The Notorious Lord

Chapter Thirteen

At eight o’clock the following evening, Rachel made her way down through the gardens to the knot of pines overlooking the river. The air was warm and heavy and the river flowed slowly. The sun had not yet set and her parents and the servants were still busy about the excavations. Cory, however, had finished work in the afternoon and sent her a message that he was returning to Kestrel Court to change his clothes and that he would see her for dinner later.

Rachel had been touched. She would not have expected him to be so thoughtful or to attach so much importance to their meal. There had been times in the past when Cory had finished digging for the day, rolled his sleeves down and come to join her for a casual supper-having washed his hands first, of course. Apparently tonight was to be different.

She realised the extent to which she had underestimated Cory when he appeared, for he was dressed in tight buckskins, gleaming Hessians and a coat of green superfine that fitted his broad shoulders like a second skin. He came down the slope to join her, took her hand and kissed her on the cheek. Rachel, breathing in the scent of lime cologne, felt very slightly dizzy. She took a deep breath of the fresh evening air and reminded herself that this evening was the one that was meant to set everything back in its former place. She wanted the familiar and the comforting claims of friendship, not the disturbing demands of attraction.

‘Good evening, Rachel,’ Cory said.

‘I am sorry that I am not as smart as you,’ Rachel said, suddenly feeling self-conscious in her old green cotton dress that was sprinkled with embroidered daisies. ‘You show me up, Cory, in all that finery.’

Cory smiled. ‘Indeed, Rachel-’ his eyes skimmed her in a thoroughly disconcerting way ‘-you look charming. I have no complaints over the company.’

They sat down on the blanket and Rachel passed him a glass of lemonade.

‘Would you care to eat? Mama and Papa are still at work, but I have reminded them that the picnic is ready and they have sworn to join us shortly.’

Cory propped himself up on one elbow and reached for the bread and cheese. ‘They are very dedicated,’ he said.

‘They are certainly dedicated to their antiquities and devoted to each other,’ Rachel agreed, with an edge to her voice. ‘I cannot dispute that.’

There was a pause. ‘They love you too, you know, Rae,’ Cory said. He was holding a chicken leg in his strong, brown fingers. ‘They may appear to be obsessed with their work, but they do care about you.’

Rachel sighed. It felt comfortable to have Cory here with her now, rather like the old days when they had sat together and chatted about all manner of subjects at any hour of the day or night. For once there was none of the edgy wrangling that had so beset their encounters over the last few weeks. She had never felt a strong attraction to a man before in her entire life, and it felt odd that it should be Cory, for beneath the disturbing awareness, there was the closeness and familiarity that seventeen years of friendship had built. Which was why it was so utterly important that she should cling on to that friendship and not put it at risk.

‘I know that my parents love me,’ she said now. ‘It is simply that I come third on the list.’ She cut herself a piece of cheddar cheese and broke off a piece of the bread. ‘I remember hearing Mama tell Lady Cardew it was the greatest nuisance when I was born, for she had just uncovered a Roman temple in Gloucestershire and could not get out to the site for an entire week!’

Cory laughed. ‘That sounds like your mother.’ He tossed the chicken bone aside. ‘Nevertheless, she cares for you, Rae. She must do. She did not send you to boarding school when she travelled abroad, but took you everywhere with her.’

Rachel nodded. ‘I know. I am an ungrateful wretch. I begged and begged to be sent to school, you know. I wanted to be like all the other girls. I have seen half the world when all I really wanted was to have a settled life.’

Cory smiled at her. ‘That is a reasonable enough aim too.’

‘Not for you. You have no desire to settle in one place.’

‘True. I want very different things in my life.’

Rachel looked at the slow drift of the river and from there to Cory’s shadowed face. ‘What do you want, Cory?’

She thought that he hesitated before answering, but when he spoke his tone was easy. ‘All the things that I have now. The excitement of travel and exploration, the freedom, the uncertainty…’ He flashed her a smile. ‘All the things that you dislike, Rae.’

Rachel reached for an apple from the basket and took a small bite. ‘Why do you like it so much?’

Again Cory hesitated. ‘Because it is so unpredictable. I never know where I might go, or what I might find.’

‘What about the ordinary things? A home and a family?’

Cory tilted his glass of lemonade to his lips. ‘I have a home. Newlyn Park will always be there for me.’

‘Like a perpetual bride in waiting,’ Rachel said. ‘What about a family, Cory?’

‘One day, maybe,’ Cory said. He smiled at her.

‘You need someone who shares your dreams,’ Rachel said. Her heart felt a little achy at the thought. For so many years she had been there with Cory, not through her own choice, perhaps, but because fate had thrown them together. To relinquish that closeness to someone Cory loved, someone who shared his hopes and plans…Her throat closed and she made a little fuss of sorting through the contents of the picnic basket.

‘I do not suppose,’ she said, after a moment, ‘that marriage is a particularly appealing option for a rake.’ She shot him a look. ‘Not when there are so many ladies who are willing to give you what you want without the benefit of clergy. I’ll wager that you have had many and many an offer, Cory, and not necessarily of matrimony.’

‘I do not believe that we should be speaking of such things,’ Cory said, with a wicked smile. ‘But if you wish to discuss matrimony, Rae, perhaps you should talk of your own plans. Have you met a man with whom you could settle down? Someone to give you your heart’s desire?’

Rachel shot him a sidelong glance. He was lounging beside her, his long, lean frame relaxed, his grey gaze on the river, where a heron was picking its way through the shallows. Behind them the sun was dropping in the sky and a full moon was climbing to take its place. The air was becoming chill. Rachel reached for her shawl.

‘Here, let me help you.’

Cory’s touch was light and impersonal as he arranged the shawl about her shoulders, but still she shivered beneath his touch-and told herself that it was only the effect of the breeze.

‘I have no marriage plans at present,’ she said, holding the shawl to her almost as much for comfort as for warmth. ‘As you have no doubt observed, I cannot find a man who pleases me.’

Cory’s hands stilled, then fell away. ‘Indeed? Why not? I thought there were a score of men queuing up to pay their addresses to you, Rae.’

Rachel sighed. ‘There may be a score of them willing to pay court to my fifty thousand pounds, but they are sadly indifferent to me personally. Besides, as you so presciently observed a few weeks ago, they are rakes and scoundrels to a man.’

‘James Kestrel seemed more than a little interested,’ Cory said, ‘and surely he cannot be a rake. What is the stumbling block?’

Rachel looked at him through her lashes. ‘Do you require that I reply to that question or do you already know the answer?’

Cory gave her a quizzical look back. ‘I hesitate to get my head bitten off again by criticising one of your admirers, Rae.’

‘Touché,’ Rachel said, with a small smile. ‘I give you full permission to make an educated guess.’

Cory relaxed. ‘Then I should say that he has no sense of humour and you could not bear to be tied to a man so pompous.’

‘Precisely,’ Rachel said. ‘You know me so well.’ There was an odd silence. Cory was watching her, a faint smile on his lips. She hurried on to cover the pause.

‘There is another reason,’ she said, ‘but if I tell you, you must promise not to laugh.’

Cory raised his brows. ‘I cannot guarantee it. Not if what you tell me is amusing enough.’

Rachel dug him in the ribs. ‘It is not in the least amusing!’ She took a deep breath. ‘You must promise not to tell anyone as well. You remember Lady Sally’s ball? Miss Lang was…flirting with a gentleman in the gardens and I think it was James Kestrel.’

Cory looked thunderstruck. ‘James Kestrel indulging in amorous dalliance? Good God! He is more like his cousins that I thought.’

‘It is not funny,’ Rachel said crossly. ‘I was a little shocked.’

‘So am I! I would have thought that Kestrel would avoid kissing in case it interfered with the set of his coat!’

‘Cory…’ Rachel said disapprovingly.

‘Sorry.’ Cory grinned. ‘Were you very disappointed, Rae? After all, he was dancing attendance on you all evening.’

‘Oh, I did not repine,’ Rachel said honestly. ‘At least, not for myself, for I had known almost from the first that Mr Kestrel would make the most tedious husband. I was simply disappointed to discover yet another gentleman whose conduct did not live up to the title.’

Cory pulled a face. ‘I can see that you might be. Did James Kestrel ever try to kiss you, Rae?’

‘Certainly not.’ Rachel smiled. ‘But then I was not as ardent for his embrace as Miss Lang must be.’

‘Ouch,’ Cory said appreciatively. ‘You are not so sweet-natured yourself, sometimes, Rae! So if Kestrel is out of the frame, what about John Norton?’

‘What about him?’

‘Did you have any hopes of marrying him?’

Rachel gave him a frown. ‘Oh, Sir John has no thought of marrying. You told me that yourself.’

‘I hope you did not take my word for it.’

‘Well, of course I did!’ Rachel smiled at him. ‘If you tell me such a thing, then I do not doubt you, Cory. I trust you.’

‘You silence me,’ Cory said after a moment. ‘Thank you, Rae.’

‘Anyway, I think you are quite right that Sir John is a rake who will say anything to trick a lady,’ Rachel said thoughtfully. ‘On the day that he escorted me into Woodbridge, he told me the most affecting tale about how he was out at sea in a storm and almost drowned. All he could think of as he drifted half-unconscious to shore was of his home, and the fact that if he had his time over again, he would marry and settle down there instead of going back to the sea.’ She laughed. ‘And then he tried to kiss me.’

She felt Cory stiffen beside her. ‘The blackguard!’

‘Oh, do not worry,’ Rachel said airily. ‘I sidestepped him in time, so it ended up as a sort of kiss rather than a real kiss.’

Cory laughed. ‘It seems to me,’ he said, ‘that a kiss is a kiss is a kiss, Rachel. How can one have a sort of kiss?’

‘A sort of kiss is when you miss,’ Rachel said. She looked up to see Cory watching her with interest and felt a faint stirring of the disturbing emotions that had captured her before. Talking about kissing was not a good idea. She hurried on.

‘I did think it was rather clever of Sir John to try to gain my sympathy with his tale of gallantry and near death,’ she said. ‘It might well have worked on some other, more susceptible lady.’

‘I imagine it has worked a score of times,’ Cory said drily. ‘You are hard-hearted, Rachel.’

Rachel started to pack the remains of the picnic back into the basket for her parents.

‘The Midwinter villages are full of rakes at present,’ she said. ‘A young lady must protect her reputation as best she may.’

Cory shifted. ‘And do you consider me to be one of those dangerous rakes in question?’

Rachel looked at him through her lashes. ‘I cannot believe that you are dangerous to me, Cory. We are such old friends that I do not imagine you would either wish to seduce me or be successful if you tried. Such things do not happen between friends.’

There was another pause that felt curiously alive with all kinds of emotions. Rachel drew a short breath to retract her remark, but Cory forestalled her.

‘You are mistaken,’ he said smoothly, and the tone of his voice sent a shiver squirming down Rachel’s spine. ‘I cannot guarantee the outcome, of course, but I can assure you that it would be a positive pleasure to seduce you…’

He put a hand about her wrist and tugged, so that Rachel, taken by surprise, tumbled beneath him on the picnic rug. Cory’s grey eyes were dark with some emotion she did not understand, and she lay still, looking up at him. And suddenly it felt as though she had been waiting for this moment for all her life without really knowing what it was she was waiting for. Cory’s mouth came down on hers and Rachel’s lips parted beneath his and the sensation tore through her like wildfire in the blood, and Rachel was lost.