Free Nina Coombs Pykare by The Dazzled Heart Page B

if they should happen into the Viscount this afternoon. It was very good for Mortimer to observe a gentleman in action. Actions always spoke louder than words. And no better model of good could be offered to Mortimer than the big blond man.
    “Can we go to the sea today?” asked Cassie as the pony trotted smoothly along.
    Jennifer considered. Several hours yet remained till the dressing-bell would summon her for a dinner she much dreaded. Why not take a quick drive to the shore? The children would benefit and so would she. The fresh air and sunshine felt so good after the musty chill of the house. Gothic ruins might be very picturesque, but they were not particularly healthy to live in.
    “Yes,” she said. “I believe we have time to visit the sea.” A chorus of childish exclamations of joy could be heard. “But we must return in good time,” she warned. “And you must be careful not to get wet.”
      “Oh, we will. We’ll be very careful,” chorused the girls. Jennifer smiled briefly, remembering how as a barefoot child she had played tag with the waves. Later perhaps, when she had made provision for dry clothes, she would encourage the children in such things, but for today they would behave demurely.
    “We shall pick up some shells for further study,” she added in her most governess-like tone. “And tomorrow during lessons we shall learn about the tide.”
    By this time they had reached the crossroad and taken the left-turning path. The path - for it could no longer qualify as a road - grew narrower and rockier and finally they reached the edge of a cliff. Jennifer pulled the pony to a halt and fastened her reins securely to a tree some distance back. Then she marshalled her charges and approached the path.
    At first glance it appeared quite steep and Jennifer hesitated. But the children were not about to be done out of their fun. Mortimer instantly began the precarious descent and in moments he stood at the bottom grinning up at them. This was too much for the girls and with mingled squeals and groans they, too, made their way down. There was nothing for Jennifer to do but follow and she did so as quickly as possible.
      The narrow beach was strewn with drift-wood and shells and the children gazed around as though turned loose in a treasure palace. They darted this way and that, squealing at each new find. When finally they grew tired, they came to sit beside her in the sand and examine their trove.
    The sea was a deep deep green and extremely peaceful. Jennifer, looking out over it, wished that there were some way she could obtain such peace. For she realized that all the work of the past five years had been destroyed. All the serenity and acceptance of her reduced lot in life that she had striven so hard to acquire had quite vanished, driven out of her head by Haverford’s smiling face.
    Without realizing it, she turned to survey the beach. It was not until the pang of disappointment hit her that she realized what she had been looking for - a tall blond figure on a black horse.
    This was stupidity, Jennifer told herself, sheer stupidity. There was no sense in torturing herself over the Viscount, a man now far beyond her reach. And still she continued to gaze out at the sea.
    Finally she turned to the children. “We must gather up our things now. We still have to reclimb the path.”
    “How shall we carry our things?” asked Cassie in dismay. “I want to take these home.”
    “Me too,” cried Cammie.
      Jennifer removed her bonnet, which fortunately had a very deep crown. “We will put your treasures in here and I will carry them.”
    “But your nose...” cried Cassie in alarm, “it will freckle.”
    Jennifer smiled wryly. “There is no need, Cassie dear, to be concerned about my complexion. It is you girls that are to be the ladies, not I.”
    The treasures were soon deposited and the trek back up the path began. Mortimer achieved the top first and Jennifer, laden as she was with the