Lord Cavendish Returns (15 page)

Arrabella placed her teacup down on the table before them
with a clatter. “Well, let’s get on with it then.”

Harper’s
initial objection lodged in his throat and he stared askance at her
when she immediately jumped to her feet and hurried toward the
door. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to remain indoors
where it was safe but, in reality, he was in no position to tell
her what to do. It was broad daylight; there could be nothing wrong
with her wandering around the churchyard in search of a set of keys
or a book, could there?

He
barely got a chance to take a sip of his tea before he hastily
hurried out of the house after her. In contrast to their journey to
the vicarage, this time she was the one who took the lead and
strode across the vicarage garden like a general heading off to
battle. He caught up with her just inside the churchyard and paused
for a moment to close the gate.

“
I will take this side, you take the other,” Arrabella
suggested and stalked off without a backward look. Left with
nothing else to do, Harper shook his head and began to
search.

“
Let’s go and search the church again,” he sighed when they
met up again half an hour later. Deep in his heart, however, he
knew that neither the book nor the keys would be found there. His
suspicions were proven correct when he dropped down into a pew at
the rear of the church beside her and read the defeat on her
face.

“
I never have thanked you for helping me find the book in the
first place,” Harper whispered softly.

Arrabella was relieved to have the old, original, Harper
back. The hardness of the stranger he had turned into was someone
she didn’t want to meet very often. A small part of her couldn’t
help but wonder which one was the real him.

“
And lose them again,” she said dryly. “If we had just left
those candles downstairs, or kept the register with us, we would
still have it.”

“
You are always wiser in hindsight. It is too late to have
regrets now. Unless the person who locked us in the crypt, and let
us back out again, changes his mind for a second time and brings
the register back, I need to go and find them.” He didn’t mention
that there was a set of rather intriguing footprints just the other
side of the low stone wall that ran along the lane. The mudded
boots were definitely too large to be a lady’s boots and it was
extremely unusual to climb over the wall near to the trees when
there was a gate and a nice dry path only a few feet
away.

“
I think I need to go and have a word with my brothers and the
locals,” he said softly. “I need to ask a few neighbours if they
have seen anyone in the area this morning, local or not. We cannot
lose sight of the fact that the keys may have been taken for an
entirely simple reason.”

The
sceptical look she threw him matched his own doubts and he lapsed
into silence. “If the register re-appears, please let me know.” He
reluctantly pushed to his feet and escorted her to the
door.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Arrabella felt slightly deflated as she returned to the
vicarage. She had been enjoying her short adventure and didn’t want
it to end. Now that it had, she struggled to hide her
disappointment.

He
stopped her just inside the front hallway and turned to face her.
His large palms on the delicate bones of her shoulders made her
feel small and vulnerable, but he was nothing less than
extraordinarily gentle.

“
I will let you know what I find. Meantime, I want you to
promise me that you will keep the house locked whether you are at
home or not.” He kept his voice low and intimate so as not to scare
her, and was confident that she was assured rather than unnerved
when she continued to gaze steadily up at him without any trace of
fear on her face.

“
I will. Please take care yourself. If this person doesn’t
want you to find the information you need, heaven only knew what
lengths they will go to.”

“
I am used to this, so please don’t worry about me. I should
like to call by later and update you on what I find, if you are
interested?”

“
That would be wonderful,” she whispered in reply.

The
offer of dinner she was about to make was captured by the gentle
brush of his lips against hers. One kiss didn’t seem to be enough
for either of them though as Harper drew her slowly toward him
until her rounded curves met the solid wall of his chest. Once
there, he secured her in place with an arm around her waist while
he deepened the kiss the way he wanted. Her compliance nearly undid
him and he had to keep his thoughts firmly focused on exactly where
they were in order to prevent his groan from escaping.

Arrabella gasped and clung to him when his mouth opened and
nudged her lips apart. She felt plundered yet not threatened. Her
senses swam amidst the sensual onslaught and it left her emotions
in turmoil. There was nothing she could deny him; no words she
could find to utter with any degree of fervency that would urge him
to stop. They were there, hovering in the dark recesses of her
mind, but she paid no attention to them and focused on the
wonderfully warm sensations his mastery was bringing forth instead.
Her heart thundered in her ears so loudly that she was certain he
could hear it too, but it was the warmth that had begun to embrace
her heart that held her captivated, and frightened her a little
too. His man who held her so closely had suddenly become so very
important to her that she couldn’t bear to even think about the day
when he would need to return to London.

His head
tipped this way and that as he sipped from the honeyed nectar of
her mouth until he couldn’t stand the torment a moment longer. He
slowly lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers to give
them both time to allow the world to settle around them. In all of
his life he had never kissed a woman and been left speechless, but
Arrabella had robbed him of all thought.

“
Arrabella,” he growled. When he did finally lift his head,
the blatant desire in her eyes drew him back toward the moistened
plumpness of her lips.

The
second kiss burned so brightly that they both struggled to control
their grasping hands. The only sounds that could be heard were the
gasps and sighs of both of them as they sought to assure each other
that this adventure was far from over. Neither could walk away from
what had begun to grow between them and neither of them wanted
to.

By the
time Harper lifted his head for a second time they were both
trembling and struggling to remember where they were. Arrabella
blinked up at him, and wasn’t sure if the fierce blush in her
cheeks was down to embarrassment over her wanton behaviour, or the
flames of desire that burned ever so brightly through
her.

“
Lord above, we could get struck by lightning for kissing like
that,” he teased softly.

“
I am sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Arrabella
whispered, mortified at what had just happened.

“
Please don’t apologise for it, Arrabella. You and I both know
that the attraction is there between us and it would be foolish for
either of us to ignore it.” He cupped her cheek tenderly. “This is
far from over,” he promised. “One adventure may be over for now,
but our new adventure is only just beginning.”

Arrabella blinked away the tears that stung her eyes. All she
could do was nod. It gave him the perfect excuse to draw her into a
hug again and he stood for a moment with his lips in her hair, and
simply savoured the feel of her in his arms.

“
When you call by later,” she tipped her head back to peer up
at him and realised just how presumptuous she had sounded. “You
know, to update me on what you find, would you care to stay for
supper? I mean, I am eating by myself and well, you are by yourself
and, well, I -”

Whatever
else she had been going to say was cut off by the finger he placed
on her lips. He knew that she was nervous and didn’t want her to
feel anything but at ease with him.

“
I would love to have dinner with you Arrabella, but we do
have your reputation to consider. We have been sailing far too
close to the wind as it is, what with the crypt and everything. So
far, the only person who knows that we have spent most of yesterday
alone together is the person who locked us in there and they are
hardly likely to spread the news. However, I don’t want to risk
bringing censure to your door by sharing a meal alone with you in
the vicarage. As wonderful as it sounds to share a meal here with
you, people will only gossip and, given that you are the
respectable daughter of the vicar, you cannot have your reputation
damaged.”

He read
the disappointment in her eyes and tipped her chin up so she could
look at him. “So, why don’t we have a meal the village tavern? They
serve meals and I can secure us a table for later where can chat
and sit amongst the locals. They will speculate, but we can take
the opportunity to inform them that we are after a parish register
that has gone missing. That should be enough to ensure that we can
be seen out together as often as we please and you will not incur
any scandalous gossip that will besmirch your good
character.”

Arrabella sighed. Up until now she had been enjoying her
brief adventure and hadn’t really given any thought to what anyone
might think, but he was right. She was the daughter of one of the
village’s most upstanding citizens. It would be highly
inappropriate of her to spend an evening alone with a man whom she
had only recently met. The gossips would have a field day if they
found out.

“
That would be wonderful,” she whispered. She was thrilled
that he wanted to share a meal with her, and grateful for his
consideration of her reputation. “We can also mention to people
that the church keys have gone missing.”

Now that
her mind had cleared of the hazy fog of passion she was able to
contemplate the events around them with much more clarity. He was
right. At some point someone would draw attention to the fact that
they were spending a lot of time together and that would inevitably
draw speculation as to his intentions toward her. While she was
more than happy with the prospect of being linked to Harper, she
didn’t want to place him under any obligation to make promises that
he didn’t want to keep.

Later
that night, Harper escorted Arrabella into the village tavern. It
was surprisingly quiet for a week night and he glanced around at
the empty sea of chairs in surprise.

“
Doesn’t anyone drink around here?”

“
It will warm up later,” the inn keeper replied with a smile
at Arrabella. “It is wonderful to have you visit us again, Miss
Farthing. I have saved you the best seat in the house,” he declared
proudly as he led them through the assorted tables and stools to a
small table tucked away before a picture window that overlooked the
garden. It was also located next to the fire and was, by far, the
warmest seat in the house.

“
Harry, can you tell me if you are aware of any strangers in
the village of late?” Arrabella asked when Harry placed the wine on
the table and stood back to let his wife deposit two steaming
plates of pie and vegetables before them.

Harry
glanced at his wife. “Not as far as I am aware, no. Of course,
there is the wonderful surprise return of Mr Lawton here, which his
brothers are very boastful about, but I cannot say that I am aware
of any strangers in the area, no. Why?”

Arrabella told them about the missing parish register and
keys.

“
I will ask the patrons as they come in. You know, get word
about. If the register is around somewhere, then we will find it.”
He nodded wisely at them both and left them to eat their meal in
peace.

“
Isn’t that Joseph?” Arrabella asked as she finished her meal
and studied the room while she waited for Harper to finish. When he
looked at her she nodded toward the man who stood at the far end of
the bar with a dark scowl on his face. “He still looks frightfully
angry about something.”

Harper
studied his brother. “I think that I need to go and have a nice
long chat with my brother in the morning,” he replied.

“
You don’t think that he could be responsible, do you?”
Arrabella gasped in a whisper. She frowned at Harper and knew from
the look in his eye that he suspected that Joseph was up to
something. “But why?”

“
He is my brother. We grew up together. He may be trying to
protect my mother’s reputation.”

“
Your birth mother?”

Harper
shook his head. “No, the mother who sacrificed a lot to look after
me.”

Arrabella sighed. The entire situation was starting to get
far too confusing but she still couldn’t see someone like Joseph
being so mean as to lock anyone in the church crypt.

“
Hello Arrabella. Harper.”

Arrabella jumped in alarm. She had been so lost in thought
that she hadn’t noticed Joseph cross the busy tap room.

“
Hello, how are you?” She smiled at him but received no warm
greeting in return. She felt pinned to the spot by the intent,
searching look he gave her and turned to Harper with a slightly
puzzled expression. Joseph didn’t appear all that pleased to see
them, or make any attempt to be amiable but she couldn’t think of
anything she had said, or done, that would have offended
him.