She already knew Lucerne’s absence from the party had been noted. No doubt before the day was out rumours would be spreading about a fall-out, along with plenty of speculation as to the cause. Troubled by the thought, she sank below the surface, and let the warm water soothe away the worries.
The bloods departed one after another. Darleston pinched her bottom but she let it go when she realised he’d pinched everybody else’s too. Then Connelly went and the colonel. Dovecote lingered until mid-afternoon talking to the Allenthorpes, who also said their goodbyes and headed off with de Maresi.
Finally, Bella found herself standing on the drawbridge with Raffe. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It would probably never have worked out.’
Raffe remained silent for far too long, just staring at her. ‘I think it would have been perfect, but I guess the better man won.’ He sucked his lip slowly, then leaned in and kissed her once upon the lips. ‘Goodbye, Bella, I hope we see each other again, and that when we do, you are happy.’
Bella threw her arms around his back and squeezed him tight. ‘You’re a good man. Someone out there deserves you. It’s just not me.’ She walked with him to the carriage steps and waved as his carriage trundled away down the drive.
The castle was almost oppressively quiet after they’d all gone. The four of them, she, Vaughan, Niamh and Henry, ate huddled at one end of the enormous dining table. Henry had announced his intention to stay a while longer and, while Vaughan had raised an eyebrow, he didn’t object. He also agreed that Niamh could go up to London when Henry returned, in the company of her maid. She was to stay with their mother’s sister, Mrs Lily Cadoux, an arrangement that pleased Niamh very well, although Vaughan held that the woman was a fury and a prude.
At twilight, they went up to the battlements, just the two of them. The waxwork head still lay against the base of the flagpole tower steps where it had rolled after hitting Henry the previous night. Vaughan picked it up and looked at it, then threw it over the wall to land in the garden among the roses.
Bella watched his hair billow in the breeze. Despite the wind he was wearing only a silk shirt left open at the neck and his thigh-hugging pantaloons. The locket lay clasped within his palm, a constant reminder of what separated them. Bella touched his shoulder and he gave her a wan smile.
‘You still love him, don’t you?’ she said.
Vaughan didn’t reply. The sheen in his dark eyes was answer enough as he worked his thumb back and forth over the polished surface. Making a wish, she thought.
‘What about you?’
Bella shook her head. ‘I’ll miss his company. There were good times. Lots of good times but I’m not sure it was ever really love.’ In contemplation she stared at her feet. She was too pleased to have come this far to dwell too deeply on her feelings for Lucerne. ‘It might have been at one point. I think that’s what I hoped for initially, but then you came along and changed everything.’
‘Don’t rewrite history, Bella. You hated me.’
‘Is that why I’ve never been able to keep my hands off you?’ She slid her hand across his back and pulled herself against his loins. Vaughan kissed the tip of her nose. They stood pressed together, breathing each other’s scent while several clouds scudded across darkening hilltop. Eventually, Vaughan turned away and leaned his chin against the top of one of the crenellations.
‘It’s cold, we should go inside,’ Bella said. She stroked a finger down the side of his cheek but Vaughan’s gaze remained fastened upon the horizon. ‘Please, Vaughan.’
For a moment he resisted. Then she saw it, a bright flash of gold against the darkness as the locket spun in the air and fell like a teardrop into the moat to lie, guarded by the pike, with what other treasures the centuries had seen fit to entrust.
Vaughan clasped her hand tight. ‘Come on. I’ve had enough of old ghosts.’
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