Free Copper Kingdom by Iris Gower

marriage but treacherous thoughts such as these could not be spoken.
    He rose to his feet, thrusting his hands into his pockets, staring down at her, seeing not Bea’s questioning eyes but some far-distant notions of his own.
    â€˜The time has come for me to settle down,’ he said at last. ‘I need a place of my own for Plas Rhianfa will be my mother’s home while she is alive.’ He smiled, ‘And I do believe I’ve found just the house for me.’
    Bea felt her heart begin to thump, she scarcely dared hope that Sterling was hinting at marriage and, even as her hands trembled, she tried desperately to appear composed.
    Sterling stared down at her for a long moment in silence, as though lost in his own thoughts. Was he, she wondered, as nervous as she?
    â€˜Sterling, it’s all right,’ she said. ‘I think I know what you’re trying to say.’ Her voice was light and triumph bubbled inside her so that she thought she would explode into a hundred sparkling fragments, but her eyes were demurely downcast.
    He sighed in relief. ‘I knew I could count on you to help in any way you could,’ he said. ‘Mother is determined to put up fussy drapes and decorate the place like a woman’s bedroom and that’s something I don’t intend to put up with.’ He smiled and Bea blinked rapidly, trying to assimilate the meaning of his words.
    â€˜You have such flair,’ he continued. ‘I’ve always admired the way you’ve kept this house so light and airy.’ He came towards her and took her hand.
    â€˜You know something, Bea? You’re like the sister I’ve never had.’
    The pain was almost a physical one. She sank back against the hard sofa, trying to fight the waves of hysterical laughter that washed over her. Sterling thought of her as a sister, he wanted her help in furnishing his house but he most certainly did not consider her for one moment as being mistress of it.
    The door opened and James Cardigan entered the room. He came forward, hand outstretched, a hearty note in his voice that struck Bea as being false.
    â€˜Sterling my boy, happy to see you, got a great deal to talk over haven’t we?’
    Sterling’s smile was nothing more than polite. ‘Yes, indeed.’ Briefly, he shook hands.
    â€˜Well, shall we leave it until we’ve had tea?’ James’s smile included Bea. ‘What are we having dear, some of those delicious scones you have made your speciality?’ His pride in his daughter was evident but Bea felt herself flush with embarrassment; trust father to extoll her virtues at exactly the wrong moment.
    â€˜I haven’t done any cooking today,’ she replied a little impatiently. ‘You’ll just have to manage with whatever Mrs Bevan has prepared.’
    James seated himself in the chair nearest the fire and though he leaned back against the cushions he gave the impression of being anything but comfortable.
    Bea did not listen to the conversation between the two men for they spoke of nothing of importance. The words seemed forced and stilted and Bea retired into herself, sinking back against the hardness of the corded velvet sofa, the hurt within her almost too much to bear. At her side Sterling sat stiffly upright, his back and shoulders revealing his tension. Looking at the hair so crisp and bright resting against the darkness of his jacket collar, she longed to reach out and touch it.
    She bit her lips, trying to comfort herself with rational excuses about his behaviour. He did not mean to offend her by telling her his interest was purely sisterly. If that was how he did truly see her then it was about time she changed his mind for him.
    Hope began to grow within her, after all he had invited her into his home and there, she would have ample opportunity to try to impress him. There was no other woman in his life, of that she was sure, for Sweyn’s Eye would have been