Free Lord Cavendish Returns by Rebecca King Page A

and see my brother, Joseph, this afternoon
anyway,” Harper replied. “It has been some time since I have been
back in the village you see and I have kind of lost touch with
everyone.”
    “ Have you already met with Robert and Doctor
Lawton?”
    “ Angus,” he replied gently. “Yes, I met with them earlier. I
own the house that Angus uses – used - for his surgery in the
village, and I am staying there for as long as I am in the
village.”
    The
words popped out before she could stop them. “How long will that
be?”
    “ I am not sure yet,” Harper replied huskily. “I only recently
found out that I own the house and am not quite sure what my plans
are. I need to get my work concluded first, before I decide what to
do about anything.”
    “ Your work finding the parish records?” It wasn’t really a
question and Harper didn’t bother to answer. His work encompassed
the parish records, the Star Elite, the War Office, and now his
house. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all.
    He
followed her out into the afternoon sunshine and waited patiently
while she closed the church door. As they walked toward the
vicarage, the sunlight captured the copper strands in her hair. It
gave her a rather angelic glow that caught his imagination and
refused to let go.
    “ Thank you for your help in all of this,” he murmured quietly
and waved a casual hand toward the church behind them.
    “ You are welcome. I shall have a look for the records later,
once I have seen to my other chores, and will let you know in the
morning if I have found them.”
    “ I should like to come with you to Moldton to look for them if
it turns out that they are still there.”
    It was
on the tip of Arrabella’s tongue to refuse his help but the thought
of the dark and gloomy walls within the old stone crypt gave her
the jitters, so she nodded instead.
    “ I will call by after breakfast in the morning,” he promised.
Although Arrabella nodded her agreement, he made no attempt to turn
around and walk away. His feet seemed reluctant to take him away
from her. It was rather ridiculous, really, to think that anyone
could have the power to draw him in such a way. “I will bid you
farewell,” he declared gently and sketched a bow. His eyes searched
hers for several moments longer than was necessary. The urge to
kiss the back of her hand, her cheek, her, was so strong that he
hesitated for one brief moment before he gave himself a mental
shake and smiled at her instead.
    Arrabella blinked owlishly at him and remained perfectly
still while she watched him walk back toward the village and Doctor
Lawton’s house.
    “ Good Lord,” she whispered, and rubbed a trembling hand down
the apron on her dress. She glanced down at herself and cried aloud
in dismay at the smudged and soiled state of her. He had been far
too polite to mention it, but he must have been aware that she
looked as though she had been dragged through a hedge backward. A
groan did escape her when she lifted a hand to the coiled knots
that had been her hair and she closed her eyes as a wave of
humiliation swept over her.
    “ What is it girl? Whatever is the matter?” It was highly
unlike Arrabella to have such a pained expression on her face and
it caused Mavis Able, the vicarage housekeeper, considerable alarm
to see her thus. Mrs Able frowned at the retreating back of the
handsome man who was just turning out of the driveway, and studied
the soiled dress Arrabella wore, and immediately understood the
source of the young lady’s consternation. With a soft smile, she
steered Arrabella toward the kitchen doorway.
    “ Is your young man coming back, dear?”
    Arrabella jerked and stared at Mrs Able. “He is not my young
man,” she declared firmly. “Yes, he will be back tomorrow,” she
added with a sigh.
     

CHAPTER
FOUR
    The
following morning Harper rode alongside Arrabella on the curricle
he had borrowed from Robert. His brother’s amusement at Harper’s
request to borrow a