Sarah Mallory - Beauty And The Brooding Lord

‘Oh, but surely there is room to dance in the great hall,’ she replied. ‘It would be a wonderful setting for a ball and guests could always be accommodated at the local inns, could they not?’

‘I did not move here to be sociable, Miss Russington.’

She lapsed into silence and he cursed himself for snapping at her. He sensed she had withdrawn from him, even though her fingers still rested on his sleeve. He led her out through the arch saying, as they crossed the bridge, ‘There is a moat, too. You may not have noticed it when we drove in last night.’

Damnation, another blunder, to remind her how she came to be here! Nothing for it but to continue.

‘The stables, gardens and outhouses are spread over the adjoining land, but the moat surrounds the house and has always defined its limits.’

‘Perfect, if you do not wish to be sociable.’

He glanced down quickly, not sure he had heard aright. She was looking around her, but he detected a very slight upward tilt to her mouth. So, she had not quite lost her spirit. The thought cheered him.

‘My lord, someone is approaching!’ Her hand tightened on his arm and he looked up.

‘Devil take it, ’tis Crawshaw, the vicar. And he has seen us.’

Serena watched the stocky figure in cleric’s robes hurry towards them, one hand holding his shallow-crowned hat firmly on his head. She pulled her fan from her reticule, spreading it wide as the vicar greeted them.

‘Lord Quinn. Well met, sir, well met indeed. I was hoping for a word.’

He stopped before them, beaming and looking from Quinn to Serena, clearly waiting to be presented. Surely even someone as famously rude as Lord Quinn must comply. She kept the fan high, almost hiding her face. Better that Mr Crawshaw should think her shy than he should see that tell-tale bruise.

‘Miss Russington is waiting for her guardian to collect her,’ explained Lord Quinn, once introductions had been performed. ‘We expect him any moment.’

‘Then I shall not keep you,’ replied the vicar. ‘I merely wanted to discuss the repairs to the bell tower. Have you seen the church, ma’am? It is a fine example of the perpendicular Gothic. You must allow Lord Quinn to show it to you before you leave.’

Serena murmured something polite and Quinn dismissed Mr Crawshaw with a promise that he would make a generous donation to the restoration fund.

‘Nothing could have been more unfortunate,’ he muttered under his breath, when the vicar had gone on his way. ‘I beg your pardon, Miss Russington. I hope I have given him the impression that you have only spent the morning here.’

‘Is he likely to speak of me?’

‘I hope not, but I thought it best to keep to the truth as far as possible.’

‘Of course. To be caught out in a lie would be the worst of all worlds,’ she replied. ‘Let us pray he is too intent upon repairing his bell tower.’

Quinn gave a bark of laughter. ‘After what I said to him, I have no doubt he will expect me to pay for the whole.’

‘Would you have done that if I had not been here?’ She sighed. ‘Your silence gives me my answer. I do not know how I am to repay you for all your kindness, my lord.’

‘I do not want any recompense, madam, merely to see you safely returned to your guardian.’

‘Perhaps I should go indoors until then, lest there are more visitors.’

‘If you wish.’ He hesitated. ‘But the sun is still shining and you have not yet seen the gardens.’

Hell and damnation, Quinn, what are you doing?

He should take her back, leave her with Mrs Talbot until Hambridge arrived. After all, he had put himself out more than enough for the woman already. But when she indicated that she would like to continue their walk, he was not displeased. The day suddenly became a little brighter.

* * *

It was like a dream, thought Serena. To be walking with a stranger, calmly discussing flowers. She felt oddly detached from everything. Until she had climbed into Sir Timothy’s carriage yesterday, she had thought herself very much in control of her own life, but she realised now that had been an illusion. Her half-brothers and their wives had always been there to protect her. Even when she had slipped away to flirt with some gentleman, their proximity had given her a modicum of protection.

Putting herself in Sir Timothy’s power had changed all that. She had been in real danger. He had intended to rape her, then force her into marriage to gain control of her fortune. She had fought him desperately, prepared to die rather than give in, and the bruises around her throat convinced her that her defiance might well have ended with her death.

Quinn had rescued her, but her life was still in ruins. Dorothea and Henry would insist she went into the country. If the whole affair could be hushed up then after a suitable period she might be allowed to return to society, but she knew she would never be as confident, happy and carefree as she had been one day ago. Things had changed. She had changed. No matter how brightly the sun shone everything was dulled by the grey cloud that enveloped her and weighed heavily upon her spirits.

‘You are not attending, Miss Russington.’

Lord Quinn’s gruff tones brought Serena out of her reverie and she quickly begged pardon.

‘I asked what you thought of these roses from China. They bloom every spring, even this year, despite the atrocious weather.’

‘Oh. Yes. They are very beautiful.’ She glanced up, needing to be truthful. ‘I was thinking of my future.’

‘No doubt you think it destroyed for ever,’ he said. ‘Do not believe it. You are feeling very sorry for yourself at present but you will forget this unfortunate episode, in time.’

‘I do not think so.’ She pulled her arm free to rearrange her shawl.

‘Believe me, you will recover. Why should you not, when you have all the advantages of birth, fortune and a family to support you?’

‘I never thought myself in any danger until yesterday. Until Sir Timothy b-began to maul me.’ Her fingers crept to her throat. ‘I thought I was going to die. I shall never forget that.’

‘Perhaps not, but you must not let it blight your life.’

His cool assurance annoyed her.

‘How dare you tell me what I must or must not do? What do you know about me, about how I feel?’ She gave an angry sob, saying wildly, ‘There is nothing left for me now. Nothing.’

‘Stop that!’ He caught her shoulders, pulling her round to face him and giving her a little shake. ‘You are what,’ he demanded, ‘eighteen, nineteen?’

She turned her head away, presenting the undamaged side of her face to him.

‘Much older than that.’ She sniffed. ‘I am almost one-and-twenty.’

‘Very well then. You have years of happiness before you, if you wish it, and with such advantages as many can only dream of. How dare you think your life is over, merely because some ignominious creature tried to seduce you? He did not succeed and you are alive, Serena. Alive. You should be grateful for that.’

He has lost someone.

She looked up into his eyes and saw the pain behind his anger. Her self-pity faded. She wanted to apologise, to ask him about his past, but even as the words were forming he released her and turned away.

‘It is time we returned to the house.’ He drew her hand back through his arm. ‘Your family will be here soon. It is better that they do not find us wandering out of doors.’

* * *

Serena was sitting in the drawing room with Mrs Talbot when Henry and Dorothea arrived. The latticed windows of the panelled room looked out across the gardens, so she did not hear the coach on the drive, but at the sound of voices in the great hall she rose and faced the door.