Trevallion

by Trevallion (retail) (epub)

  ‘He demanded to know what’s been going on between us. When I told him I’d gone out with you he accused me of being a camp follower.’

  Neville’s face darkened with anger. ‘If he wasn’t your father I’d punch his face. I might have a reputation but he should know you better. And what about the bleak-faced Major? Did he rant and rave at you too?’

  ‘No,’ Rebecca replied. A picture of Alex’s quiet, sad expression had been on her mind since he had left her alone in the kitchen last night. ‘He didn’t say anything at all.’

  ‘Did he have one of his turns?’

  ‘No. He was very quiet in church this morning. We all went to the early service to say prayers for Tamsyn.’

  ‘Did he drive you into Truro today?’

  ‘Yes, with Mrs Fiennes and Stephen. My father spent the night out drinking and I didn’t go in to him in case he was still in a bad mood with me. The Major said to let him sleep it off.’

  ‘So the Major knows you’re seeing me?’

  ‘I think he’s probably guessed.’

  ‘Then you can come and go as you please from now on?’

  ‘I suppose I can, as long as I do my work.’

  ‘Why on earth do you stay there, Rebecca? You’re a beautiful, intelligent, vital woman. You’re wasted in a little backwater place like that.’

  ‘You can hardly call Trevallion that, Neville.’

  ‘The creek I meant.’

  ‘I love the creek. It’s my home, but anyway I feel I must stay there for now… at least until Tamsyn’s better.’ Even as she said it she knew there was something more but she was tired and didn’t want to think about it.

  Neville stroked her hair and it rippled away from her face. He caressed her cheek and ran a tender finger down her throat. His eyes took on a soft smokiness as he looked at every tiny part of her face. He pressed his lips to her eyes then ran them round the contour of her chin and onto her mouth, kissing each corner before gently coaxing her lips apart.

  Rebecca found pure enjoyment in his touch and his warmth, and melted into his hard masculine body. She needed someone to hold her now. To make her forget Tamsyn’s screams, Loveday’s distress, and the anger and fear she’d felt at Susannah Bosanko’s evil eyes burning into her yesterday, and Alex’s sad and noble face last night. Neville was just the right person to be with now. He was the only one who seemed to see her as a woman in her own right. He demanded nothing from her and put no responsibility for the fulfilment of his own hopes and dreams on her.

  She let go of all her tension and felt Neville’s lips becoming gently probing, a little more insistent, a little more persuasive. He put his lips to her temple and ran them down over her skin until his breath was flowing over the soft flesh in the hollow at the base of her neck. He found her mouth again in an explorative and dominant way. Rebecca shivered delightfully. He was flooding her body with fiery sensations. He was unleashing desires in her that made her forget everything. She felt eager and demanding and reached up and tugged on his hair as she hungrily responded to him. He let his head fall forward and his body followed until Rebecca was almost lying on the sofa and his top half was over her. Neville groaned in pleasure then ran a hand over her waist and down a little lower. Suddenly he raised his head and she could see his face was flushed. She touched her own cheek and found it was on fire.

  ‘You shouldn’t kiss me like that, Rebecca,’ he said panting.

  ‘Sorry.’

  He laughed. ‘Sorry? Only you could say something like that, darling Rebecca.’

  He pulled her up and poured out more sherry. They sipped it slowly and put their empty glasses down on the table.

  Neville lifted the decanter. ‘More?’

  ‘No, thank you. My head will start spinning.’ It was spinning already, quite alarmingly, from their passion.

  ‘Do you mind if I light a cigar?’

  ‘No, please do.’

  Neville took a cigar and lighter out of his coat pocket. He unwrapped the cigar and then tossed it on the table. Rebecca arched her eyebrows in question.

  ‘I don’t really want it.’

  He reached for her and kissed her again.

  ‘Rebecca…’

  ‘Mmmm…’

  He whispered huskily in her ear, ‘I didn’t bring you here in the hope of going any further, I swear to you, but will you come upstairs with me?’

  ‘I… I don’t know.’

  She knew what he was asking her, but did she want to go upstairs and make love with him? He’d stirred up intense feelings inside her and they made her feel wanted, cherished and alive, and very much a grown woman. He’d asked nothing from her before but her company, he hoped for nothing more now than the physical act of love. He wanted her in that way and it hadn’t been out of naivety or innocence she had aroused his need. She was sure loving with Neville would be tender and exciting, and he would be giving to her as well as receiving. Would the experience be fulfilling? Would it be enough? She ran through her feelings for Neville and knew there was something holding her back. The moral question, she supposed, and the unlikelihood of there being anything permanent with him.

  He held her loosely in his arms for a few moments. Then when he sought her lips again she found the passion in her response to him had not lessened. He got up and pulled her to him. He kissed her again, making his body sway intimately against hers and running his hands in slow sensual movements over her spine. She did not want him to remove his lips or his hands, nor did she want the feelings he was making sing and soar inside her die away.

  He looked into her eyes and they darkened and grew immense, reflecting the passion he’d brought her to. They gave him permission. ‘Come on,’ he gulped huskily.

  He led her up the stairs and into one of the back bedrooms of his aunt’s house. ‘I use this room when I sleep over for the night,’ he told her.

  Rebecca stood still and watched him as he undid the buttons of his shirt and pulled it out of his trousers, his movements flowing and liquid, unselfconscious, telling of his experience in doing this. His bare skin was flawless and beautiful. He was beautiful. When he moved, well-formed muscles stood out from the smooth flesh of his chest and broad shoulders.

  Rebecca glanced at the bed and Neville smiled at her. He had a beautiful smile, it made his eyes shine like the bluest sky. She didn’t know why but she couldn’t move. She stood mesmerised as he came towards her and lifted her hair and kissed it.

  ‘Don’t be shy,’ he whispered. He said it kindly. He had always been kind to her. No doubt he would be kind and gentle when he took her virginity.

  He smiled again. The first time she had gone out with him she hadn’t trusted his smile. Now she knew she could, but still she couldn’t move. Neville was kissing her lips, very gently, softly, tenderly. Soon he would be kissing her in full passion and touching her in her most sacred places but she was rooted to the spot, absolutely immobile. It was like being in a dream.

  His fingers lifted the simple lace collar of her blouse then slid lightly down to the first tiny mother-of-pearl button at her throat. He undid it, then the rest, patiently, not hurrying, then he ran his hands down to her wrists and undid the buttons there. He slipped the blouse off her shoulders and after admiring the hot glistening skin he’d exposed he kissed it tenderly. He let the blouse slide to the floor and pulled her to him. He gave a little moan of ecstasy and once more searched for her lips.

  A few moments ago Rebecca had revelled in her basic womanly feelings but now she felt numb. Her body just would not work, not even her lips which had been so eagerly responding to his downstairs. And now she knew why. At the moment she’d entered the bedroom she’d seen a scrap of paper on the dressing table with Neville’s handwriting on it. It was only a little note, about something unimportant no doubt, but it reminded her of Alex passing Neville’s letter to her the night before. She was staring at Neville but now it was Alex’s dark eyes she saw, big and sad, with a deliberate film drawn carefully over them.


  Neville drew back a little. ‘Darling?’

  She gulped and said in a small voice, ‘I’m sorry, Neville, but I don’t want to go through with this. I shouldn’t have let it get this far. Forgive me, please, but I simply don’t want to.’

  Neville took his hands from her waist and stepped back. He walked round her and she felt her blouse being put over her shoulders.

  ‘It’s all right, Rebecca. I’ll go downstairs and wait for you.’

  There was pain in Neville’s voice but gentleness and kindness too. She put her arms through the blouse sleeves and her fingers trembled as she fastened the tiny buttons. She tried not to think about what had nearly happened. She was confused over her feelings for Neville and Alex and consciously put them to the back of her mind where she would keep them until much later, until she could slip out onto the river alone and think.

  ‘I’m sorry, Neville,’ she said when she was back in the sitting room. She felt humble before him but not embarrassed.

  He had put on his coat, combed his hair, lit the cigar and was drinking whisky. There were bright red blotches on his cheeks.

  ‘I don’t mind at all, darling,’ he said tenderly. ‘I don’t want you to do anything that you’re not ready for. I’ve just remembered that Aunt Mildred keeps a small Primus to boil a kettle when the kitchen’s not working. I’ll make you a cup of tea and then if you like I’ll just hold you for the rest of the afternoon, unless you want me to take you home. It’s your decision, Rebecca.’

  She couldn’t go back and face Alex so soon after thoughts of him had stopped her from giving herself to Neville. She didn’t want to see her father recovering in a foul mood from a hangover and be subjected to more vile accusations from him. She couldn’t bear to talk to anyone else at this moment.

  Neville could have become very angry over her sudden refusal but his tender words and kind actions showed he was a man she could stay with alone and trust.

  ‘I’d like to stay and have you hold me, Neville,’ she smiled at him.

  * * *

  Ivy was surprised to see Rebecca in the servants’ quarters of Trevallion House that evening. Rebecca explained that she wanted to know how Stephen was bearing up.

  ‘He’s been a little champion,’ Ivy said, putting on her hat for Evensong. Ivy sounded offhand and Rebecca could see she was agitated. She was going to ask her if there was anything wrong but Ivy kept tucking her hair in needlessly under the hat and wouldn’t meet her eyes. Rebecca thought Ivy must have guessed she’d been with Neville and didn’t approve. Rebecca wasn’t about to justify her friendships and made her way to Allen Cottage, hoping her father wouldn’t be in a bad mood.

  She was surprised to find Alex there and her heart sank. He got up from the kitchen table, his face grave. So he had something to say about her and Neville after all.

  ‘Becca, I’ve been waiting for you. Did Faull bring you home?’

  ‘Yes,’ Rebecca said defensively. ‘I hope you’re not here looking for a quarrel over it, Alex. What I do in my own time and off the estate is my own business.’

  ‘Yes, it is. I’m not here to quarrel with you, Becca.’

  He moved towards her but Rebecca, not believing there wasn’t going to be some slur on Neville’s character and objections to her seeing him, turned away.

  ‘I’m busy, Alex. I have Dad’s supper to get.’ She took a plate out of the cupboard. Alex took it from her and put it on the table. There was something deep and painful in his eyes and she began to feel uneasy.

  ‘Sit down, Becca,’ he said gently. ‘I’m afraid I have some very bad news for you.’

  ‘It can’t be Tamsyn,’ she said, backing away. Whatever Alex had to say she didn’t want to hear it. ‘Neville and I asked at the hospital before we left Truro and they told us she was sleeping quite peacefully.’

  Alex put his hands firmly on her arms and eased her down onto the nearest chair. ‘It’s about your father, my dear.’

  ‘Dad? Has he got into trouble? Has he gone too far this time and you’re here to tell me you’ve dismissed him? I suppose I can’t blame you. Dad can be terribly rude when he’s got a hangover.’

  Her heart froze. There was nothing in Alex’s face that told her she was anywhere near the truth.

  He lowered himself down and held her hands in his. ‘Trease went drinking last night as you said, Becca, but he didn’t come home. He got drunk and Basil Hartley tried his best to stop him from rowing home alone in the dark but Trease wouldn’t listen. While we were at the infirmary this morning Tom Hartley went out with some friends to go fishing and they came across Trease’s boat, floating down the river without oars and quite abandoned. They brought the boat round to the creek and when no one could find Trease, Jossy and the men went out to search the river for him.’

  ‘But Dad’s all right…?’ Rebecca said, searching Alex’s face. ‘I didn’t check on him this morning because I was afraid he’d still be in a bad mood with me and if we quarrelled it would set him off drinking again. I didn’t notice that the boat wasn’t there, what with rushing to the infirmary, but that’s not unusual. If Dad’s too drunk to row home he sleeps it off somewhere on the river bank. He must have forgotten to tie the boat up, that’s all. He’ll be there waiting for someone to find him and bring him home. Jossy will find him.’

  Alex had not taken his eyes from her face. His expression was grim. ‘Becca, my dear, Jossy found Trease’s body about two hours ago. He was floating face down and was drifting out to sea. There was nothing anyone could do. He had drowned.’

  Rebecca’s face went white, her body rigid. ‘Dad’s dead?’

  He nodded. ‘I’m very sorry, Becca.’

  She pulled her hands away and stood up. Alex rose with her and stayed close. She was surprised at how calm she felt, how in control she was.

  ‘Why didn’t someone tell me Dad was missing?’

  ‘I knew nothing about it until I got back about lunchtime. Jenny Jenkins told me not to go looking for Trease myself but to leave it to the men who know the river better than I do. I didn’t come for you in Truro because I was hoping he’d be found alive and there would have been no need to worry you. I’ll send a message to your uncle and aunt if you like.’

  ‘Thank you. Tell them not to come here and that I’ll see them tomorrow. Where is Dad now?’

  ‘Jossy brought your father back here and we informed the police and coroner and I formally identified him. I waited for you here, feeling that you would rather be told of his death at home. Jossy has taken your father’s body on to Truro on the Lady Harriet. If you want to go to the mortuary now I’ll take you, although there’s nothing you need to do until the morning.’

  ‘I don’t want to go there now,’ she said numbly. ‘If Loveday sees us it’ll upset her.’

  ‘Would you like to come up to Trevallion for the night?’

  Rebecca felt a numbness creeping over her but she could think clearly and reason things out. ‘No, thank you, I’d rather stay here.’

  ‘Then would you like me to get Abigail or Jenny to keep you company? Or someone else?’

  Rebecca knew who Alex meant. Neville would still be on his way back to Truro. He would come straight back and cancel his seat on the early morning train to London. He would be kind and reassuring. He would be a great help because he would know all the legal things she would have to do. He was strong and capable and would take care of her. But strangely she didn’t want him here.

  She shook her head. ‘No, I’ll be all right.’

  Alex looked uncertain. ‘I’ll leave you alone then, if that’s what you want, Becca, but come up to Trevallion if you need anything.’

  She said nothing. Just stared blankly at the hands clasping hers. She would be all right. She was calm. Her father was dead and she didn’t need anyone to help her grieve.

  After several long moments, Alex murmured how sorry he was again and left.

  She was alone but she could cope. She looked around the room. The moment her eyes fe
ll on a photograph of Trease in his army uniform, a smiling, proud young man with two good eyes, she crumbled inside and ran to the door, throwing it open.

  Alex was standing on the other side. He hadn’t gone. He hadn’t been convinced she could cope alone. He was her friend and he knew her well.

  ‘I’m here for you, Becca,’ he said softly.

  ‘Stay with me, please, Alex. I need you to be here.’

  Alex gathered her into his arms and took her inside.

  Chapter 35

  Trease was buried close to the grave of Miles Trevallion, who had been laid to rest just a few months before. The whole estate and Kennick Creek turned out to pay their last respects. The Union Jack was draped across his coffin and Joe played the Last Post on his bugle at the graveside.

  Alex supported Rebecca as he had done over the last four days since Trease’s death. He led her away from the graveside on his arm and they drove off with Abigail and Stephen back to Trevallion where the funeral tea was to be held. He stood close at her side in the hallway of the big house as she thanked the mourners for coming before they filed into the dining room for refreshment.

  Robert Drayton was there with Loveday. ‘Please accept my condolences, Miss Allen. It was tragic. Your father wasn’t of a great age like my late mother when she passed away.’

  ‘He was forty-two, Mr Drayton.’ Rebecca forced a light smile. ‘At least he didn’t suffer like Captain Miles.’

  ‘Mr Faull will be back from London at the end of the week. I’m sure he will be shocked at what has happened and will be here to offer his sympathy.’ He knew nothing of Rebecca’s relationship with Neville and Alex’s negative attitude towards it.

  ‘If you don’t mind, Becca,’ Loveday said hastily, ‘we’ll leave now for the infirmary.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Rebecca said. Loveday kissed her cheek. ‘Give Tamsyn my love and tell her I’m looking forward to seeing her home the day after tomorrow. I’ll tell her about Dad then.’