‘You are thinking,’ Theo said accusingly. ‘I was hoping to kiss you.’
‘And I was thinking that would be a very bad idea,’ Laura retorted. Anger helped. ‘Just because I kissed you when I was virtually asleep you should not presume –’
‘I am not presuming anything,’ he said indignantly. ‘Laura, I’ve been such a – ’
‘You presume all the time. You presume to know what is best for me, you pick me up bodily and now you presume to think I want to kiss you. Well, I do not, my lord. Most of female creation might suffer softening of the brain at the sight of a viscount, but I do not. And let me make o
ne thing very clear – I do not intend to allow you to seduce me or to make me your mistress.’
The kitchen door banged loudly, Theo let her go and stepped back so sharply that he collided with the opposite wall of the passageway as Terence came in again bringing another gust of cold night air with him.
‘Just a long leafy twig caught in the edge of the frame. Blown across from that fallen elm, I reckon,’ he said. ‘Nothing to keep you awake now, ma’am.’
No, not much. ‘Thank you, Terence,’ Laura said with as much dignity as bare feet and an unflattering flannel nightgown would allow. ‘Good night.’
She closed the door with a finality just short of a slam and hesitated, her hand on the key. No. The house was full of men on guard against intruders and she was in no danger from Theo, she knew with absolute certainty. He might expect her to fall into his arms but he would respect her wishes if she refused, and she just had.
As she stood there she heard the sound of his retreating footsteps. Thank heavens I didn’t turn the key, she thought. He would have been so insulted. Although why she was concerned about the feelings of a man who was clearly ready to take whatever was offered, she had no idea.
She lit a fresh candle It was an extravagance given that the old one was only three quarters used, but this would burn for some time and she did not feel quite brave enough to face a completely dark room. The bed was chilly and she curled up in the middle, pulled the blankets up to cover her nose and told herself firmly that she was very, very weary.
Laura woke on Sunday morning with no recollection of having lain awake for long, but with vivid and confused memories of her dreams. The dead Rector had been pursuing her through all the rooms of the house, bony arms outstretched as she fled before him, and then she had rounded a corner and run straight into Theo’s broad chest. He had carried her into the bedchamber and had begun to make love to her and it had been wonderful until she had opened her eyes and seen empty sockets staring down at her and felt the scrape of long nails on her skin.
She had woken to the light of dawn and a guttering stub of a candle. Why she had not been screaming the house down, she had no idea. Laura looked at Theo across the breakfast table and decided that the deeper recesses of her mind had conjured up that nightmare. Probably her conscience had decided to reinforce her determination not to allow her attraction to the man to overcome her common sense. Because I do want you, she thought. I really do. I want what you want, to make love. But I desire so much more than you can give, my lord and I will not give you what you want.
Chapter Thirteen
‘I have been thinking,’ Perry announced after his second cup of breakfast coffee.
‘Not you too,’ Theo muttered. Everyone was thinking, it seemed, and they all appeared to find it easier to come to definite conclusions than he did.
Laura must have heard him, or perhaps she could lip-read, because she shot him a repressive look from the other side of the table where she was buttering toast as though it was giving her an argument. When she seemed satisfied that it had surrendered she sliced it in half with one swift stroke.
Theo winced.
‘What have you been thinking, Perry?’ she asked.
‘That Gerard Redfern has set up his legal practice in Norwich. He wrote to me about it a couple of months ago and I’ve been meaning to ask him to come over for a couple of days. You remember him, Theo? Yes, of course you do. And I’m pretty certain he is specialising in inheritance law and trusts. He’d be just the man to advise Laura.’
‘If you know him, then it seems ideal,’ she agreed. ‘And saves us from having to go to London.’
‘He may know Swinburn,’ Theo cautioned.
‘I will write to him after breakfast, tell him I want to consult with him tomorrow about a trust and ask him, en passant, if he’s acquainted with my neighbour Sir Walter. No need to link the two things.’
‘It is Sunday today,’ Laura pointed out.
‘I’ll send Terence on one of the hacks. And don’t look disapproving at me! If you can succeed in getting him to attend services then I take my hat off to you. He’s a free thinker of some kind – that or an unrepentant heathen, I’ve never cared to probe too deeply.’
Terence brought back the reply from their old acquaintance in the late afternoon. Yes, Gerard Redfern would be available on Monday and would be delighted to advise Perry and no, he had not yet had the pleasure of meeting his neighbour, Sir Walter.
Both Perry and Theo were shifty when Laura asked about their shared past with Mr Redfern so she assumed they had sowed their wild oats together at university or when they first were out on the Town. Teasing Perry about it was the one entertainment of the day, the rest of the time Laura read or embroidered, Perry went off grumbling to catch up with neglected estate business and Theo wrote letters, went for a long walk and avoided her.
She could not attend church without being recognised, so had to have the morning service described by Perry. He had supported Will, swathed in rugs, who had no need to pretend to seem pale and shaky after his experiences the day before and was helped into a pew and tottered out again with the aid of a cane.
‘That cane was probably a trifle superfluous,’ Perry said over luncheon. ‘But it seemed to convince the Rector that he was unfit to carry out his duties. Mrs Finch was all for having him stay at the Rectory, but I argued against agitating him with a move. The last thing we want is having to provide bodyguards while Will preaches sermons and baptises infants.’
By Monday morning, when Theo climbed into the somewhat crowded carriage, all any of them wanted was to get to Norwich. Laura wanted to talk to the lawyer and to look at anything other than the view from the Grange’s windows, Will wanted to stop worrying about what the Bishop was going to say to him, Perry seemed filled with boundless, undirected energy to be doing something and he wanted…