and Lavender exchanged a look.
‘More visitors!’ Caroline said, with a lift of her brows. ‘How diverting! Here we are going along with our own company all this time, then suddenly—’
‘That sounds like—’ Lavender began, then the breakfast-room door swung open, and Julia Chessford stood on the threshold, exquisitely bridal in a cream satin dress and matching lace-adorned cape.
‘My dears!’ She held her arms wide and for a dreadful moment Lavender wondered if she were about to embrace them all. ‘I promised that I would visit, did I not, and here I am!’
Lavender noticed that Lewis seemed to be having trouble keeping his face straight. ‘So you did, Julia,’ he murmured, ‘but I am not at all sure that we believed you!’
Given that Mrs Chessford had left the Manor under something of a cloud previously, it seemed odd to Lavender that she had had the impertinence to return and expect a welcome. It was also unfortunate that Sir Thomas Kenton was an unwitting spectator to the scene, since it made it impossible for Lewis to suggest that his cousin turn round and depart the house directly. In short order, therefore, Julia had drawn a chair up to the breakfast table and had prettily requested that the maid bring her some food: ‘Eggs buttered just as I like them, Rosie, and a cup of chocolate—not too sweet, not too bitter…’
Caroline caught Lavender’s eye and grimaced at her. Her lips formed the words ‘pockets to let.’ Lavender nodded slightly. They both suspected that it could not be a fondness for their company that had led Mrs Chessford to take refuge at Hewly, but the fact that she was an inveterate gambler and was probably without a feather to fly. Lavender sighed and toyed with her food. Julia’s arrival had acted to suppress the appetite and much else too. Just now she was expressing naïve surprise that Lewis and Caroline had yet to redecorate the house, which had been shabby even when she had last been there. She then turned her most dazzling smile on Sir Thomas, and quizzed the unsuspecting baronet about his estate and fortune. Sir Thomas answered her with the same mild courtesy that he had shown previously, evidently having little suspicion that he was being sized up as a potential husband.
‘Is she not shameless!’ Caroline said later, having grabbed Lavender’s arm and practically dragged her from the breakfast-room. She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. ‘I suspect that Julia has lost her beau and that poor Sir Thomas is being considered as a replacement!’
Lavender’s shoulders shook. ‘No doubt she would think him ideal—elderly, rich and childless! Oh dear, Caro—should we have left the poor gentleman alone with her? They will be betrothed ere breakfast is over!’
Sir Thomas, however, proved surprisingly resilient to Julia’s charms. When they ventured back into the room they found him in the middle of a discourse on agricultural improvements at Kenton, and he explained that his charming companion had been asking him about his interests. Julia was hiding her yawns behind one white hand and angling for a visit to Kenton Hall, but in vain. Sir Thomas promised to send her a tract on land reform, thanked Caroline gravely for her hospitality and stated that he must be on his way home. He kissed Lavender’s hand with old-fashioned gallantry.
‘Thank you for the loan of your botanical book, my dear,’ he said with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I enjoyed rediscovering such a treasure! Now it is yours and I hope it brings you pleasure! And if you wish to study the rest of my library, you shall be very welcome at Kenton Hall!’
Julia pouted as the door closed behind him. ‘What a prosy old bore! And what a waste! Why, I declare, that estate is worth ten thousand a year and it will all go to some distant nephew on Sir Thomas’s death! Lud, if I could attach his interest—’
‘I should concentrate on the distant nephew, Julia,’ Caroline advised, sitting down and pouring herself another cup of chocolate from the pot. ‘He will be younger and may be more susceptible to your charms! I fear Sir Thomas is only interested in his land and his books—a shame, but you could never compete with Plato!’
Julia brightened. ‘Oh, a capital idea, Caro! I shall make enquiries! Now, how do the two of you plan to entertain me today?’
Caroline tried and failed to look apologetic. ‘I fear the heat makes me feel quite enervated, Julia, so I shall be resting in my room! Lavender?’
Lavender smiled. ‘I am working on my botanical collection today, cousin Julia! If you wish to accompany me into the wood, you are very welcome!’
Julia gave a little shudder. ‘Lud, how unpleasant! The heat and the flies…’ Her blue eyes sharpened spitefully. ‘It amazes me that you are still devoting yourself to that boring old study, Lavender! Still, when a lady has no prospect of marriage and family, I suppose it is good to have a hobby! I shall drive into Abbot Quincey, I think, and call on the Percevals. I have no doubt they will be delighted to see me again!’
Lavender and Caroline exchanged a look. Both remembered that when Julia had last tried calling on their aristocratic neighbours, most of them were unaccountably from home.
‘Just as you wish, Julia,’ Caroline murmured. She turned to Lavender. ‘Do not tire yourself out walking, my love. This heat is very intense. And be careful where you go. I know you think the forest is safe, but I have had enough strange experiences in there to make me know that it is anything but!
’
Chapter Seven
It was a hot afternoon. Lavender struggled across the meadow with her portfolio of sketches clutched under one arm and her skirts held up in the other hand. She could feel the material of her dress sticking to her back in the sunshine and wished that she had worn something lighter. One did not expect such warmth in early October.
She had spent the morning drawing plants for her collection and now, by mid-afternoon, felt sleepy and ill-disposed to do any more work. On the other hand she felt disinclined to return to the Manor, where Julia was no doubt well settled in by now and busy stirring up trouble.
She wandered towards the river, drawn by the cool sound of the water playing over the stones. Here under the trees it was shady, but the air was still humid. Lavender propped her portfolio against a tree trunk and made her way towards Steepwood Pool. She was feeling a strong desire to plunge into the water fully clothed, but her natural modesty prevented her from swimming there, no matter how refreshing it might be. She decided that she would make do with bathing her hands and face, and she unfastened the buttons at the neck of her gown so that she could feel the breeze against her hot skin.
As she drew near to the water, Lavender could see that the pool was already occupied. Someone else had had the same idea as she, only they had no qualms about stripping off for a quick dip in the water. She knew that she should not linger, but she stood watching for a split second, a second too long.
As she hesitated, she saw the figure reach the bank and pull himself out of the water. It was Barney Hammond. There was no mistaking that broad, well-made figure, the dark hair glistening now with droplets of water. He was naked from the waist up, barefoot, and his soaking trousers clung to his muscular legs. Lavender saw him raise his hands to rub the water from his face, and she caught her breath as the hazy light burnished his skin from golden to deep bronze. Her heart was racing and a peculiar excitement lit her blood, the same feeling as when he had kissed her that time, an undercurrent of sensuous pleasure. Lavender stared, and Barney raised his head and looked directly at her.
In that moment Lavender was suddenly reminded of all the respectable reasons why she should not lurk in the forest spying on semi-naked men. She turned away hastily and started to walk back to pick up her portfolio, but even as she retreated she was aware that he was following her. Her skirts were long and the forest floor strewn with branches and brambles to trap the unwary. Barney reached her in what seemed to Lavender only half a dozen easy strides, caught her arm and pulled her round to face him with negligent ease.
‘Miss Brabant!’ He did not even sound out of breath. ‘Why are you running away?’
It was more a challenge than a question. Lavender raised her chin.
‘I was walking away, sir, because I had understood that you did not wish to meet with me any more and besides,’ she could not help herself from looking at him pointedly, ‘you are scarce in a fit state to greet a lady!’
Barney glanced down at the breeches that were still moulded to his thighs and grinned.
‘You have not let that weigh with you before, ma’am, on the other occasions when you have watched me in the forest or at the pool!’
Lavender opened her mouth to deny it and closed it again. The colour flooded into her face. She could hardly deny that she had seen him fencing with James Oliver, and as for the rest…She had always suspected that he knew she had seen him at the pool before. And it was so undignified for a lady to be caught spying.
‘I…I beg your pardon, sir,’ she managed to force out. ‘It was never my intention to…to deliberately watch you—’
Barney raised his eyebrows in a gesture that conveyed disbelief more clearly than any words.
‘Indeed?’ he drawled. ‘Well, if you were only intending to take a swim yourself, why do you not do so?’ He gestured behind him. ‘There is plenty of room for two!’
Lavender’s eyes opened wide. ‘Oh, I could not! It would not be seemly—’
‘Less seemly than to watch in secret?’ Barney questioned. He was smiling slightly. ‘You have an odd idea of proper behaviour, Miss Brabant!’
Lavender bit her lip. It seemed he was not going to let her off lightly. ‘I told you that it was an accident, sir—’
‘Oh, so you did—’
‘One meets many people and sees many things in the forest!’ Lavender burst out, stung by his sarcasm.
Barney grinned, his teeth very white in his dark face. He leant one hand against the trunk of the nearest tree. Lavender fixed her gaze on the distant stands of oak and ash. She knew he was watching her but she could not look him in the eye. She certainly did not want to look lower, where his bare torso still gleamed with stray drops of water, or lower even than that where his damp trousers outlined his body with all the explicit beauty of a classical statue.
‘I must go,’ she said. ‘It is too hot to be wandering out here—’
It was true. The air around them seemed to shimmer with a heavy, sensual heat.
‘I see that you had already started to unfasten your dress,’ Barney said expressionlessly, his gaze lingering on the hollow in Lavender’s throat, where she knew a frantic pulse was now beating. ‘Are you sure that I cannot tempt you into the pool?’
Lavender felt suffocated. What she wanted and what she knew she should do were now drifting ever farther apart. She cleared her throat. ‘No, truly, I should go—’
Her words sounded weak even to her own ears and Barney ignored them, straightening up and stepping closer to her.
‘Then at least take off your straw bonnet. There is no direct sunlight here and it would be far more pleasant for you to feel the air on your face…’
He put out a hand and took hold of the end of one of her ribbons, pulling gently until the bow unravelled. Lavender could feel the bonnet slipping back and tumbling to the ground. It was true—there was the very slightest of breezes that day, and it was warm on her hot face.
She had tied her hair in a plait that morning and pinned it up, and now she saw Barney’s hand move again and the sunlight glinted on the golden heads of the pins as he methodically pulled them out. She could feel his fingers in her hair, feel the slippery weight of it gather and start to fall about her shoulders. Neither of them said anything.
Barney gathered a handful of the silver gilt threads and let them slip between his fingers. ‘That’s better. I wanted to see it like this again. You looked so beautiful yesterday lying in the grass with your hair spread about you—’
‘You should not…’ Lavender’s words came out as a whisper. She was trembling all over, afraid that her legs were about to give way. She knew her breathing was quick and shallow and she could not tear her gaze away from him for fear—and fascination—of what he would do next.
Barney brushed the long strands of hair away from her neck, his fingers just grazing her skin where the collar of her dress was open. When he started to undo the tiny pearl buttons down the bodice, Lavender felt her trembling increase. Her throat was dry but her skin felt flushed and sticky with sweat. She felt light-headed and more than a little faint, and she could think of nothing but that she wished Barney would kiss her, and that there was the most intolerable ache inside her and that she would do anything she could to appease it.
There was a look of intense concentration on Barney’s face as his hand drifted lower, undoing another button, a second, a third…His gaze fell to where the edge of Lavender’s white lawn shift was now visible, with the slight curve of her breasts above.
Lavender made a slight noise, half-gasp, half-moan, and put a hand out, but whether to stop the progress of his fingers or to help him, she did not know. In the event he captured her hand and returned it to her side, the same look of distilled concentration on his face. Her back was against a tree; she felt its rough bark against her palms as she steadied herself. Barney had unfastened the buttons almost to her waist now and was sliding the material of her bodice over her shoulders so that the dress crumpled to her fee
t and she stood in her shift alone. Lavender, who had ten minutes before contemplated and rejected the idea of stripping down to just such a state of undress for her swim in the pool, shivered convulsively at what she was discovering.
She longed to touch him. The proximity of that hard, tanned body to hers was almost too much to bear, and she reached for him again, gasping with relief this time as he pulled her into his arms.
His voice was so soft she could hardly hear it. ‘Oh, Lavender…I have so wanted this…’
Lavender wanted it too. As his mouth took hers at last she closed her eyes, abandoning herself to touch and taste.
The kiss was almost violent with pent-up emotion. Lavender’s lips parted, responding wildly to the demand of his. Sensuality flared between them, a scalding tide in Lavender’s blood. She pressed closer to him, running her hands over the muscles of his bare back and revelling in the groan she wrung from him with her caress. His skin was smooth and cool, still slightly damp from the water. Barney kissed her again, fiercely, hungrily, tilting her chin up so his mouth could plunder the sweetness of hers. His lips moved to the corner of her mouth, then to the sweet hollow of her throat, then down…Lavender arched against him, in an agony of wanting until she felt his fingers cup her breasts through the thin shift, felt him push the material aside and lower his head to take one sensitive tip in his mouth. A dart of exquisite pleasure shot through her. His stubble grazed her exposed skin and she gasped aloud.
They tumbled down into the grasses and lay there, winded, adrift with desire, and only inches apart.
Lavender opened her eyes. She was lying on her back staring up at the pattern of green leaves against a pale blue sky. Barney was propped on his elbow beside her, still watching her with that intent, concentrated desire. She could see the tiny, golden hairs on his forearm, and put out one finger and ran it along his arm. He was warm to touch and smelled of sunshine and fresh air. Barney smiled, a slow, lazy smile that made her quiver. He pulled her back into his arms, sliding one hand inside her unlaced shift, his fingers teasing her breasts again. Lavender’s head fell back, her hair spread about her.
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