When finally he had arrived at the boundary fence of the small estate he knew her to live upon, Lucas tethered his horse out of view and began to make a small surveillance of the area, careful to keep himself hidden within the great rambling foliage that was everywhere abundant.
After a chilly surveillance of no more than twenty minutes, Lucas was rewarded with the sight of a young housemaid of no more than seventeen years carrying a basket of sheets into the courtyard, clearly intent on hanging the items on the line for drying.
Taking a final look about him, Lucas slowly walked out into the courtyard and approached her.
“Do you think they will dry on so cold a day, Miss?” Despite speaking so gently, still he startled the young woman. “Forgive me; I did not mean to come upon you in such a way.”
“Please do not worry, Sir. It is just that I never expected to see a visitor around the back of the house. Would you wish me to take you around to the front of the house, Sir?”
“Perhaps.” Lucas had not really thought so very far ahead. “But tell me, is your mistress at home?”
“There is nobody at home this morning, Sir. My mistress is not expected back until this afternoon.” She smiled shyly, and Lucas could see her trying to make some assessment of him. Although he was wearing his oldest clothes, it was clear that they were still well made and of the very finest cloth. Although his hair was on the long side and his chin was rough from not having shaved that morning, Lucas knew that his bearing and manner spoke volumes of his breeding and station in life.
“Oh, what a great shame.” Lucas smiled at the young woman in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.
“But my master shall be home at any minute, Sir. Mr Marfont is due to return from Horndean Hall to take his lunch. Would you care to come inside and wait for him? There is a fire in the drawing room, and I could bring you some tea.”
“What a very kind young lady you are,” Lucas said genuinely. “And I find myself in the position of having to beg you for favour if you will hear it.”
“Please do say, Sir.”
“I cannot tell you why, but it will not be possible for me to wait and speak to Mr Marfont. In truth, I should much prefer that he did not know I had presented myself here at all.” Lucas winced a little, wondering if he were about to recklessly cause problems for the object of his desire.
“Then I shall not tell him, Sir.” The young maid agreed to secrecy so easily that Lucas began to wonder if she harboured some poor feeling towards her master. “Should you like me to inform my mistress of your attendance here today, Sir?”
“I should be very grateful if you could pass on a letter to her in complete secrecy.” Lucas raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, of course. I shall make sure that my mistress is alone before I hand it to her.” There was suddenly a warm smile on the young lady’s face, and Lucas felt sure she had rather gathered that his own intent was a romantic one.
“I am afraid that I do have one more problem, Miss.” He grinned at her. “And that is that I do not have a letter with me. I have not yet penned such a letter, and have no means of doing so.”
“Then, Sir, if you will return to your place of cover for a few moments, I shall bring you everything you need. I shall bring one sheet of paper and a pen and some ink.”
“I truly am very grateful.” Lucas, somewhat awkwardly, began to reach into his pocket for his purse.
“No, Sir,” the maid said quite stridently. “I am loyal to my mistress in all things, and only my mistress. There will be no need for payment of any kind; I thank you.”
“And I thank you.” He smiled at her genuinely. “Tell me, what is your name?”
“My name is Violet, Sir. Violet Benson.”
“I cannot tell you how pleased I am to make your acquaintance, Miss Benson.” Lucas bowed politely and was pleased to see the young woman blush.
For the two days which followed his clandestine excursion to the home of Davina Marfont, Lucas had worried time and time again that she would not be able to, or would not want to, attend the secret assignation he had designed.
That very morning, as Lucas had ridden out to Ragged Scar, the sharpest, steepest, and bleakest of the range of windswept hills on the open countryside which skirted around not only his own family’s lands but those of the Cunninghams, he had still harboured the same doubts.
However, arriving just a little earlier than he had stated in his letter, Lucas was overjoyed to find that Davina Marfont had arrived earlier still. She had tethered her horse just where he had suggested in his letter, on the edge of a small wooded area in a secluded valley between Ragged Scar and the next largest hill.
“I am so glad that you came, Miss Marfont. I have been so worried these last two days that you would dismiss my letter as too forward. Perhaps even insulting.” Lucas spoke in a rush as he swung down out of his saddle and tethered his horse alongside Davina Marfont’s own.
“Well, I am as fond of windswept and rugged walks as it is possible to be, Sir, so found that I could not refuse.” She smiled at him in a rather knowing way.
There was nothing coquettish about Davina Marfont. There was a sharp intellect and warm humour dwelling side-by-side within her, and it was so clear to him that he could almost touch it.
“I have a secluded route which will take us only halfway up Ragged Scar, but to a wonderful area of flat ground from which the most beautiful view is possible.”
“I know the route you mean, Sir. I know it very well indeed.” She smiled at him and seemed so very relaxed in his company.
“Then shall we?” He smiled and crooked his arm for her to take.
Davina Marfont was clearly as keen a walker as Lucas himself, and he was certain that her legs were strong, for she had matched his pace for every step of the sharp incline. When finally they made their way to the clearing he had described, Davina strode towards the very viewing place with the confidence of one who knew the lay of the land very well indeed.
“You know this place as well as I do, I believe.” Lucas turned to look at her as she stared out into the distance across the beautiful windswept countryside.
“Indeed, I do.” She turned to look at him briefly before returning her attention to the breathtaking view.
“It is a wonder that you and I have never happened upon each other in this place.”
“Perhaps not so much, Lord Farrington. It is so remote a place that I have never seen another person here. In all the years that I have walked this area, I have come upon nobody in this spot. I almost began to believe it to be mine and mine alone.” When she finished speaking, Davina turned to look at him.
Her dark brown eyes seemed like inky pools against her creamy skin, and Lucas knew that he had never looked upon a woman as beautiful as Davina.
“I have thought very much the same thing myself. I love this land as if it were a part of me.”
“As do I, Sir. But I am willing to share it with another.” Davina laughed, and Lucas found himself fighting an urge to pull her to him.
“Then I shall agree to share it also, but only ever with you.” Finally, Lucas reached out and took her hand.
He could not help thinking that his gesture, on this occasion, was more measured and rational than it had been on the night he had gripped her hands after the poetry reading. Lucas found himself just a little less confident, nursing a small concern that she might pull away from him this time. When she did not, he felt a burgeoning sense of joy deep within him.
“Miss Marfont, I have thought much of you these last days.” Once again, Lucas found himself speaking in a rush; it was almost as if his heart was determined to be heard.
“In truth, Sir, I have thought of you also.” Davina paused for a moment to look out once more across the countryside. “I have found that your recitation of that single stanza of La Belle Dame Sans Merci has affected me greatly. I have never heard it spoken so well; I have never before heard it spoken as it should be spoken.”
“And
I have never spoken it thus before,” Lucas said, still holding tightly to her hand. “But there is something in you which inspires something in me.”
“But you must see, Sir, the many pitfalls of a friendship such as ours?” Davina looked up at him.
“I do see them, Miss Marfont, but I do not care to let them stand in my way.”
“I am somewhat overcome to hear you say that, Sir. I myself, however, am in no position to be open in our friendship. It must be a secret thing, Sir, for I have a great deal to lose. In truth, I have everything to lose.”
“Then we shall keep discretion as our ever faithful companion, Miss Marfont.”
“He smiled at her. “Now, would you care to walk back the way we came and take some light refreshment at the end of it?”
“Refreshments?” Davina looked confused.
“I have brought with me a very simple parcel of food which now rests in my saddlebag. It is nothing finer than some bread and butter and a rather roughly cut piece of cheese.” He began to laugh. “But it is my customary fare when I stop at my little resting-place.”
“Which resting-place is this?”
“I shall take you to it. There is a gap in the rock at the base of the hill, you see, which opens out once you have squeezed in through it.”
“A cave?” Davina’s eyes opened wide. “A real cave? How very exciting.”
“Indeed, it is a cave. It is the most secret place on earth, I think. I found it many years ago, and have many things kept hidden there. Poetry books, some wine, a warm blanket. That is how I am sure that nobody else has ever known of its existence, for my little supplies have never been touched.”
“I feel myself rather honoured to be taken to so secret a place.”
“Once again, I am willing to share, but only with you.
Chapter Seven
“I cannot thank you enough for your help in this, Cordelia. Without you, I feel sure I would not have been able to come out this afternoon.” Davina nodded gratefully.
Cordelia had picked Davina up in the carriage from her home and, as the two of them began to make their way to the small playhouse in Winterton, Davina began to feel herself very excited indeed.
“It is a pleasure, Davina. I cannot help finding myself a little excited to be a part of things. Dear Florence Nelson feels precisely the same way. I simply knew that she would, did you not?”
“Well, Miss Nelson is a great friend of Lord Farrington, and I am confident that her discretion will be assured.” Davina smiled conspiratorially at Cordelia.
“I cannot believe it, Davina.” Despite the noise of the carriage wheels on the road, still, Cordelia whispered. “This is your second secret assignation with Lucas Farrington.”
“I am not entirely sure that an afternoon spent watching a play could be particularly classed as a secret assignation.” Davina laughed.
“Well, if it is not, then your afternoon sitting in a cave reading poetry and eating bread-and-butter must certainly qualify.”
“I do believe you are right.” Davina’s hands rose excitedly to her face. “Still I can hardly believe it myself. I have never had a more enjoyable day, and that is the truth. We were such easy company for one another and, at the same time, such stimulating company. He read to me again, you know. He has stored some books in his romantic little cave, things he likes to read but does not care to carry about with him everywhere he goes.”
“And they are likely things he only cares to read when he is completely at peace in the beauty of the countryside. Oh, my dear Davina, this is fated to be; you are both so very similar. And how wonderful to find a man who is so passionate.”
“He is so worldly and yet otherworldly all at once that I can hardly describe him.” Davina was also whispering. “And yet I can hardly believe the depth of my own feeling in so short a space of time.”
“I do believe that when one has finally come upon their soul mate, it is known instantly. It is the very thing that we all dream of, is it not?”
“It is, Cordelia. And yet, I cannot help thinking of the many barriers there must be between us.”
“But do you not think that the barriers make it all the more urgent and passionate?” Cordelia’s eyes were wide.
“Oh, Cordelia, I do love you so. You truly are a romantic.”
Davina had enjoyed the play at the Winterton Playhouse very much, despite the fact that she had truly thought she would be unable to concentrate. Florence Nelson and Cordelia had taken seats elsewhere in the small theatre, affording Lucas and Davina a little time alone to enjoy the play together.
After the play, the four of them had planned to visit Winterton tearooms for some light refreshment. Davina was to make her way there with Cordelia, and Florence Nelson with Lucas. If they deemed it safe, they would once again split into two small groups once they arrived, allowing the young lovers to spend some time in quiet conversation.
“I enjoyed the play very well indeed, Sir,” Davina began after tea and cakes had been placed on the table between them.
“I do believe I did enjoy it,” Lucas said a little vaguely. “But I must rather admit to finding myself lacking in concentration. You look so beautiful.”
This sudden declaration took her entirely off guard, and Davina found herself blushing. Whilst she had put a great deal of effort into her appearance, Davina knew that the simple blue gown that she wore very much marked her out as several steps below the company she was in. And yet, at the same time, she knew that his words were not simply a balm with which to soothe her social insecurity. They were truly meant. Lucas Farrington saw beyond gowns and hats and money, and Davina knew herself to be very much falling in love with him.
“Thank you, Sir.” Davina looked into his pale blue eyes and held his gaze.
“Please call me Lucas, and permit me to call you Davina. We have come to know so much about each other in so short a time, have we not?”
“Indeed, we have, Lucas.” Davina poured tea for them both, and they sat in silence for some moments regarding one another earnestly.
“Tell me, Davina, how do you find life with your uncle on the Horndean estate?”
“Oh dear, I have had such a wonderful day that I should not like to bring it down in any way.” Davina laughed, but there was a little less mirth in its tone than usual.
“I had wondered at it, Davina. Ever since I asked you to come here to see the play I had worried that you would not be able to gain your uncle’s consent.”
“Of course, he does not know that I have come to meet you. As far as my uncle is concerned, I am simply here in the company of Cordelia. It is only the fact that Cordelia is his master’s daughter that I gain this much leniency.”
“I presume he would not be at all pleased to discover that you were in any friendship with me.”
“He is so very aligned with the Cunningham family, Lucas, that he would be furious with me. I should not wish to discuss the business between your family and the Cunninghams, but you must know that it is that which predominantly demands we meet in secret.”
“I am very sensible of it, Davina. It pains me, but I should not do anything to put you in harm’s way.”
“It would be more than harm’s way, Lucas. My uncle would turn me out of his home immediately. In truth, he has been looking for a reason to do so since I arrived as a girl of twelve years.”
“He has never made you welcome?”
Davina found herself suddenly taken aback by the flash of anger in his eyes. “He has never made me welcome, no. I was sent to him just days after my parents were killed, and he made it immediately clear that he did not want me. Quite why he allowed me to stay, I have never truly discerned. Perhaps it was for nothing more than the sake of appearances, for what man would want to be seen to throw his brother’s child out into the sea of chance?”
“That is too despicable.” Lucas shook his head and, taking one brief look about the room, slid his hand across the table and covered hers. “You must have been grieving
terribly at the time.”
“My grief, Lucas, was confined to my room, as was I if I showed any sign of it. My uncle did not like my father, despite their kinship, and he spoke of him in disparaging terms from the moment I arrived. Not only was I not allowed to grieve, I was forced to listen to dreadful slurs upon my beloved father and was often subjected to such cruel mockery as I cannot even tell you.”
“How can a man look upon his own relation and do nothing for them in their grief? Especially when that relation is a child.
“I do not believe he looks upon me as kin. I think that he feels himself closer to the Cunningham family than he does to me. He would do anything in his power to suit them, despite the fact he often complains about them out of earshot. The relationship strikes me as most confusing.”
“I think it is often the way of men such as your uncle. They see themselves as climbing a ladder, and they will always seek to appease those above them than to care for those they deem to be below them. It is a horribly false way of living and one which can only erode the soul in the end. I would pity him if I did not find myself hating him so much.”
As she looked into his eyes, Davina found herself excited and afraid all at once. It was becoming clear to her that Lucas Farrington was a passionate man in all senses. Perhaps he could even find poetry in bloodshed and war if he saw enough passion behind it.
“The relationship seems warped on all sides, Lucas. It rather seems to me that the Duke of Horndean needs my uncle as much as my uncle needs him. It is a dependency which sickens me for reasons I cannot quite express. But of course, the Duke has confided in my uncle in every regard over the years, for my uncle has no other client but him. My uncle knows every secret and, as such, I believe him to be both wanted and hated by his master all at once. In some respects, I wonder if the Duke regrets the intimate knowledge my uncle has of both his family and his business dealings. Even this mining business, for instance …” Davina broke off. “Forgive me, I am rambling on, and I have spoken out of turn. The Duke is currently in pursuit of a person leaking such information from his household, and I should not like him to alight upon myself as such a source,” Davina spoke a little fearfully.
Regency Romance Collection: Regency Fire: The Historical Regency Romance Complete Series (Books 1-5) Page 17