Pengarron Rivalry

by Pengarron Rivalry (retail) (epub)

  ‘Well, I think we should be sensible, don’t you?’

  ‘We are in love. I love you.’ He kissed her hands again. Kissed her lips, her eyes. ‘You love me, don’t you? You trust me, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do, Rafe. I love you so much it hurts.’

  ‘You’re not a child any more, Kelynen,’ he said, even though she had just sounded young and vulnerable. ‘You’re a woman, and I’m the man who loves you and wants you – all of you. Now.’

  She was fighting with herself. She didn’t want to deny Rafe anything. She didn’t want to deny herself, either. After the initial hurting, uncomfortable moments of his lovemaking, she had enjoyed the ultimate closeness of him, the intense sensations, the glorious culmination. ‘Well, I…’

  ‘Beloved, I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.’

  She couldn’t remember making her way up to the old gamekeeper’s bedroom with him, but her senses became focused while she’d sat on the lumpy bed, sipping porter. She was clutching the tankard long after Rafe, sitting close, had emptied his and began to unfasten the laces and hooks of her dress. She edged away from him, pleading shyness.

  ‘Darling.’ He came after her, smilingly placing his head at an encouraging angle. ‘You’ll only feel the shyness once. Why not get it over with? Enjoy being with me. Do you not think that I, too, am a little shy? It’s important to me that you find me pleasing.’

  ‘Are you really shy?’ she asked, her nervousness shooting to an alarming rate as he pulled the tankard out of her hands.

  ‘I am, because it’s you. I want our life together to be perfect. Kelynen, I love you. I’ve never told that to anyone before.’

  This last affirmation swept away all her reservations. Soon she was completely exposed to him, and he to her, and it seemed natural. It was wonderful lying entwined with him on the bed. Gently he made her his and then did so again, with passion, showing her, teaching her, adding ever more and more to the delight and pleasure.

  ‘I think I could happily spend the rest of my life here like this with you,’ he said at length, holding her close, keeping on with his caresses.

  ‘You say wonderful things, Rafe.’ She could quite happily die together with him here, at this moment, and go to eternity with him. The sky was getting ever darker, filling the little scarcely furnished room with shadows, and she knew she would be feeling cold if not for the warm aftermath of making love and the warmth of Rafe’s body.

  ‘You, beloved, do wonderful things to me. I shall take you to many towns and cities before we finally settle down. I’ll be proud to show you off to whomever we meet. Would you like that?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll be happy anywhere as long as I’m with you.’ She raised herself up and leaned over his chest, gazing into his strong handsome face. ‘I’d like to give you a son, Rafe. Would you like a son?’

  He took her hand and kissed the fingertips. ‘Indeed I would. With Tremayne and Pengarron blood in him he would be a very special child, and Sir Oliver and your mama will adore him and be as proud of him as we will be. We shall be married, Kelynen, and soon, that I swear. Now, no more talk. I want you to make love to me.’

  Now, with Rex walking at her side, she relived all the wonderful moments spent in Joel Jackson’s cottage on that afternoon and a subsequent occasion. She was to send word to Rafe the instant her parents arrived home, and he intended to ride over the next day and request an interview with them.

  Suddenly Rex shot off, barking excitedly. She took no notice, assuming he had smelled a rabbit or something, until there came a familiar answering bark. She halted, frowned in puzzlement, then smiled and ran after Rex. Digory! Digory was here. Rafe had got fed up with waiting and was here to speak to Luke. It wouldn’t help matters but it would be wonderful to see him.

  She ran to the front of the house, past the two dogs as they playfully nuzzled and fought, until she reached the steps. She stopped dead, disappointed, but even so, able to be delighted. ‘Gabriel! Is it really you? You look so different. How well you must be feeling to actually venture out. Hello, Jacob.’

  Jacob Glynn had already helped his master to dismount.

  After touching his forelock to Kelynen, he led the horses round the back of the house.

  Gabriel came forward on stiff legs. ‘It’s good to see you again, Kelynen. Forgive the unannounced visit. I had a sudden urge to spread my wings and I wanted to show you that I’ve kept my word in continuing towards good health.’

  Rafe had been right. Now Gabriel’s face had fleshed out he was indeed fine-looking. If she had seen him like this on her first visit to Chenhalls she would have harboured hopes for him rather than his devious, rotten half-brother. ‘You are very welcome, Gabriel. Come inside. Let me take your arm. You look a little weary.’

  Slowly, they mounted the steps. Puffing now, Gabriel’s climb grew more laboured. ‘I fear the journey has tired me. Before we go inside I need to inform you that my uncle sends you his affection. He wishes to know when your father is due home.’

  Kelynen told him. ‘You approve of your uncle’s and my intentions then?’

  Gabriel still wasn’t sure how he felt about it but he said, ‘I shall be proud to stand beside him in the family chapel.’

  Kelynen squeezed his arm. ‘I hope you will find the happiness you deserve again, Gabriel. Forgive me, but although we’ve never spoken of it, I am sure you have suffered a sorrowed heart.’

  Breathless, Gabriel paused on the top step. ‘Caterina…’

  ‘That was her name?’

  ‘Yes. I suppose it would have helped if I’d spoken about her.’

  ‘She left you?’

  ‘No. She died. I’ll tell you and Uncle Rafe all about her before I leave Chenhalls, to let her rest in peace, and then I shall find peace too. Now, is your brother at home? I confess I am a little nervous at meeting him.’

  The great double doors of the house were opened and next moment Luke was there. ‘Kelynen, have you not noticed there is about to be a heavy rainfall? Pray, bring your guest inside.’

  When sister and brother and newcomer were facing each other in the great hall, Kelynen stepped slightly in front of Gabriel. Her eyes shone with a threat. ‘Luke, this is Mr Gabriel Tremayne. Gabriel, my brother Luke.’

  Luke gazed for long thoughtful seconds at the other man. He held out his hand. ‘I am pleased to meet you, sir.’

  ‘Likewise, Mr Pengarron.’

  Kelynen silently implored Gabriel to say something else, but it seemed he had retreated into his habitual guarded quietness.

  ‘Um, well, this is a surprise, isn’t it, Kelynen?’ Luke said. With nothing more forthcoming from the visitor, he was thrown. Then he suddenly rushed forward. ‘Quick, Sister, he’s about to faint!’

  Eighteen

  ‘He’s an exceptionally quiet fellow, just as you’ve remarked, Kelynen.’ Sitting at the head of the dining table, Luke was referring to Gabriel.

  ‘He’s terribly embarrassed at being overcome like that,’ Kelynen replied. ‘I’m grateful to you, Luke, for allowing him a room to rest in.’

  ‘Well, he has his man to attend him. Perhaps an hour or two of sleep and later a hot meal will revive him. I’d be most interested to hear about his life in Vienna and his music. I shall never forget how he played that night.’

  ‘One thing is certain,’ Sophie said, across the table from Kelynen. ‘Mr Tremayne should not sally forth again today in these inclement conditions, not in his present state of health. Luke, do you not think a letter should be sent to Chenhalls, stating that Mr Tremayne will be under Pengarron hospitality until the weather has broken and he has recovered enough to travel? It might even be for two or three days.’

  ‘Of course, my dear.’ Luke smiled at her.

  Kelynen felt she might just as well not be there, although she appreciated Sophie showing no objections to Gabriel’s presence. It would be good to have him stay. ‘I’ll write the letter,’ she said, intending to add for Rafe the time and date of her parent
s’ expected arrival. Suddenly, she was longing to see them again.

  Gabriel joined them after supper. Dark shadows were smudged under his deep-blue eyes but he held himself straight and his voice was firm and unwearied. He smiled at Kelynen in a deep way and kissed her hand, leading her to think he had a good measure of the same sort of charm as Rafe. When introduced to Sophie, Kelynen watched her reaction to him. Sophie received him with politeness and an obvious instant approval. Gabriel had that effect on people, and Kelynen was grateful to him for deciding to pay this unexpected visit. He might calm the ill feelings caused by the wretched Josiah Tremayne’s outrageous conduct.

  ‘You’re not intruding at all, Mr Tremayne,’ Luke assured Gabriel after he had apologized for the inconvenience he was sure he must have caused. ‘You are welcome here. I was perhaps a little hasty in rushing my family out of your uncle’s house. Blame should rest only on the blameworthy.’ He smiled warmly at Kelynen, thinking this should please her and hopefully put an end to the bickering in the house. Then perhaps his sister would settle down and stop her jealous behaviour towards Sophie and take a proper interest in the wedding. Sophie had been a little stiff after the dressmaker had left. He did not need to be told why; he had overheard the strained comments, and a little soothsaying from Beatrice had put him on guard. He wanted nothing to mar his nuptials. ‘You oughta understand, boy,’ Beatrice had breathily deliberated. ‘The maid’s in love and ye snatched her away from him. Can’t spect her to be ’thusiastic over another’s similar delight, can ’ee?’

  Luke now continued. ‘Mr Tremayne, I don’t suppose I could press upon you to… No, it’s presumptuous of me and you need to rest.’

  ‘You would like me to play something, Mr Pengarron?’ Gabriel said. Having not yet taken a seat, his gaze filtered into the next room where he spied a harpsichord. ‘I’d be delighted to. Kelynen, I think it’s time we performed a duet. Shall we?’

  She enjoyed sitting next to Gabriel, spinning out a country air. He added his own intricate interpretation, while she laughingly tried to match his flashing fingers. Luke clapped loudly. Sophie forgot to be a demure hostess and was on her feet, tapping them and swaying. She declared, ‘I’ve never heard the piece performed like that before! It’s a raucous tune, but you, Mr Tremayne, made it sound heavenly in a lively kind of way.’

  ‘I beg you to play something beautifully sad like you did the other night,’ Luke said. ‘I’ll fetch a violin.’

  Kelynen saw that Gabriel was happy to be persuaded again, and while he played something of his own – after explaining it was one of his earliest compositions and his uncle’s favourite – she sank into assuming he would soon be performing the music for her and Rafe in the little chapel at Chenhalls.

  * * *

  Rafe was with Mordecai Lambourne and the rest of his smuggling team down in Rocky Cove. Under a pale moon, which gave everything a ghostly outline through the lightly falling rain, upwards of thirty men had already carried much of the haul up to the cliff top. It would soon be taken away by mules and farm beasts, their hooves muffled to lessen the noise of their passage, their manes and tails greased to stall easy capture by skulking Revenue or Preventive men. Firearms had replaced staffs and cudgels as means of defence, for the haul tonight did not consist of the usual brandy, rum, tea, lace or spices. The stakes were higher and more dangerous. The men had not been told what the contraband was, but they speculated it was precious metal from the heavy, unyielding weight of each casket.

  The ship lowering the stolen goods over its side was a privateer, offloading gold bullion stolen from a French naval vessel out in the Channel. Rafe had joined the ship the night before at St Michael’s Mount and had taken part in the piracy, an act involving some bloodshed on the French side.

  ‘Another hour and we’ll be done here, Lambourne,’ Rafe whispered to the lander. Rafe had come ashore in a Porthleven fishing boat, and, together with Lambourne, was heaving and hefting one of the last caskets over the rocks. The two big strong men were struggling under its weight but determination and the adrenalin racing through their veins – and sometimes brute force – lent them a power higher than usual.

  During necessary brief respites the men whispered to each other. ‘Your share tonight will make you a rich man, Lambourne. Does this mean I’m to lose a mine captain?’

  ‘’Fraid it will, sir. Got plans, I have.’

  ‘And so have I. I’ve languished long enough in this dull place. I intend to live out my days far away from here.’

  ‘Good fortune to ’ee, sir,’ Lambourne panted as they tied rope, dropped down from above, to aid the casket’s passage up the cliff. The two men climbed up with the casket, using another rope to help keep their balance, Lambourne in front of it, Rafe behind, to keep it from snagging or swaying.

  Grunting with the effort, Lambourne disappeared over the top. Rafe put his shoulder in under the casket to launch it clear of the overhang, to steady it, and then he pushed it up the last arduous inches to land. The hide in the cove, which featured a cleverly concealed tunnel entrance that led all the way to a secret chamber under the tower folly, was not to be used tonight. This particular haul was to be met by closely guarded waggoners on the coast road and taken, under the guise of cloth merchandise, to Falmouth, where a ship was awaiting sail to Bristol, and would be met there by the agents of a consortium of buyers.

  With that done, Rafe gasped in some much-needed air. The muscles of his upper body were aching unmercifully, his lungs working almost beyond their capacity. His heart was thrashing in excitement, as if about to leap out of his chest. But he was never happier than when in the throes of risk and peril, and an operation of this kind offered many dangers, from apprehension by the law, discovery and theft by those outside of it, and – in view of the origins of tonight’s booty – diplomatic outrage. The stakes were high but the reward phenomenal. His present income paid for the needs of Chenhalls, his other household, and many a luxury, but this would fund his new life with Kelynen. He wanted to build a far larger estate, somewhere more exciting than this quiet county of his birth. Portia could live out her days at Chenhalls, as was her wish, and then he would sell it. It was time the Tremaynes broke away from the place where so much tragedy had beset them, the place that seemed to cling to them and seek to bring them down. It would please his nephews. Gabriel could initiate his own theatre company and orchestra if he desired, and Josiah could spend his days in idle contentment.

  He was greatly looking forward to the future with the bride he was determined to have – the sweet, adoring young woman he felt he actually loved, who would give him a healthy heir. He felt he would find peace at last and wish for nothing more.

  Strange muffled noises came from above. Rafe swore silently to himself. Lambourne, order the men up there to keep quiet!

  He made to peer out over the overhang but suddenly something big, dark and heavy dropped past him. An instant later and his head would have been exposed and he too would have been sent crashing down. Hell and damnation, they’d dropped the casket!

  But it wasn’t the sound of splintering wood and spitting metal he was to hear, but a sickening thump and a terrible cracking. Although he couldn’t see clearly down to the beach, from where gasps of horror now came from the last men waiting to come up, Rafe knew it was a man who had plunged past him. Mordecai Lambourne. How could he have been so bloody careless?

  Yet almost at once he knew it wasn’t a fateful step that had led to Lambourne’s death. Something was horribly wrong. He heard shouts and gunshots and screams above him and below. The operation had been betrayed! His men were being killed. Others had concealed themselves on the cliff top tonight and other boats must have stolen round to the cove. Rafe pulled out the pistol in the belt around his coat. He raised himself up to the cliff top to help fight off whoever the enemy was. He wasn’t afraid; he was furious at the betrayal and in the mood for slaughter.

  When his face cleared the overhang he saw nothing but confusion. He didn�
�t get the chance to see who was annihilating his men or to pull himself up to defend his plunder. A violent kick between the eyes sent him plummeting down after his mine captain.

  ‘Right, then,’ a hard voice hissed after all those loyal to Sir Rafe had been dealt with. ‘Let’s get this lot away. My maid did us a good job getting the right information out of the younger Tremayne. Pity he weren’t here tonight too.’

  ‘Be trouble for us, do ’ee reckon?’ came another rough voice.

  ‘Not he. Too soft, too stupid, and too damned shifty himself. He won’t have much to say; he won’t want the law looking into his affairs. We’ve as good as got away with it already.’

  Nineteen

  Early next morning, Josiah Tremayne arrived at Pengarron Manor. He was relieved of his dripping wet travelling clothes and shown into the parlour, and his half-brother was asked to join him there.

  ‘What does he want, Luke?’ Kelynen tried to peep into the room, but Luke pulled her away. ‘Is he concerned about Gabriel? Come to escort him home? Sophie won’t be pleased to learn he’s here.’

  ‘Sophie is presently occupied with Elizabeth. Hopefully, Tremayne will take himself off before she comes down. Gabriel doesn’t have to leave. He’s welcome to stay for as long as it pleases him.’

  ‘I’m so pleased you like Gabriel.’

  ‘He’s a man of honour, talented and somehow fascinating. When will you ask about his tragedy? It might well make an excellent plot for a play. He could write the music for it. We could co-write an opera. That does appeal to me.’

  ‘He’ll be returning to Vienna soon, and your idea wouldn’t appeal to him anyway. Gabriel’s far too private a person.’

  ‘It’s a pity he’s leaving Cornwall. And it’s a pity Gabriel doesn’t appeal to you.’ Luke’s black eyes surveyed her with impatient meaning behind their intensity. ‘You’d still become mistress of Chenhalls. Gabriel would make you a worthy husband. I think Father and Mama would approve of him.’