Free Rapturous Rakes Bundle by Georgina Devon Nicola Cornick Diane Gaston Page B

her
    wrist with her other hand. The pain was receding a
    little now, a whisper of agony along her nerves. Even-
    tually the faintness caused by the pain receded suffi-
    ciently for her to stumble across to the sofa and sit
    down.
    She sat there for a very long time.
    It had happened before, and she had dismissed it as
    an unlucky vibration from the hammer. Now, how-
    ever, she knew she could not deceive herself any
    longer. She had seen it happen to other engravers, seen
    them work until the pain shadowed their every move-
    ment and they were obliged to give up their livelihood.
    The doctors shook their heads and said that nothing
    could be done and charged a guinea for the privilege
    of breaking the bad news.
    Rebecca had worked at her craft since she was four-
    teen years old, and now, a decade on, the pain had
    come to take her too.
    She looked around the dim workshop, at the light
    glancing off the crystal on the shelves and the tools
    of her trade lying discarded on the bench. She loved
    her work so much that she could never bear to let it
    go. The loneliness welled up more powerfully than
    before. She went across to the shelf and lightly
    touched the glass with the engraved anchor, as though
    it was a talisman. Beneath the elegant chase work was
    a motto. Celer et Audax —Swift and bold.
    Rebecca wrapped both arms about her, as though to
    keep out the cold. If only Daniel was here. But Daniel
    had his own way to make. They had a made a pact
    when they were children and found they were to be
    Nicola Cornick
    77
    apart. If ever the one needed the other, they had only
    to send a token...
    For a moment, Rebecca was tempted. Then she
    sighed and moved back to the workbench. She would
    need to be in a great deal worse situation than this
    before she contacted her brother and drew him into
    danger.
    She blew out the candles and made her way up to
    bed.
    Early the next morning, on the basis that the longer
    she put it off the worse it would be, Rebecca picked

up her engraving scribe and set to work. She was ten-
    tative at first, but when no pain troubled her, she soon
    fell into a rhythm again as she chipped delicately at
    the fragile glass. The work was absorbing and when a
    shadow fell across her workbench she realised that she
    had not even heard the knock at the workshop door.
    She looked up to see Lucas Kestrel there and her heart
    skipped a tiny beat. The strong morning sunlight from
    the window made his hair gleam conker brown rather
    than auburn.
    ‘Miss Raleigh. How are you?’ He smiled at her and
    Rebecca’s heart did another quick flip.
    ‘I am very well, thank you, my lord. How are you?’
    ‘I am tired, I thank you,’ Lucas said. He looked
    straight at her. ‘I do not appreciate sleepless nights.’
    Rebecca blushed. ‘I suppose that you have some-
    thing preying on your mind?’
    ‘You suppose correctly, Miss Raleigh.’
    Rebecca bent her head over the glass and polished
    78
    The Rake’s Mistress
    the surface with unnecessary vigour. Her hand was not
    quite steady. She tried to calm her singing nerves.
    ‘I did not expect you to call again so soon, my lord,’
    she said. ‘I fear that your commission is barely begun.
    We did agree a week and it is only five days.’
    ‘I know it.’ Lucas drove his hands into the pockets
    of his great coat. ‘I did not wish to wait that long to
    see you again, Miss Raleigh, and as I may not meet
    you socially, this seemed the only way.’
    Rebecca picked up the scribe and the hammer again.
    ‘You are, of course, quite welcome to look around my
    studio, my lord. If you choose to spend more money
    here, then I shall not attempt to stop you, but not all
    the items are for sale.’
    Lucas laughed. ‘My dear Miss Raleigh, I believe
    we have established that already.’
    Rebecca relaxed slightly. ‘Very well, then...’
    Lucas glanced towards the fireplace. ‘You do not
    have a fire today?’
    ‘I had not got around to building one,’ Rebecca said
    evasively. She