Chapter 63
Chapter Sixty-Three
Aweak grey daylight broke fitfully over the little fishing village.
Sebastian opened his eyes and looked out through the dusty window at the lowering sky and then down at the woman in his arms. They had both been so tired that they had hardly shifted their position all night.
He kissed the top of her head, and she stirred, snuggling deeper into his embrace.
He loved the way she fitted so well into the curve of his body, as if she had always belonged there. He traced the line of her nose and kissed her.
‘Let’s stay here forever,’ she murmured, rolling onto her back and stretching like a contented cat.
‘Take up fishing and live the life of a peasant?’ he suggested. ‘Nothing wrong with living simply. I was always very happy in Little Benning.’
‘I was happy in Little Benning too,’ Isabel agreed.
He stroked her cheek. ‘Unfortunately for us, my darling girl, that is fantasy. The reality is that I have responsibilities now that extend beyond just keeping my brother and sister clothed and fed. I now have tenants and servants who rely on me.’
She turned to face him, her face so close to his that their foreheads touched. ‘You are a fine Lord Somerton, Sebastian.’
‘And you were already a fine Lady Somerton.’
She smiled. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I am asking you again to marry me, Isabel. You didn’t give me an answer last night.’
She touched his face and smiled.
‘Yes.’
His heart swelled, and he buried his face in her hair, overcome with the emotion that flooded him. He kissed her with such passion that he thought he would lose himself in her, but any thought of making love again was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door.
‘I hope I haven’t woken you,’ Mother Shipton’s voice called from the far side, ‘but I’ve got some breakfast set for ye and your clothes are dry. I’ll just leave ’em outside the door here. Come down when you’re ready.’
Sebastian flung his arms over his head and groaned.
‘I suppose the day must be faced.’
‘This has been our own little world, Sebastian. Will our normal world be the same?’
He swung his legs out of the bed and sat up, looking down at her slender body, half concealed by the bedclothes. The nasty bruises on the delicate flesh looked so much worse in the daylight and his anger rose at the thought of Freddy and the damage he could have wrought—had already wrought.
‘Nothing will ever be the same again, my dearest, and that is a good thing,’ he whispered, stooping to kiss her again
Dressed and tidied as best they could manage in their salt-encrusted clothes, Sebastian and Isabel ate a simple breakfast of bread, cheese and small beer. Sebastian hadn’t shaved in two days and, although Isabel had tied her hair back, long salt-stiffened wisps escaped around her face.
She pulled a face, trying to tidy the curls away. Sebastian thought she had never looked so beautiful.
‘It needs to be washed in fresh water,’ she said. ‘I long for a proper bath.’
‘It will be some hours before the coach reaches us, Lady Somerton. Would you care for a walk along the beach?’ Sebastian asked
Every bone and muscle in her body ached, but Isabel agreed, and they stepped out into the cool day. He wrapped his arm around her, folding her into the voluminous Garrick, and together they walked down through the dunes to the scene of the drama of the previous day.
The rain had cleared and the sea had withdrawn far into the Wash, leaving a broad expanse of glistening sand.
The little fishing boats were back, listing on the sand and mud and waiting for the next high tide.
Sebastian stopped on the side of the creek to ask about the boat that Freddy had commissioned to take him to France.
The man he addressed scratched his beard and looked out at the boats on the creek bed.
‘Not back yet,’ he said.
Sebastian turned back to look at Isabel. There was no need for words. The grim look on Isabel’s face was reflected in his own. It would appear that Freddy had escaped.
‘There’s no justice,’ Isabel whispered, slipping her hand into his, ‘but he’s gone. Nothing more we can do.’
Sebastian squeezed her hand, his heart overflowing with love for her ...her courage and her stoicism.
Hand in hand, they walked along the shore. Out of sight of the village, Sebastian pulled Isabel down beside him on the sand. They sat side by side, looking out to sea.
‘Did you find Fanny?’ Isabel asked.
Sebastian nodded. ‘She was feeling a little sorry for herself, but she should live.’
‘I wish I could feel some pity for Fanny, but I don’t,’ Isabel said.
Sebastian gathered her hand in his and kissed her fingers. ‘You can’t force yourself to feel an emotion, Isabel, but if you can’t feel pity, at least forgive her.’
‘I hear your stepfather in those words, Sebastian,’ she said.
‘Possibly.’
‘Did you forgive the murderers of Inez?’
Sebastian picked up a piece of driftwood and drew patterns in the damp sand while he considered the answer.
‘Yes,’ he said at last. ‘If I hadn’t forgiven them, the hatred would have consumed me.’ He looked up at the sky and added, ‘Mind you, I killed them first.’
‘Sebastian!’ Isabel pushed him and he fell back on the sand, pulling her with him.
He rolled over until he was on top of her and kissed her. She put her hands around his head, pulling his face down towards her, and they kissed long and hard, exploring each other in a different way to their passionate lovemaking of the previous night.
When they were spent, they lay side by side on the sand, looking up at the clouds scudding across the sky.
‘Freddy told me that he used to work in a place that serviced the needs of gentlemen. He had been procured at the age of sixteen,’ Isabel said.
‘A molly house?’ Sebastian said as the snippets of Freddy’s life fell into place.
Isabel nodded and related what Freddy had told her of his early life and the reason for the blackmail.
When she had done so, she shuddered. ‘I almost felt sorry for him. A young man with the responsibility for a much younger sister has few options.’
‘There were other ways he could have made a living,’ Sebastian pointed out. ‘He chose his path because it was an easy assurance of quick money and provided ample opportunity for adding to the purse through other means, like blackmail.’
‘I was so naive. It never occurred to me that Anthony was so deeply unhappy. I just thought he didn’t want me.’
‘Did Freddy tell you why he thought Anthony had to be punished?’ Sebastian asked.
‘Anthony found the letters he had been using for the blackmail and refused to pay him. Freddy maintains he didn’t intend for him to die, but then he had no conscience when it came to burning you alive, so I’m not certain I believe him.’
Sebastian put his hands behind his head.
‘My stepfather once told me that there are four reasons men kill: love, hate, self-defence and money. Freddy had been blackmailing Anthony, and the money had dried up, but there was more to it than that. Freddy wanted the trappings of wealth. He craved respectability. Anthony was about to take all that away from him and throw him back on to the streets. As for your husband, I think Anthony was tired of leading his duplicitous life. He’d confessed to you and probably intended to work something out that would suit you both.
From what Freddy and Georgiana Kendall both told me, he really did love you.
I just don’t think he knew how to show love. ’
A tear dribbled down Isabel’s cheek and she dashed it away.
‘He was so different when William was born. For a little while, I thought that we had reached that amicable relationship. That’s when I gave him the saddle. But after William died, he just turned on me. How is that love?’
‘Grief affects people in different ways, Isabel. I can’t answer for his actions.’
To prevent her from interrogating him further, he silenced her questions with his lips, and Isabel settled herself into the curve of his arm, her head resting against his shoulder.
He kissed the honey-coloured hair, tasting the salt on his lips and pushing all thoughts of Freddy and Anthony away.
He had been given another chance at love, and he was determined he would not lose this person or let the dark past shadow their future happiness.
‘Alder! Put that woman down!’
He heard his name on the wind and sat up to see two figures coming up the beach towards them.
Isabel also sat up, her face pink with embarrassment.
She tried to secure her wayward hair, but even Sebastian could see it needed a good wash and a comb.
Nothing she could do would make her look anything less than a bedraggled sea nymph, and he loved her more for it.
They struggled to their feet, brushing sand from their clothes as Harry and Matt reached them. The younger man looked deathly pale and his arm was in a sling. Another figure, her blue dress flapping in the wind as she struggled to hold her bonnet, came running up the beach behind the men.
Connie threw herself not at Sebastian, but Isabel.
‘I am so glad you are all right. I feared the worst when I heard that monster had taken you! Did he hurt you?’
Isabel returned the girl’s warm embrace.
‘No, he didn’t hurt me. Just a few bruises.’
Connie turned to Sebastian, standing on tiptoes to give him a warm, sisterly kiss.
‘I thought I told you to wait in the coach,’ Matt chided.
Connie turned and gave her brother a hard stare.
Sebastian laughed. ‘Surely you didn’t entertain the notion your sister would listen to a word you say, Matt.’ He drew them both towards him, folding them in his arms. ‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see you both, and you, Harry. What news?’
Harry shook his head. ‘Bennet has seen Miss Lynch lodged with a widow in Hazlemere, and her leg has been set.’ He glanced at Matt. ‘We stopped on the way and found Miss Lynch in a distressed state, as you can imagine. Is there any news of her brother?’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘In the absence of a body, we can only assume he made good his escape.’
‘With all my jewellery. Enough to set himself up in some style,’ Isabel observed. ‘I think Fanny may well have seen the last of her brother.’
Harry patted his coat. ‘We found a box full of Somerton silver and expensive trinkets in the ruined coach and I have a signed statement from Miss Lynch giving her account of matters as she knows them and exonerating you, Alder, of any responsibility towards her.’
‘It’s always nice to know I am not a rapist,’ Sebastian observed drily. He glanced out to sea. ‘I’m anxious to get back to Brantstone. Both Lady Somerton and I could do with a hot bath and some clean clothes.’
‘You do look rather disreputable,’ Matt said with a cheeky grin. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Very,’ Sebastian replied with a smile. ‘Now, has anyone got any money I can leave with old Mother Shipton for our board?’