Free The Ruby Pendant by Mary Nichols Page A

have not
been far,' she said, endeavouring to control the tremor in her voice. 'I wanted
to walk and everyone else was otherwise disposed.'
    `I would have
accompanied you, had you asked.'
    She gave a
cracked laugh. 'You were busy hitting a cricket ball all over the place and if
I had mentioned a walk everyone would have decided to come.'
    `You did not
wish for company?'
    `No. I wanted
to think.' .
    `Oh. A knotty
problem to solve?'
    `Yes.'
    `And have you the
answer?'
    `The answer
seems to be to go back to Hartlea and pretend we never came to London.'
    `Have you not
enjoyed your stay in town?'
    `I might have
done if...' She stopped. If he had obeyed his instinct and kissed her, instead
of drawing back? If James was not so obviously after her dowry?
    `Oh, I do not
like the marriage mart. Marriage should come as a result of two people finding
they have everything in common, a meeting of souls, a feeling in each that to
live without the other would be unbearable.' She stopped and laughed in an
embarrassed way. 'Now tell me again I have been reading too much fiction.'
    `No, I would
not do that,' he said softly. 'I find myself in agreement.'
    She turned
startled eyes on him. 'You are?'
    `Oh, yes.'
    `Mr Devonshire,
you surprise me. I had thought you might be a man of the world.'
    'And may a man
of the world not fall in love?'
    `Are you in
love?'
    `I think,
perhaps, I might be.'
    `Does the lady
know of it?'
    `There are
reasons why I cannot offer for her. One day perhaps...' He stopped speaking
suddenly.
    She held her
breath waiting for him to go on, wanting him to explain himself, to tell her
why he escorted her so frequently when he could not make an offer. Could he
possibly be acting under instructions? Was he part of what she saw as a
conspiracy to keep her away from the French lieutenant? She could not imagine
him agreeing to that; he was too independent to be coerced, too honourable to
deceive a lady in that fashion. She smiled inwardly, wondering what had given
her that impression. Could it be that he had refrained from kissing her when he
might have done? She had behaved badly herself and he could have been forgiven
for thinking she had wanted to be kissed. Was she falling in love with this
enigmatic man? It was too soon, too soon after the incident over the portrait
to unscramble her feelings, but of all the men she had met, he was the one she
felt she could lean on, knowing he would not let her down. Was that the
beginning of falling in love? She wanted desperately to find something light to
say, to diminish the huge knot of confused thoughts and emotions which
constricted her chest, so that she could breathe easily again, but nothing came
out of a mouth which had suddenly gone dry.
    Neither spoke
and the silence stretched between them like a tangible thing, a taut wire that,
if it were stretched too far, would break and whirl about their heads, cutting
them to pieces. She dare not speak and he would not. The moment had gone.
Suddenly a cloud obscured the sun and made her shiver.
    `You are cold,
Miss Martindale?'
    She pulled
herself together. She was reading too much into what was, after all, a
perfectly ordinary conversation. Only a little.'
    He took off his
jacket and put it across her shoulders, leaving him in his white linen shirt
and kerseymere waistcoat. His touch was like fire, even through the cloth of
the coat. How could she admit even to herself that the sign she had been
waiting for, the knowledge that here was a man she could fall in love with, had
come and passed like a flash of lightning and now nothing would ever be the
same again. He had found the woman he wished to marry and it was not her or he
would have declared himself. She did not have two handsome men vying for her
hand, only one. And it was the wrong one! She did not love James Martindale,
could not even begin to think of him as a husband while this disturbing man was
anywhere near her. All at once she felt tears prick her eyes and she had to
turn away