Sally James (29 page)

'Sir Robert!' she exclaimed, and he smiled as he strode towards her.

'Kate! How long it has seemed.'

'How do you come to be here?' she asked.

'I have an uncle who lives at Cheltenham, and have been visiting him. Adam suggested I should spend last night here and ride on to Bath with you,' he explained as he lifted her down from her horse.

Grooms appeared, the horses were taken away, and Adam led them into the large hall which occupied the centre of the house.

'It is actually much older than the rest, but the Elizabethan builder altered it slightly so that it matched the new wings,' Adam explained. 'There have been some large balls held here, as well as Christmas parties and suppers for the estate workers.'

'Brr! All this uncovered stone makes it feel so cold!' Annabelle complained, hugging her elegant riding habit closer to her.

'There is a fire in the dining room,' Adam said quickly, and led the way through a door opening from the hall, where a table was groaning under a lavish selection of food and wine.

For an hour after they had eaten cold meats, pies, and fruits, they wandered over the house, exploring its panelled rooms, stone passages, and then walking through the gardens.

Adam had already done a great deal to tidy the neglected house and gardens, uncovering several treasures such as the once overgrown but now usable maze, a stone sundial in the centre of a box-edged knot garden, and a disused but still efficient icehouse. He explained his plans for restoring more of the house and gardens to their former glory.

'Isn't it lovely?' Chloe turned from admiring a riotous carpet of early spring wild flowers in the orchard, and spoke to Kate and Sir Robert just behind her.

'This should be left just as it is,' Kate agreed, her eyes gleaming.

'Even that fallen, gnarled apple tree?' Sir Robert asked teasingly.

'Yes, of course,' Kate responded.

'It is still alive,' Chloe said. 'It has buds on, and Adam told me it still produces delicious fruit. We had some of them today.'

'They keep well.' Kate looked at Sir Robert. She had felt nothing more than surprise at his sudden appearance at Rhydd Manor. There had been no surge of joy when she had seen him, her blood had not begun to sing in her veins, not her heart to pound beneath her ribs.

She sighed deeply. Was liking all she could feel for Sir Robert? She must decide soon whether to accept his offer, but she was reluctant finally to commit herself.

Adam came round the corner of the house and called to them.

'We must set off soon if we are not to be late. Have you seen Annabelle and Martin?'

'They were in the maze,' Sir Robert replied. 'Shall I go and fetch them?'

'No, thank you, I will. I have discovered the secret of it, so if they are lost I will be able to lead them out,' he added with a laugh, and turned away while Kate and Sir Robert walked back towards the house.

When he reappeared with the others as the party waited for their horses to be brought round, Annabelle had a fixed smile on her mouth and a gleam in her eye. She rode off at once when she had been put up on her horse, leaving the others to follow.

The first half of the return journey was uneventful. Sir Robert remained beside Kate, and Adam rode with Chloe since both Luke and Martin had deserted her to ride with Annabelle.

Kate was letting her horse amble along when Adam, behind her, gave a warning shout and spurred past her. He was just in time to catch Annabelle, who had reeled sideways and was slipping from the saddle.

'What's the matter?' Kate demanded, coming up beside them.

'She fainted. Robert, can you lead her horse? There's an inn round the next hill, and my horse will carry both of us that far.'

The mare resented being led, and Sir Robert had difficulty in controlling her. He was the last to reach the inn, by which time Annabelle had been installed in a small parlour, being attended by the innkeeper's wife.

'She will be well enough to continue in a short while,' Adam said as he came out to the taproom where the others were waiting.

'She ought not to ride that mare, she's got the fidgets,' Sir Robert said uneasily.

Adam glanced at Kate. 'I don't like to ask you, but do you think you could control her? It's only a few miles.'

'Firefly's sweet natured in general, and she's tired now. Annabelle said once she hated a leading rein, so that's probably all that's wrong with her.'

Sir Robert protested, but could suggest no other solution. All the men were too heavy for the mare, and Chloe's horse was even more spirited than Firefly. Adam gave Kate an encouraging smile as he lifted her into the saddle.

'Keep her to a walk, and she'll be no trouble,' he said, and went to assist a pale Annabelle onto Kate's hack.

Even at a steady pace Kate loved the feel of a lively, even though a tired horse, beneath her. It was so different from the ones she had been used to that she wondered for a moment if she was dreaming. Firefly led the way, and Kate longed to try out her paces, but knew it would be foolish.

Then Martin came alongside, and she tensed, setting Firefly prancing sideways. He had barely spoken to her all day, had appeared to be keeping out of her way, for which she was profoundly thankful.

'Have you heard any more about that fellow who was killed?' he asked abruptly. 'The one who stole my mother's jewels?'

'No,' Kate said curtly.

'They weren't all recovered,' he said morosely.

Kate felt a stab of guilt. She had no right to a locket which belonged, most probably, to Mrs Shore. She had racked her brains to think of a way of returning it, but if she gave it back herself, she could not explain how it came to be in her possession without betraying Adam. And however doubtful she was herself about his guilt she would not cast suspicion on him, particularly not to Martin.

After a few more remarks he dropped back again, and Kate heard him talking angrily, with Chloe replying almost tearfully. She glanced back, just in time to see him spur on his horse and head towards her, lashing it furiously.

Afterwards Kate was unable to be absolutely sure of exactly what happened. The whip seemed to flick out as Martin, with a triumphant smile on his face, galloped past, and catch Firefly somewhere about the head. Kate had been looking backwards and almost lost her seat when the little mare, after a convulsive shudder, suddenly broke into an uncontrolled gallop and chased wildly after the other horse.

She clung unashamedly to the pommel with one hand, using the other to try and gather up the reins which had been jerked half out of her grasp. In a blur she noticed Martin had halted his horse, which was standing beside a small clump of trees, its flanks heaving and the whites of its eyes rolling wildly, but she was too intent on trying to retain her seat to think about it.

Firefly stumbled and Kate was almost thrown clear, but the little mare recovered herself and flew on, foaming at the mouth. She was totally out of control and white flecks of foam streamed back in the wind which had already torn off Kate's hat.

Ahead of them Kate could see an outcrop of rock with loose boulders scattered all across the surface. Desperately she heaved on the one rein she had managed to retain, trying to turn the horse away from this dangerous terrain, but Firefly shook her head impatiently and flew on regardless.

Then Kate, wondering whether to throw herself off and risk serious injury, or to try and remain in the saddle and pray that Firefly would not lose her footing, heard the thunder of a second set of hooves coming up behind her. Gradually Adam, on his magnificent black stallion, drew alongside them. He leant over, seized the reins, and with what seemed a ridiculously easy movement slowed both horses to a walk and then brought them to a halt.

Before Kate could speak he had leapt from the saddle, both sets of reins looped over one arm, and was lifting her down. She trembled uncontrollably, and as she slid down to the ground she would have fallen if he had not been holding her tightly against him. She could feel his heart beating and for a moment she laid her head against his chest, clutching his arms with nervous hands.

'You damned little fool!' he exclaimed, one arm clamped rigidly about her, and she lifted her head in protest.

'I - she was whipped, in the face, and seemed to go mad,' she stammered.

He didn't seem to hear. 'You could have been killed!' he raged, and taking both her shoulders in his own slim, strong hands he shook her fiercely until her teeth chattered.

'It wasn't my fault!' she gasped, breathless, her limbs weak and trembling as she struggled fruitlessly to escape from his iron hard grip.

'No, and it wasn't your fault you refuse to listen to me, nor will it be your fault if you marry a man you don't love, and ruin other lives apart from your own!' he retorted.

Shouts from the others could now be heard, and with an impatient sigh Adam thrust her away from him. By exercising the greatest effort of will she managed to remain standing, and even walked across a few yards of stone-scattered ground to sink onto a large boulder, where she sat breathing deeply, trying to still the thudding of her heart and control her trembling legs.

After weeks when he had barely touched her this sudden contact, rough though it was, had shaken her more than the fear which had gripped her during that terrifying ride. Why did the wretched man have such power over her?

Chapter Twenty-four

Kate lay sleepless. She went over and over all the events of the day, her terror when Firefly had bolted with her towards the rocks, puzzlement as to why Martin seemed to have deliberately startled the mare, but most of all the mixed emotions she had experienced when Adam had held her close.

Beneath his anger, she had detected relief. Of course he would be relieved she hadn't been hurt or killed, she told herself fiercely. He'd asked her to ride the horse, knowing she wasn’t used to such a spirited animal.

She recalled his care for Annabelle, the way he had been watching her so closely, and been ready to save her from a serious fall, the tender way he'd carried her to the inn, and remained at her side for the entire journey home, except when he'd raced after her and the bolting Firefly. Had he been watching over her so closely? She couldn't believe it. It had been chance, or the sudden commotion, which had alerted him and sent him hurtling after her.

That was a lowering thought. The realization hit her with devastating force that she knew now what love was. She loved Adam. She had always loved him, but had not recognized her response to him as love. Love was this agony of jealousy at seeing him with another woman, this overwhelming desire to throw herself into his arms and experience once more the kisses she had previously, in her innocence and ignorance, rejected.

She had lost him. If she had ever really had the chance of gaining him as a husband, thanks to that crazy promise her grandfather had extracted from him it was no longer her choice. He loved Annabelle despite the fact she was married, and he would never love her.

She sighed deeply. Why had she been so blind, so foolish as to reject him? Even if he did not love her, in time perhaps her own love would have encouraged some affection, at least, from him, even if he never came to love her.

Could she endure that? But now she would never know, never have the opportunity to test it. What she still had to decide was whether she could bear to marry Sir Robert. She shuddered. She liked him, he was kind and would treat her with gentleness and consideration, but she could no more endure the thought of his lips on hers, his hands on her body, than she had welcomed Martin's lascivious embraces.

Yet what else was there for her? She could not prevent Aunt Sophie from at last attaining her own happiness.

When the first rays of dawn crept through the window Kate rose quietly, dressed in a warm gown of fine grey wool, flung a dark grey cloak about her, and slipped quietly down the stairs.

The servants were about but it would be hours before any of the family rose. She needed solitude but was too restless to remain in bed. She would walk in the gardens and try to banish this numbness from her brain. She had to think.

There was no one in the hall and she was able to slip out through the front door without being seen. She sped across into the Crescent Gardens and then, feeling too exposed to the houses, for anyone might look out of a window and see her, she walked rapidly down the hill in the direction of the town. She would walk by the river, she decided.

The town was quite different at this time of the morning. Servants were about, polishing knockers, sweeping steps, or going to do early marketing, but they paid little attention to her in her anonymous cloak. She was walking swiftly round the edge of Queen's Square when she heard footsteps behind her. Looking round apprehensively she saw a pair of late revellers coming rather unsteadily towards her.

Without thinking she took to her heels and ran, twisting through the streets in the direction of the Abbey.

To her dismay they were more sober than she had expected, and still capable of giving chase. Hampered by her skirts and the voluminous cloak Kate was soon overtaken in a narrow alley which led into Milsom Street, and a strong hand seized her shoulder and twisted her round.

'Let go!' she stormed furiously, and opened her mouth to scream.

A hand swiftly covered her mouth, choking off the scream, and one of her captors suddenly laughed out loud.

'I thought it was! By all that's wonderful, it's high and mighty Miss Kate Byford. What are you doing out of your bed at this time? Creeping home from some assignation?'

Helpless, unable to speak, unable to hurl defiance at him, Kate glared up into the gloating face and slightly bloodshot eyes of Martin Shore.

He continued to taunt her. 'What an amazing coincidence, my dear. I was planning to come and find you, but instead you have saved me the trouble and come to me of your own accord.'

'Shall we take her back to your rooms?' his companion asked with a salacious leer towards Kate.