Lord Cavendish Returns (16 page)

“
Joseph.” Harper waved to a chair beside them. “We are just
having a bite to eat. Care to join us?” He had taken a look at
Joseph’s boots and knew, deep in his gut, that he was not
responsible for the boot prints he had found in the
churchyard.

“
No,” Joseph snapped only to sigh deeply when he realised he
had been a little too forceful. “No, thank you. I just wanted to
ask you, Miss Farthing, if you will need my help with setting up
the tables at the craft stall at the weekend?”

“
Oh, yes please, if you have the time. That would be most
helpful.” She sensed Harper’s curiosity and explained. “There is a
village fete at the weekend in aid of a new roof for the church. It
is going to be held on the village green. If you are still going to
be here you would be more than welcome to come.” She tried to keep
the hope out of her voice, she really did, but she stared at him
just a little too avidly for her enquiry to be nothing more than
mild curiosity.

“
I would love to,” Harper replied and flicked a quick look at
Joseph, who had yet to take his eyes off Arrabella. Was there some
sort of history there? The protective surge that immediately swept
through him shook him to the core. The thought of Arrabella
receiving the attentions of another suitor made him want to thump
something, then pick her up and run home with her to keep her safe.
He didn’t like the way that Joseph was looking at the woman who had
captured his own interest and he coughed to draw his brother’s
attention back to himself.

“
If you let me know when you are going to be around, I will
give you a hand to set everything up.” His offer didn’t seem to go
down too well with Joseph, whose attitude became what could only be
described as ‘surly’.

“
Yes, well, I don’t know when I will be able to drop in,” he
looked back at Arrabella. “But I shall endeavour to do so some time
during the morning. I have got to feed the cattle and the like, so
don’t have a precise time when I can join you.”

“
That’s fine,” Arrabella assured him. His towering presence
beside her was starting to make her feel just a little unnerved.
“Just pop by whenever you have the time. It is not a problem.” She
tried hard not to squirm in her seat beneath his rather too intense
stare. What did he want?

“
Did you drop by the vicarage earlier this afternoon?” Harper
asked with a frown. He leaned back in his seat to study his brother
and watched wariness immediately enter his brother’s
eyes.

“
No.” The forbidding tone didn’t invite any further questions
and was accompanied with a defiant look that warned Harper that his
brother was lying.

“
It is just that we thought that we saw someone in the
graveyard this afternoon, although when we got there nobody was
around. I just wondered if you had called by to have a word with
Arrabella, that’s all.”

“
It wasn’t me,” Joseph growled. He didn’t wait for any more
questions and nodded to Harper. “I’ll see you on Saturday
then.”

Harper
remained quiet as Joseph stalked out of the tavern. He was slightly
stunned at how much his brother had changed. The happy-go-lucky,
fun loving youth Harper had known had vanished completely and been
replaced with someone who barely seemed able to communicate. He
couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on in
the village that he didn’t know about and took a moment to study
the other two people in the tavern.

“
Where is everyone?” He had to ask the question. Although it
was a week night, the place was nearly empty. He had to wonder how
the inn managed to stay in business if it only sold a couple of
pints a night and a meal or two.

“
I don’t know. I don’t usually frequent the tavern,” she
replied wryly with a quirk of her lips.

“
Tell me something, Arrabella,” Harper leaned forward in his
seat and turned his ale mug around with absent fingers while he
tried to get his questions into some semblance of order.

“
Has anything unusual being happening in the village of
late?”

“
You mean, like a spate of thefts, or something?”

“
Anything.” He gave her a direct look and watched her frown
for a moment while she thought.

“
I don’t think so. Nothing much seems to happen at all around
here. It is a very quaint village, but very quiet most of the time.
There haven’t been any thefts as far as I am aware. Everyone seems
to be getting excited for the fete at the weekend.”

They
finished their meal in silence and left. Once outside, the silence
of the village seemed to hover over them and brought with it an
intimate atmosphere that was accompanied only by the soft clip of
their boots on the cobbles.

Arrabella tugged her shawl around her shoulders but shivered
anyway when a particularly cold blast of cold air snuck up her back
in spite of the thickness of her wrap. Sensing her chill, Harper
held his elbow out to her. Arrabella glanced at it for a moment
before she took it with a smile. In doing so she became acutely
aware that they were walking rather too close than was right or
proper, and could only hope that they wouldn’t set the local
tongues wagging.

Still,
character ruination aside, she didn’t want the short walk to the
vicarage to end. Unfortunately, it did; far too soon for her peace
of mind. A thrill of anticipation swept through her as she spied
the dark front door of the house she called home. Was he going to
kiss her again? She daren’t ask him in for a nightcap; that would
only be asking for trouble, but she wondered then just what she
should say to him to bring the evening to a conclusion.

Although
there had been the theft of the parish register, and the mystery of
the missing keys to deal with, it had been a rather enjoyable day
all in all. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what they
were going to be doing tomorrow, but then realised that would be
terribly presumptuous of her, so she remained quiet.

“
What do you plan to do about the register? It is really
church property and I need to report its theft to the Bishop.” She
sighed and took a deep breath of the wonderful crisp night air that
was heavily laden with the rich scent of roses. Church business was
the last thing she wanted to bother with but it was the only thing
she could think of to say.

“
If you can give me a couple of more days to try to find it, I
would be grateful. I really do feel it is still in the area
somewhere, I just don’t know where yet,” he replied with a
sigh.

They
were on the steps before the front door before she knew it. She
opened her mouth to speak only for Harper to intercept
her.

“
I will check that all of the windows and doors are locked
before I leave.”

She had
little choice but to open the door and allow him in. Once inside
the hallway though she found herself glancing out into the darkness
to see if anyone she knew had seen Harper enter the house. It felt
terribly risqué to be alone in the house with such a handsome man
at night, but it also made her feel incredibly protected. Nobody
had ever looked after her safety in such a way, and it was touching
that Harper was taking the time and trouble to do so now. She
didn’t know whether to follow him around the house or stay in the
hallway until he was done and hovered uncertainly while he went
into and out of the rooms on the ground floor but she wasn’t alone
long before Harper quickly descended the stairs and came to stand
before her. “It’s all clear. Everything is fine, so make sure you
lock the door behind me.”

She
opened her mouth to speak only to gasp when he gathered her against
him in a most proprietorial manner and kissed her with a
possessiveness he had never shown before. Her knees trembled with
the fierceness of the sensuality that burned between them and there
was little she could do except sigh and melt against him. She was
positive that if he let her go she would crumble at his feet, and
so placed her hands on his shoulders for support while she tipped
her head back and allowed him to plunder.

The
passion that roared to life between them shocked him and was
something he had never experienced before. He hadn’t meant the kiss
to go this far, but couldn’t stop it now. However, his enjoyment of
the situation was slightly marred by the memory of Joseph’s almost
proprietorial manner toward Arrabella in the tavern. It helped him
gather the strength he needed to ease back on the kiss a little and
allow the passion to dim to more manageable levels so that he could
lift his head and look down at her.

“
Tell me something?” He growled as he studied the raw passion
on her face. He was grateful that there was only one candle lit in
the hallway and she couldn’t see the affect she had on
him.

“
Mmm?”

He
smiled gently and dropped a lingering kiss on her lips. “Arrabella,
do I have any challengers for your hand?”

His
strange wording was enough to make her blink. She thought for a
moment and frowned at him. “Pardon?”

“
Do you have any other suitors?” He sighed. He immediately
regretted his words when the dreamy expression vanished and was
replaced with an outraged expression that would have befitted a
stern matron more than a very beautiful country maiden.

“
Certainly not,” she rapped out huffily. “I am not that kind
of person.”

“
Thank heavens for that,” he replied fervently. “It prevents
the need for bloodshed on the lawn now I know that there is nobody
I need to call to arms at dawn.”

The wry
amusement in his voice made her roll her eyes and she shook her
head as her cheeks flooded with colour.

“
Just one last question,” he murmured when she tried to pull
away. He tightened his arms around her and held her still. He could
feel the faint waft of her breath against his cheek and it made the
small hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Everything within
him screamed at him to kiss her again, and this time take it a
little further, but logic warned him that it was far too early in
their acquaintance to be so forward with her. Although he was
fairly certain that he could remain at the vicarage most of the
night and creep out at dawn without being seen, he didn’t want that
for Arrabella. She deserved more than a lover who wasn’t there to
hold her in the morning.

“
Go on then,” she sighed. Part of her wanted to drag his head
back down so that he would kiss her and she could experience the
wonderful sensations he made her feel all over again. On the other
hand, she felt acutely embarrassed at the liberties she had allowed
him to take with her already and didn’t quite know what she was
asking for. She had only met him a couple of days ago yet here she
was, all alone in the house with him, in the darkness of the late
evening, standing so close to him that she could feel the muscles
of his chest ripple beneath her fingertips.

“
Is there any prior acquaintance between you and my brother,
Joseph?”

“
Prior acquaintance?” She repeated blankly. “Well, I have
known him since I moved to the village but I am certainly no better
acquainted with him than I am the rest of the villagers,” she
replied with a frown. She gasped and stared at him in shock as she
yanked his arms away from her. “Are you suggesting that I might
have had
relations
with him?”

When he
didn’t immediately respond, fury began to take hold of her. Shame
immediately made her cheeks flush with acute embarrassment and the
kisses they had just shared, which had once seemed caring and
passionate, now seemed tawdry and opportunistic. She put her palms
on her heated cheeks in horror. Did he think she was a potential
conquest?

“
Arrabella.” He held out pleading hands. “That isn’t what I
meant at all.”

“
Yes you did. You asked me if I had any prior acquaintance
with your brother,” she accused. Remorse at her wantonness began to
chase the fury away and she immediately regretted her behaviour
toward him. She wanted to be angry at his supposition. Of course he
would consider her to have loose morals. After all, during the
first afternoon they had spent together she had lain in his arms
like a wanton hussy. It was irrelevant that they had been locked in
the crypt in the dark for several hours at the time. She could have
sat on a different step, or far enough away from him that he
couldn’t touch her. Instead, she had been draped all over him like
a flag. No wonder he thought she was of ill repute.

“
I think you had better leave now.” She whispered in a voice
that trembled beneath the wealth of unspoken emotions that tumbled
through her.

When his
hands lifted to grasp her shoulders, she took several steps back
and glanced at the door. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him
for a moment. When she did, she turned wintry eyes on him that in
no way encouraged any further physical contact.

“
I can assure you that at no time have I entered into
relations
with any man
and I certainly have no intention of doing so now. Thank you for
the meal this evening.” When he took a breath to argue she stomped
forward and yanked the door open. “I bid you goodnight.”

Harper
stared at her nonplussed for a moment. The almost military
straightness of her shoulders as she stood, stern and almost
sentry-like, beside the front door warned him that if he approached
he would probably have a sore ear in the morning, or a black
eye.