by Rebecca King
‘Well, he has challenged the Star Elite now. We have been given orders from the Lord Chief Justice, via Sir Hugo, to get this bastard investigated and find out what involvement he has had in the financial irregularities of the factory, the workhouse, and the murder of Reynold Muldoon,’ Roger said.
‘Where do we start?’ Luke asked.
‘With Tabitha,’ Daniel said firmly. ‘While I am shocked that she left her father’s house and has never returned, I am pleased she did. She didn’t like her father even before he put a stop to our friendship. I don’t doubt she left because of what he did that day.’
‘That makes sense,’ Ronan agreed.
‘It was more than friendship, though, wasn’t it? While you were both still essentially children you had deeper feelings for her than you probably understood at the time,’ Roger corrected.
‘She was someone who could never be a part of my life,’ Daniel murmured sadly. ‘I knew that. At the time, I convinced myself that what we shared was nothing more than friendship even though I knew that the feelings we shared went deeper than friendship.’
That was the first time that Daniel had openly acknowledged that to another living person. It was the first time he had ever told his colleagues about his past, or the incident that changed his life completely.
‘Are you happy to go and see her or do you want me to send someone else?’ Roger asked several thoughtful moments later.
‘I will go and see her,’ Daniel offered with a rather vague smile. ‘I think it is time that I started to put a few ghosts to rest.’
The following day, Daniel studied the house Tabitha called home and had second thoughts. He still couldn’t decide if seeing Tabitha again was a very good idea after all. Even standing outside, he was assaulted by so many memories he was immediately plunged back to a time when he was nothing: had nothing. He hadn’t had a single penny to his name, any family to speak of, or even a home to call his own. He had only the clothing he had been standing up in, and even that had been given to him by the people who had run the workhouse. It had been a uniform everyone had been made to wear the day they admitted themselves to the establishment. It set them aside from normal society and made it clear to everyone who saw them that they were about as low in life as it was possible to get.
‘While I have changed clothes, I am still there,’ Daniel whispered, cursing bitterly at just how bloody helpless he was to vanquish his inner demons. If he could have wiped his entire past from his memory right there and then he would have done so in an instant, but he couldn’t. It was an intrinsic part of why he was an investigator for the Star Elite. He wanted to help people who were unable to help themselves. Further, he wanted – needed – to stop people like Lynchgate exploiting the poor and needy in, well, their times of need.
‘Shit,’ he growled in disgust, unsure now if he could even go and knock on the door.
Eventually, when another carriage rumbled past, Daniel looked over his shoulder at it and caught the driver staring avidly at him, clearly curious to know what he was doing at the side of the road.
‘Are you all right?’ Hamish asked quietly.
Daniel was glad that he had his friend’s stoic presence beside him. ‘Yes, I am fine.’
Squaring his shoulders, he sucked in a deep breath, and forced himself to knock on the front door. As he waited for someone to answer it, he turned to study the area, purely to give himself something more than his nerves to focus on.
The village was a rather quaint, sleepy place mostly built out of distinctive yellow sandstone. It gave the street a somewhat yellowish haze which, on this quiet summer day, seemed to sit quite naturally amongst the wildflowers and woodland surrounding it. The rolling hills he had just travelled through blocked the village from the major town five miles away and turned it into a secluded haven. The village itself sat nestled alongside a huge lake. Romlan Water lapped gently against the fringe of the house’s large rolling lawn before it was nudged away from the village by the dense woodland.
The house, also built of yellow sandstone, sat in regal elegance on the edge of the uppermost tip of the lake. Two huge windows bracketed a rather grand front door on either side of which were rectangular stained-glass windows depicting flowers of the kind that lined the stone path leading to the front door. It was so serene, Daniel knew he would have felt some of his tension wane had it not been for the purpose of his visit.
‘It’s a wonderful place to be,’ Hamish murmured as he too took a good look around. ‘This place is in a fantastic position, isn’t it? I wonder if the lake has fish?’
‘Rutland is renowned for its hunting grounds. While King Henry isn’t around anymore the county is still littered with hunting lodges and manor houses. I don’t doubt there will be all sorts of fish in those waters. Let’s get what we are here to do out of the way and then we can maybe indulge in a spot of fishing before we leave, eh?’
‘Do you want to stay for a day or two?’
Daniel was already shaking his head before Hamish had finished his question. ‘We have far too much to do with this investigation.’
They heard movement inside the house.
‘You do the talking,’ Daniel whispered.
Hamish rolled his eyes but was prevented from replying by the door being swung open.
‘Hello? May we help you?’ A middle-aged woman asked when she answered the door.
Daniel knew instantly that she was a housekeeper from the white apron she wore and the callouses on her gnarled hands. He immediately felt a connection with her and smiled in a way that made the elderly woman blink, and swoon slightly as she smiled back.
‘Good morning. Might I enquire if a woman by the name of Miss Tabitha Lynchgate lives here?’
The woman blinked and eyed him warily. ‘Why, yes. Who might I ask is calling?’
She raked him with a look, but Daniel knew she wouldn’t find anything odd about his appearance. He was wearing his best clothing, cut from the finest cloth, and made by the most skilled craftsmen London had to offer. ‘Mr Daniel Berkley.’
The woman blinked and went still. Daniel, watching her carefully, saw her faint hesitation, the startled look she wasn’t quick enough to hide. He wondered if she was going to tell him to get off her doorstep but, after that first measured look, she stepped back to allow him inside.
‘I shall go and tell her you are here.’ She waved toward a highly polished oak door. ‘Take a seat. She won’t be a moment.’
Daniel eyed the room he entered curiously. It was neat and tidy, with large French doors overlooking the manicured lawn and lake beyond. Large comfortable seats were positioned before each door so that the best views could be enjoyed from within the quite luxurious room. A large mirror hung above the stone mantle which was elaborately carved with yet more flowers and stags heads. At the far end of the room was a large window seat overlooking the road at the front of the house. Upon it lay a variety of cushions. So many, in fact, that Daniel knew it would be impossible to sit there without having to remove some. Overall, the room had a wholesome appeal to it. It wasn’t pretentious or overbearing or said much about the affluence of the house’s occupants. It was designed for comfort and that was it. Daniel rather liked it and eyed the chair that gave him the best view of the lake. With a nervous sigh, he settled down with Hamish to wait.
Tabitha was in the process of shoving another piece of cake into her mouth when Mildred raced into the room flapping her hands as if panicked about something.
‘What on earth is wrong? Is Mr Kendrick coming up the pathway again?’ Tabitha teased, knowing that it was usually Mr Kendrick’s frequent and quite unwelcome visits that put Mildred in such a flap.
‘You have a guest,’ Mildred hissed. ‘You aren’t going to like it.’
Tabitha lost all pretence of teasing and stared at her aunt. Her stomach dipped to her toes. She had heard a man’s voice, but it had been too muffled to identify.
‘Lynchgate?’ Her gaze fell to the last letter she ha
d received from him. They had started to arrive a month ago, and all contained the same demand to return to Marlton House immediately or risk being cut off from the family fortune.
‘No. He wouldn’t even come through my front door,’ Mildred spat, her thin lip curling in contempt. ‘It’s him.’ She hissed meaningfully, flapping her hands again as if trying to fly.
‘Him who?’ Tabitha cried. Her mind raced over all the men she knew in the village who might have cause to call upon them, but she couldn’t think of anyone beyond Mr Kendrick.
‘Daniel. Daniel Berkley. He is here.’
Tabitha’s bottom slammed into the chair behind her. She gulped but couldn’t take her eyes off her aunt. She wasn’t sure if she was pleading with her to tell her it was all a ruse, or rejecting her claims that Daniel Berkley, the Daniel Berkley was in her sitting room. In her house. Her home.
‘Daniel?’ Tabitha whispered, fighting the need to rush into the sitting room and run out of the house at the same time.
‘He asked to speak to you directly.’
Tabitha physically shook as she eyed the door, but she made no attempt to get out of her chair and leave the room. She looked hopelessly at Mildred; the one woman who knew how badly she had been affected by what had happened with Daniel all those years ago.
Mostly because I cried on Mildred’s shoulder about what happened for weeks afterward.
‘He is here? Are you sure it is him?’ Tabitha whispered.
Mildred sighed. ‘He is tall. Very tall. With luscious dark hair and wonderful blue eyes. My, he is handsome.’
Tabitha’s eyes widened when Mildred adopted a somewhat dreamy expression that left Tabitha in no doubt that it was Daniel.
‘Those eyes of his can see right into your soul, can’t they?’ Mildred mused.
Tabitha nodded. Even in his youth, Daniel had been an incredibly handsome young man. She didn’t doubt that maturity had only embellished his good looks. While curious to see for herself if she was right, Tabitha knew it was foolish to see him again.
It had been hard enough to put him out of my life the last time I tried to forget him.
‘You have to find out what he wants,’ Mildred whispered. ‘Go on. He is waiting.’
Tabitha reluctantly heaved herself out of the chair but eyed the door leading to the sitting room with trepidation. Her stomach fluttered nervously. So much so she felt quite sick.
‘Go on,’ Mildred urged, this time physically shoving her toward the door.
Tabitha tutted and glared at her over her shoulder.
‘Go,’ Mildred commanded.
Straightening her skirts, Tabitha shoved a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes, squared her shoulders, and marched toward the door. Shoving it open, she entered the sitting room and promptly slammed to a stop.
There, sitting beside the French doors, looking more handsome than any man she had ever met, was Daniel Berkley, the man she had never been able to forget.
Or stop loving.
CHAPTER THREE
Tabitha physically shook but couldn’t identify the emotions that made her tremble. She was almost frightened even though she knew it was foolish to be afraid of him. This was Daniel. While she tried to assure herself that she knew him, it had been over a decade since she had last seen him. She knew nothing about the man he was now. Until today, she hadn’t even known if he was still alive. Now that she knew he was, Tabitha was wary of seeing him again not least because his presence in her house was going to change her memories of the young boy she had known and loved.
And never forgotten.
Daniel was staring out of the window at the landscape when he heard the quiet click of the door behind him. Whirling around, he blinked when he saw Tabitha standing nervously in the doorway. Their eyes met. In that moment, the time they had been apart melted away. They were both sixteen again, huddled together in her father’s attic sharing secrets and dreams and hopes for the future.
‘Tabitha.’ Daniel crossed the room to join her only for manners to make him stop and bow. His gaze remained locked on hers. He couldn’t decipher her expression. There was a wariness in her eyes, yes, but was that because of his presence in her house? Or her worry about the reason why?
‘How are you, Daniel?’ Tabitha asked quietly. She stepped toward him and immediately felt her heart leap into her throat. Her stomach fluttered with nerves, but it had nothing to do with their past, or anything more than the infinitely feminine attraction which began to blossom to life.
God, Mildred is right. He is handsome.
There were still hints of the handsome young boy he had been still evident in his wonderfully slumberous blue eyes, heavily lashed and sitting above high cheekbones and a sharply bladed jawline. His chiselled lips were curved upright but despite this there were shadows in his gaze that put her on edge.
He is harder than he was back then.
Tabitha couldn’t be sure if she liked it or not.
‘I am very well, thank you,’ Daniel replied gently. ‘How have you been?’
Tabitha shivered at the deep rumble of his voice. Rather than answer, she waved toward a chair. ‘Please, take a seat.’
Daniel turned to Hamish, who had moved across the room to join them. ‘This is my colleague, Mr Hamish MacFarlane.’
Tabitha greeted him and lifted a brow at Daniel. ‘Colleague?’
‘And good friend,’ Hamish amended with a ready smile.
He looked from Daniel to Tabitha and back again, very aware of the undercurrent of tension that hovered between them. It wasn’t animosity. Hamish knew what it was. It was there in the curious looks they kept giving each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. The small smiles, the soft somewhat longing sighs. Whenever their gazes clashed, they gasped or awkwardly looked away as if trying to find a way past the time that had elapsed since they had parted.
‘We are here on official business, Miss Lynchgate. I hope I am not being presumptuous in assuming you are still Miss Lynchgate?’ Hamish asked.
‘You are not presumptuous. I am Miss Lynchgate,’ she assured him although with a gaze that lingered on Daniel longer than it ought to.
Daniel suddenly felt it incredibly sad. He knew that she had wanted to marry and have a family of her own. He supposed that at sixteen years of age it was what most young women of her age dreamt of for their future.
Tabitha turned to look at Mildred who had sidled into the room and now stood patiently beside her. ‘This is my aunt, Mrs Mildred Quigley.’
‘Your aunt?’ Daniel’s brows shot up.
‘I own this house, yes,’ Mildred confirmed with a solemn nod.
Daniel smiled at her and watched her blink once again before her cheeks turned rosy. He knew he had an ally there and began to relax a little.
‘I-we-have come for some information,’ Daniel began.
‘Oh?’ Tabitha knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. She was disappointed that he hadn’t come to find her but quickly shoved that aside to focus on what he had to say.
‘How is your father?’ Daniel asked quietly.
Tabitha blinked at him. ‘How should I know?’
Daniel lifted his brows at her. ‘Do you not keep in contact with him?’
‘No, I do not.’ Tabitha made herself relax. As usually happened whenever her father’s name was mentioned she became tense and annoyed.
Mildred, sensing Tabitha’s unease, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Daniel watched that motherly touch and saw Tabitha take in a deep, fortifying breath. The sharpness of her response was enough to make him slide a look at Hamish.
‘I take it you are not on good terms with your father than,’ Daniel murmured thoughtfully. He wasn’t surprised. He was relieved. He suspected the only people who were on good terms with David Lynchgate were just as selfish and greedy as he was.
Mildred eyed each man in turn. She had no idea what to make of their presence but, if it had something to do with David Lynch
gate, they weren’t welcome.
‘To be frank with you, Mr Berkley, I think you should know that the rather vile incident you endured at David Lynchgate’s hands changed Tabitha’s life as well. She left that house the day after you as a matter of fact and hasn’t been back since either.’ It was presumptuous to assume that Daniel hadn’t been back, but Mildred didn’t think she was wrong.
Tabitha tried to close the memories of that horrible period in her life out completely but was pummelled by the events which had changed her life and her opinion of her father forever. ‘Mildred isn’t lying. I left the day after because I couldn’t stand the way he behaved. Like Aunt Mildred said, he was vile. I refused to live with that monster anymore.’
‘Tabitha,’ Daniel whispered.
‘We weren’t doing anything wrong,’ Tabitha interrupted. ‘There was no excuse for what they did to you.’
‘But I survived,’ Daniel assured her with a gentle smile. He was shocked yet deeply touched that there were tears hovering on her lashes.
‘You shouldn’t have been kicked out of the workhouse for it,’ Mildred growled. ‘It wasn’t enough for Lynchgate that he beat you to within an inch of your life. Oh no, he had to try to destroy you completely, a young boy. As if you were any threat.’
Tabitha offered Daniel a faint smile. ‘I am afraid you are not going to find us willing to talk about David Lynchgate in any favourable terms.’
‘I didn’t get kicked out of the workhouse,’ Daniel corrected.
‘Father said he would.’
‘Master Carpenter got met out of there because he knew that Lynchgate would make my life a living hell. When I eventually returned to the workhouse, Master Carpenter took one look at me and knew that Lynchgate was responsible. He told me that I couldn’t stay. I think he might have had my escape planned for a while because he handed me a bundle of clothing in my size he had already stashed in his cupboard and ordered me to change out of the workhouse uniform right there and then. He gave me money and kept me in his office overnight. By dawn the next morning, he walked me across the village all the way to town and bought me a ticket on the next carriage out of the county. He sent me to his sister’s boarding house in Burnham-on-Sea. She kindly took me in. I stayed there until I was old enough to join the army.’
