She had got them here safely! They were warm and well fed, tucked up in bed. Now that she relaxed she realised how nervous she had been. It had been quite a night.
She went down to the kitchen and began to do the washing up. When the kitchen was once more restored to its original pristine order she made herself a cup of cocoa and sat down with it, yawning. Then she washed up her cup and saucer, looked round the room once more, and turned to go up to bed. She switched out the light at the door and made her way to the stairs, then realised she had left her handbag in her car.
She went out of the kitchen door and walked through the dark garden. The wind stirred the trees behind the house. The night breathed softly, almost menacingly. She shivered. It was a very remote and lonely place.
She began to walk faster, her heart beating hard. A dark shape loomed up in front of her. She swerved aside, giving a stifled cry, but hard hands caught and held her in a steely grip.
'Let me go!'
'Oh, no, you don't…' grunted the man.
She kicked at him fiercely, struggling.
'Keep still, damn you, and let me take a look at you,' he commanded.
She felt him shift his grip a little, then a torch shone straight into her face. She blinked, turning aside.
'Who the devil are you?' her captor demanded.
She had already realised who he must be. Once her first panic fear had subsided, her mind worked a little better. This was the male chauvinist brother himself! She gave a little groan. 'I'm in charge of your sister's children,' she said, on a stifled laugh.
'You aren't their French nanny,' he said disbelievingly.
'There's been an accident,' she explained. 'Oh, your sister isn't badly hurt, but the nanny was, and I offered to bring the children here to you.'
'Then you can just take them back again,' he said forcefully. 'My housekeeper has given in her notice and left. I can't possibly have them here now. You'll have to take them back to their mother.'
CHAPTER TWO
'That's out of the question,' she said in dismay, and he shone the torch on her face once more.
'Why is it?' he demanded. She flinched away from the light, feeling her own anger rising inside her. He was all that his sister had warned, and more!
'Please, stop blinding me with your torch! Are we to stand here all night in this cold wind? Can't we go back inside the cottage?'
'Why were you wandering around in the dark, anyway?'
She explained, and he escorted her to her car and waited with barely concealed impatience while she found her handbag in the glove compartment. An owl hooted derisively as they walked back, and Emma jumped, startled.
He gave a brusque bark of laughter. 'Town-bred, aren't you?'
She disdained a reply.
At the back door he carefully removed his muddy Wellingtons and placed them on a rubber mat behind the door, ready to be cleaned later. She followed him into the kitchen. He walked quietly in his thick woollen socks. She studied him curiously.
Although he had his back to her she got a clear idea of him from the aggressive width of the shoulders beneath his old tweed jacket, the arrogant tilt of his dark brown head, the thick healthy hair wind-tossed but glossy. He was just over six foot tall, slim and spare of build, but muscled; a man who spent his life in physical activity, not a man who liked a sedentary life.
He turned suddenly, the teapot in his hand, and gave her a quick, all-seeing stare which swept from her glossy brown head to her feet. 'Tell me about my sister,' he commanded.
She drew a breath made harsh by mounting anger. Who did he think he was, giving orders left, right and centre? Her voice was clear and undisguisedly scornful. 'Sure you want to hear? I wouldn't want to bore you.'
His grey eyes narrowed menacingly. 'You won't bore me, Miss…?'
'Leigh,' she said, nervous under that icy gaze. 'Emma Leigh.'
'Well, Miss Emma Leigh, you jump to unwarranted conclusions, let me tell you. From what you said originally I gathered that my sister was not hurt in this crash…'
'I said she was not badly hurt,' Emma emphasised. 'She has two broken ribs and slight concussion. They're keeping her in hospital for the time being. The nanny is there, too, with worse injuries. There's nobody to look after the children, which is why I offered…'