“I’ve met dozens of earls,” she confided to Sebastian. “Dukes, too. They’re all the same, if you ask me.”
“Mama, that is impolite.”
“Is it?” Her mother looked at her as if seeking guidance. “I will take the earl to see the flower garden, then. It is very pretty, you’ll see.” She took Sebastian by the hand and led him away.
“I hope she isn’t a bother,” Portia began, when they were out of earshot. “I know she can be difficult.”
“She’s a dear,” Mercy said firmly, “just a little confused about things. I think she likes it here. She keeps asking if she can stay.”
“I didn’t realize how much she hated London. She wanted me to marry Lord Ellerslie, and when I did, she was ecstatic that she would live a grand life and meet grand people. She was always very ambitious, and being a vicar’s wife had not made her happy.”
“Well, she’s happy now,” Mercy assured her. “Maybe she didn’t realize how much she enjoyed being a nobody until it was taken away from her.”
Portia smiled and walked with her toward the garden. The sun was out but the air was cold. A woman sat nursing a baby in the shelter of the gatehouse, her man—one of the stonemasons working on the house—seated by her side. The picture of them together caught and held her gaze, and she found herself pausing to glance back at the little tableau enviously.
Marcus was her lover, and he had been her obsession for most of her adult life. Could they live a normal life, could they be happy together? She thought so, if only they were left in peace. But that was the problem. The world outside Duval Hall was closing in, and nothing they did could stop it.
Chapter 27
“Portia.”
The whisper made her turn.
Marcus was standing by the stables, in the shadows. She opened her mouth to ask him what he thought he was doing lurking there, but he put his finger to his lips.
Portia glanced about her. Mercy had reached the others and they were standing together, admiring the garden. In a moment they would be looking to see what had happened to her.
She walked toward Marcus. “What is it?” she said softly.
“I have something to show you,” he said, reaching out to take her hand as soon as she was close enough.
“What about…?” She gestured toward his brother and the two women.
“I want you to myself.” His eyes held promises, and when he tugged her hand, she was unable to resist. Once they were out of sight he began to run, pulling her along behind him. Portia kept pace, breathless, feeling like a girl again. They slipped out of the gate and followed a path atop a high bank that rose above the surrounding marsh. The tide was in, and steps led down to a small wooden jetty with a boat tied to it. Marcus clambered down into the craft and lifted her after him, making certain she was settled before he cast off the line.
“Do you want to swim?” he asked her as she sat carefully, hands gripping the gunwales for dear life.
“No.” Her eyes were big. “Do you expect to tip over?”
His face was serious, but with the hint of his wicked smile. “I hope not, but like most things in life, one can never be sure. But we will hope for the best, my love.”
He pushed them off from the jetty, and sitting down himself, began to row. Here on the water they were below the height of the reeds, and other than the very top of Duval Hall, with its bell tower, there was nothing much to see. Portia watched him rowing, admiring the strength of his shoulders and the way his dark hair hung in his eyes so that she longed to smooth it back.
“Better than the Serpentine?” he asked with a grin.
She giggled.
“I love it when you do that,” he said suddenly, stopping to give her one of his penetrating looks. “You can be the sophisticated Lady Ellerslie for everyone else, but I flatter myself that I’m the only one who can make you giggle like a girl.”
It wasn’t flattery. Portia knew that she was different while with Marcus, and if what he’d been saying was true, then he was a new man when he was with her.
A fish splashed close by, startling her. “Where are we going?” she asked, looking about.
“Nowhere. That’s the joy of this place. You can row for miles and never actually get anywhere, just go around and around in the maze of waterways within the marsh.”
“You could lose your enemies.”