"You mean he sprang up out of nowhere?" John asked, his eyes twinkling.
"No, he must have walked across the grass, but I didn't see him."
"He was invisible?"
Her lips twitched. "No, I was looking down into the water."
"How long?"
"I don't know. I was thinking."
"So he had time to walk across the grass?"
She sighed. "Yes, he must have."
"But where did he come from? I thought they went back to London."
"No, they put up at a hotel nearby. He hasn't given up. And this means, of course, that I did see him in the wood last night. He must have come back to spy, and seen the lamp."
"Why didn't you bring him into the house?"
"It wasn't you he wanted to see. He had something to say to me."
"What?"
"He offered me a bribe. He's convinced that if I shut up and got out he could get you into his trap. So he tried to buy me for five thousand pounds."
"The devil he did!" He was eyeing her, fascinated.
"What did you say to him?"
"I pushed him up to ten thousand."
"You what? Rena, you don't mean you - ?"
"Of course not. Don't be absurd. I'd hardly be sitting here telling you about it if I was going to take his money. No, I just wanted to see how high I could push him - just for curiosity."
"And how much is your compliance worth to him?"
"Ten thousand. I can't tell you how delightful it felt to turn him down. I don't think anyone's done that for years. Oh, my goodness!"
She straightened up suddenly, her hands over her mouth as a shattering thought occurred to her.
"Rena, what is it?"
"I shouldn't have turned him down. I should have taken the ten thousand and given it to you. Oh, how could I be so stupid?"
"Cheat him, you mean?" John asked, grinning.
"After all the people he must have cheated by now, it's about time somebody did it to him."
Sweet heaven! Papa would have a fit.
With his uncanny ability to read her mind, John asked, "Is this the kind of thinking you learned at the parsonage?"
"No, I invented it myself," she said defiantly. "Papa would be shocked."
"And very surprised I should think."
"No, not surprised. He always said the tone of my mind left room for improvement."
"I think the tone of your mind is perfect. It's very sweet of you to want to do this for me, but don't blame yourself for not thinking of it in time. I doubt you could really have fooled him. He wouldn't have given you a penny until you were well away from here and it was too late."
Rena nodded. "You're right. He's just the sort of mean, suspicious character who'd do that."
"So what happened when you'd turned him down? How did he react to your refusal."
She shrugged, unwilling to tell him more.
"Rena, what is it? Did he dare to attack you?"
"No, of course not."
"Then what? Please don't keep things from me. Rena! For pity's sake, you're scaring me."
"He wanted to buy me in another way," she said, not looking at him.
"You mean he - ?"
She shrugged and said as lightly as she could, "He offered to set me up in a fine house in Park Lane, clothes, jewels, everything I could want."
"He did what?" The words came from him in a violent whisper.
"I turned that down too and he became very angry."
"He dared say such a thing to you?" John asked quietly. "He dared to besmirch you, even in his thoughts?" He got abruptly to his feet.
"John, where are you going?"
"To find him and throttle him."
There was a black look on his face that she had never seen before. Suddenly the amiable joker she knew had vanished, replaced by a man in a bitter rage.
"No." She jumped to her feet and followed him out of the kitchen. "You mustn't do that."
"You expect me to do nothing, when he insults you?" He started up the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To get my pistol."
She began to run after him up the stairs, struggling to keep up. He had reached his room before she caught him.
"John, listen to me, there's nothing that you can do."
"I can make him sorry he was born. I can bring him here and make him grovel to you - "
"And how much reputation would I have left then?" She took hold of his arms and gave him a little shake. She could feel him trembling with rage.
"Then I'll blow his miserable brains out," he shouted. "Yes, that's the thing to do. Then the filthy thoughts that he dared to have of you will be blown to smithereens, and nobody will ever know that he insulted the sweetest, most perfect woman alive. Rena, Rena, do you expect me to endure that?"
She didn't know how to answer such words, but she didn't have to because the next moment he had pulled her into his arms and was kissing her fiercely again and again, murmuring incoherently between kisses.
"You're mine - do you understand? I won't tolerate that man even looking at you, much less thinking - Dear God! Kiss me, my darling - kiss me -tell me that it isn't all in my mind - say that you love me too - "
"Oh yes - yes - I love you, so much."
She had promised herself that she would never tell him of her love, for his sake. And yet the words burst from her, called forth by the intensity of his own emotion. He loved her. He had said so. And nothing in heaven or on earth could have prevented her from confessing her own love in return.
"I love you," he said, holding her away from him so that he could see her face. "I love you in every way that a man can love a woman. You are mine, and I am yours. That is how it has to be. It was meant. It's our destiny. I couldn't fight it if I wanted to. But I don't. I want to love you and rejoice in you all the days of my life. And if you don't feel the same I have nothing to live for."
"But I do," she cried. "I do. Oh John - my love - "
"Kiss me," he said again, and this time it was a command.
She obeyed it gladly. The future might contain a bitter parting, but in this moment she would enjoy her love to the full. The bliss of being chosen by the one her own heart had chosen was too sweet to be denied.
"Tell me again that you love me," he said. "Let me hear you say it."
"I love you, I love you," she murmured. "I didn't think love could happen this fast - I never knew - "
"It can happen in a moment," he said fervently. "I loved you the first day. Didn't you feel then that our hearts instinctively understood each other?"
"Oh yes, yes. I felt that too, even though we were strangers."
"We were never strangers," he told her tenderly. "We have known each other for ever, and we shall be each other's until the last moment of our lives."
"Until the last moment of our lives," she agreed solemnly.
She didn't voice her fears for their future. Besides, it was true. Even though life might separate them, she would always belong to him. After this, there could be no other man.
"How could I marry any woman but you?" he asked lovingly.
"John - "
She was saved from having to answer by the sound of the doorbell, echoing up from below.
"If that's Wyngate - " he said in a tight voice.
"No, John, please. You must pretend to know nothing, for my sake."
"We'll see," was all he would agree to.
Together they went downstairs to open the front door.
But the man standing there wasn't Wyngate. Neither of them had seen him before. He was tall and thin, dressed in clerical black, with a severe face and stern eyes.
"Miss Colwell?" he asked at once.
"Yes."
He spoke ponderously. "I am the Reverend Steven Daykers. I imagine you have been expecting me."
It would have been impolite to say otherwise, so Rena murmured something about being honoured to meet him. She hastened to introduce the Earl, but instead of bein
g pleased the Reverend Daykers fixed him with a frosty stare, and gave him the briefest of greetings.
"Miss Colwell, a word with you alone." It was a command.
John looked at her, frowning. Maintaining an air of calm dignity Rena said, "If I may have a few moments from my duties, sir?"
He caught the cue she had tossed him. "Very well Miss Colwell, I suggest you use the drawing room. But please try not to be too long."
"What I have to say to Miss Colwell will not take a moment," the pastor said with a touch of grimness.
Rena led him to the drawing room and politely offered him tea. He waved the suggestion aside.
"I have not come for trifles, but for your salvation. You visited my house the other evening - "
"I wasn't aware that it was your house, since the letter informing me did not arrive until the following morning. As soon as I learned the situation I packed my things and departed."
"There was, I believe, some altercation between you and my sister concerning certain property - "
"They wanted to eat my chicken for supper. Since she belongs to me I would not permit that."
"You referred to my house as a den of thieves!"
"They were trying to deprive me of my property," Rena said firmly. "I don't have very much. I insist on my right to protect what I have."
Unexpectedly he nodded.
"Precisely so. I understand that you are not well endowed with this world's goods, and therefore you may have felt yourself impelled into this - ah - disgraceful situation."
"I beg your pardon!"
"It is well known, Miss Colwell, that you, an unmarried woman, share this house with the Earl, an unmarried man, with no respectable female companion."
"I am his lordship's housekeeper," Rena said, her eyes sparkling with anger. "A servant. Servants do not have 'respectable female companions'. They have to take the work that will put a roof over their heads."
"I have already said that I understand that you were constrained by circumstances. Nor is it my intention to apportion blame to one who has erred in - I feel sure - innocence. I am here to rescue you."
"But I do not need rescue."
"Madam, your need for rescue is greater than you can possibly know. A young woman's reputation, beautiful and fragile as it is, must call forth all the protective instincts of those whose mission in life is to protect lost souls. You have strayed - yes. Sadly that is true. But you have not wandered far from the path, and there is yet time to turn you back."
Rena stared at him, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing.
"I believe - I fervently believe that your stay in this house has not yet compromised your virtue though it has endangered your reputation. If you escape at once all is not lost. I shall take you back with me to the vicarage where you may embark upon that path of righteousness that will in time undo the harm."
"I'm not going back there," Rena said, aghast. "And I feel sure that your sister doesn't want me."
"On the contrary, she is eager for your return. Her last words to me were not to come back without you. There are many ways in which you can make yourself useful in that house which you know better than anyone. Her health is not strong - "
"And she would like to have an unpaid drudge around," Rena said, light dawning.
"Young woman, I am not here to bandy words with you, but to take you home."
"The parsonage is no longer my home. Now I think you should leave."
"You dare to show me an impudent spirit! I have come to offer you my protection. Your father was a brother man of the cloth, and now I stand in his place. I demand from you the obedience of a daughter."
"No sir, you do not stand in my father's place. He was the best and kindest man who ever lived, and he would never have tried to bully anyone in the way you have me. I owe you no obedience and will give you none."
"I say, Miss Colwell - sorry to butt in and all that - but have you seen my cigars?"
John had entered by the French windows and now stood on the threshold, smiling amiably but implacably.
"Hallo, vicar. You still here? Hope you've finished your little talk because my housekeeper has a great deal of work to get on with. Come now, Miss Colwell, be about your duties. Mustn't fall behind, must we?"
"I do not consider this a suitable position for Miss Colwell," the vicar said stiffly.
"Oh no, no, no!" John said, still amiable, but standing between them in a manner that couldn't be mistaken. "She does her job very well. Couldn't do without her. Shall I show you to the door?"
The Reverend Daykers had no choice but to follow his host, but he had one parting shot for Rena.
"I shall not cease in my untiring efforts to reclaim you."
When he had gone Rena sat down, not sure whether to laugh or cry. The man was a pompous fool who deceived himself as to his own motives, yet he had shown her how the world would view her, a world in which she would soon have to make her way alone again.
John was in a merry mood when he returned.
"I'm afraid I eavesdropped shamelessly outside the French windows," he said, dropping down on the sofa beside her, and taking her hands in his.
"I'm glad you did. He was getting difficult to handle. As though I'd go back and drudge for that family."
"As though I'd let you. And who cares what people say? We'll be married soon."
"John, please don't be so certain of that. I'm not sure we can ever be married."
"Why, what are you talking about? Of course we're going to be married, now that we know we love each other. That's what people in love do, my darling. They marry each other."
"And the people who are depending on you as their last hope? Do we just turn our backs and leave them to starve?"
He stared at her, aghast as it dawned on him that she was serious.
"Are you saying we have no right think of our own happiness?" he asked at last.
"Perhaps we don't." She jumped up from the sofa and moved away from him, as though by doing so she could break the spell that bound her to him.
But he followed her at once, taking hold of her and drawing her round to face him.
"I won't accept that. We love each other - " his face was suddenly full of fear, "Rena, you do love me? You said so. Let me hear you say it again."
"Of course I love you, with all my heart. It's been such a short time, and yet already you're my whole world. John my darling, don't ever doubt my love for you."
He relaxed a little, but held her against him as though afraid that some power might snatch her away.
"You must never talk like this again," he said. "I've sailed the world, always looking for my ideal woman, in country after country. And at last I found her here, my perfect treasure. Do you think I'm going to let that treasure go? Rena, my darling - "
His lips were on hers again in a kiss that blotted out all argument. Rena gave herself up to her happiness, glorying in his love, knowing that stern reality had to be faced soon but - not yet - not yet - When he released her she took his face between her hands and looked at him fervently.
"I shall love you," she said, "all my life, and beyond. Never forget that."
Her beautiful soul was in her eyes. He saw it and took her hand, kissing it with reverence.
"Then we shall always be together," he said. "Give me your promise."
"John, I - "
"Give it to me," he insisted.
How could she give him such a promise, she thought wildly, knowing that she might have to break it? Yet how could she break so solemn a vow to the man she loved? Her duty seemed clear to her. Let him go for the sake of those who looked to him for succour. She averted her eyes from that duty, lest her heart break, but when she opened them it was still there.
Matilda had said, "I'm not Jeremiah Wyngate's daughter for nothing."
She, Rena, was not the Reverend Colwell's daughter for nothing. Much of his teaching might have fallen away from her recently, but not that: not the obligation to put others' needs first,
at whatever cost to oneself.
"Rena - promise me that we will be married," he said, speaking in a stern voice that she had never heard him use before.
"I - "
But before she could answer a shadow appeared in the open French windows and a strong, female voice cried, "Thank heavens I've found you. You simply must help us."
It was Matilda, and behind her was a young man with red hair and a plain, freckled face.
"This is Cecil Jenkins," she said. "I told you about him."
This was the man she loved, and by the note in her voice Rena knew of her pride and joy.
"Cecil?" John asked.
"I promised Matilda I would keep her secret," Rena explained. "She and Cecil are in love."
"And we want to marry," the young man said. "It's just that Mr. Wyngate is the problem."
"This is wonderful," John exclaimed. "At least he'll stop trying to dragoon me into being his son-in-law."
"If you think that, you don't know my father," Matilda said. "Cecil had to come here in secret and hide in the bushes in the hotel garden until I came out. Now we desperately need your help. If Papa discovers that he's here he'll be furious. He's so set on having Lord Lansdale as a son-in-law."
"I don't think you should say that in front of Cecil," John objected mildly.
"Cecil knows that I love him," Matilda said passionately, "and I wouldn't have you at any price - no offence intended."
"None taken," John said affably. "I feel the same - no offence intended."
"Of course. You're in love with Rena, aren't you? I told her you were, but she wouldn't believe me. But after what I've just seen I know it's true. I wish you both every happiness. But it doesn't mean that Papa has given up."
"He's bringing men up here to move into the house," Cecil said. "Thirty of them."
John and Rena looked at each other, appalled.
"But how could you possibly know that?" John demanded.
"I know the firm of architects that he's employing," Cecil said. "The head man is a friend of mine. Mr. Wyngate gave his orders last week - "
"Last week?" John exclaimed. "Before he came here?"
"That's how Papa works," Matilda explained. "First he lays his plans, then he investigates to see if there'll be any opposition."
"And if there is, he deals with it," Cecil said. "They're only waiting for his message to move in here."
The Cross of Love Page 9
