Chapter Two
Looking down at the water from the safety of his private sitting room, Will noted how calm everything was compared to yesterday evening. Outside of the waves crashing farther out on the beach, everything appeared as it should be.
Apart from that, he noted a glimpse of a feminine figure.
Whoever it was they were looking over the rock fence to the beach.
At second glance, Will recognized her as Margaret.
He’d warned her about the dangers and yet there she was leaning over to see below.
Turning away from the windows, Will walked across the room, opening the door and slamming it shut.
By the time he made it to Margaret’s side, she was sitting on a bench, reading a book. Watching her as he approached, he tried his best to get his emotions in check. It seemed his feelings were all over the place when Margaret was involved.
“Good morning,” he greeted her.
She glanced up with a smile on those luscious lips of hers. “Good morning to you as well, Will.”
He sat down beside her as she was shutting her book. “Do you have any plans today?”
“Jane and I had thought to go into town a bit later,” she offered.
“Knowing Jane, it’s for shopping.”
Margaret grinned. “You know her too well.”
“She is my sister,” he replied.
Then she asked what he was anticipating. “The tide appears to be out. Could we go for a walk along the beach?”
“I thought you and Jane had plans.”
Nodding, she shut her book. “At some point today, we will.”
“Well then, we should take that walk before the tide begins to change,” he replied.
“Thank you for remembering.”
They began walking against the stone wall, with Will describing the area surrounding him, including the history of how the wall came to be.
Once they arrived at the path, Will peered down the stairs to find the tide had gone down.
The pair walked in silence until they were about halfway down.
The gray sand had dried with the sun beating down on it. A huge change from the night before.
Once on the beach, Margaret grabbed Will’s hand and began pulling him along to the water’s edge where the waves were gently lapping. He tried not to resist as she led them right to the water.
“This is nice. I’d love to ride along the beach,” she said glancing up at him. “How far does your land go?”
He thought momentarily. “To where the beach ends with the massive boulders down that way.” He pointed. “A good mile in that direction, probably the same if you go the other way toward town.”
“That makes for good exercise for a horse and a nice leisurely ride.”
“If you’d like to do it, we could plan a ride,” he replied.
“I’d love that,” she squealed.
“Just remember we can only go at the lowest tide.”
“Of course,” Margaret said with a gentle smile, reassuring him of her willingness to make plans together.
“Come, let’s keep walking. There is somewhere I want to show you.” He couldn’t stand still or his body would give him away.
As they stood together by the shoreline, Will felt a warmth growing inside him that he hadn’t expected.
He was developing feelings for Margaret, a realization that made him both anxious and hopeful.
Each shared smile and gentle word seemed to draw him closer, deepening the connection between them with every passing moment.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You’ll see. It’s somewhere I used to hide when I wanted to be alone. No one knew about it.”
She arched a brow. “But I thought your hiding places were found out by Nick.”
“He’s never found this one,” Will replied.
They continued to walk until he veered to the right and began to move toward the jagged rock. It was like a cliff everywhere. The only way to access the beach was the way they had come, a long, sloping path leading right to the sand of the beach.
The rock formations had been there for centuries; no one had ever thought to do anything with them. That was why the manor house was built there. It was solid. They came to one particular black rock which seemed to reach up to the sky.
Will turned to her. “Stay here. I’m going to check it out before I take you in.”
“I’ll be right here,” she replied.
Nothing seemed to have changed. It was dark except for the sliver of light coming in from the entrance. Turning to leave he took a deep breath. He shared more with her in the last couple of days than he had with anyone else, and that was about to change.
He found her right where he’d left her. “Everything is fine.”
“What were you expecting to find? A deep-sea monster or something?” She giggled, putting a hand to her pouty mouth.
“You can’t be too careful. You never know when one’s going to wash up,” he replied.
The pair walked to the entrance and, taking Margaret’s hand, Will led her into the dark sanctuary. The temperature was cooler than outside, and the smell of salt and kelp was pungent.
“How did you keep dry?” she asked.
“I usually climbed up on the rock formation. I think if you look closely, you might see the remnants of candles I used.”
She nodded. “That makes perfect sense.”
He moved closer and the hush of the cave seemed to press in around them, the only sound the gentle drip of water echoing off stone.
For a moment, Will hesitated, searching her eyes for any sign of fear or doubt, but all he saw was trust, warm and unwavering.
He placed a hand on her cheek, leaned over, and placed his lips on hers.
Not wanting to scare her and not knowing if this was her first kiss or not, Will kept the gesture short, his lips barely brushing hers before he pulled away. The moment hung between them, gentle and unhurried, as he watched for her reaction.
She didn’t focus her eyes on the ground like some women would do. Instead, she slowly licked her lips, her eyes on him and him alone. “That was nice. I’ve been hoping you’d kiss me soon.”
Will thought he was going to swallow his tongue at her confession. If he’d known that, he would have kissed her the other day when they were riding. “I wanted the perfect setting. This seemed right. It is private and we don’t have to share it with anyone.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me, Will.”
“I suppose we should be heading back. The tide will be coming in soon,” she said with a glance only meant for him.
“You are right.” He was about to turn to lead her out of the small cave when he felt her hand in his.
“Would you kiss me again? Before we leave?”
This time, his mouth found hers in a rush of urgency, the kiss deepening as he pulled her closer, pouring all the words he couldn’t say into that embrace and kiss.
She responded as he parted her lips with his tongue and she met his embrace with surprising tenderness, her lips opening willingly as she welcomed his kiss.
The warmth of her response sent a thrill through him, deepening the connection between them as the world outside faded away.
Breathless, he pulled away from her. “Margaret,” he whispered, “we need to go.”
They quickly headed out of the dark cave and back onto the beach. Will took her hand as he looked at the incoming tide. It would be a couple of hours until it was all the way in once they were headed back to the manor.
“Do you have anything planned the remainder of the day?” he asked.
She nodded and smiled. “As I told you earlier, Jane and I had planned to go to town, but nothing was settled.”
“It’s still early enough for the two of you to go and enjoy yourselves.”
“Yes. What plans do you have?”
“I received a note from my mother. She’d like to see me about something. So, I’ll go and see what she wants,” Will replied.
“I was surprised she moved into the dowager house so quickly,” Margaret said.
“As were we. She rarely goes anywhere. The occasional trip to London, but that’s a rarity.”
“Jane says it’s taken its toll on her, being by herself.”
“I have to agree,” Will said, nodding his head. “I keep waiting for her to start living socially again, but so far nothing.”
But before Margaret could reply, the butler entered the grand hall. “I am sorry to interrupt, Your Grace, but there’s a gentleman waiting for you in the drawing room.”
Will cocked a brow. “Did he give you a card?”
“No, and he wouldn’t give me his name when asked.”
“Interesting,” Will said. “I’ll go find out who he is and what he wants.”
Margaret, previously silent, spoke up. “I’m going to find Jane and see if she still wants to go to town.”
Will nodded and watched as she walked toward the stairs. He had to turn away from watching her as he feared his body would betray his feelings without saying a word.
He quietly mentioned to the butler to get word to his mother that he would arrive in the next hour. That would get her settled and give him an out from whoever this person was.
Entering the drawing room, he saw a small, wiry man with glasses standing by the fire. Will recognized him from the solicitor’s office. The man spoke first.
“Your Grace, I apologize for all the secrecy. I wanted to keep our meeting between just the two of us,” he said, adding, “I’m Cecil Ramsey, a barrister from your family’s firm.”
“Yes, I recognized you the moment I walked in. What can I do for you?”
The man hesitated, adjusting his glasses on his nose. “How familiar are you with some of the projects your father was working on at the time of his death?”
“What an odd question,” Will replied. “I was told two of them were taken over by the partner and the other never got far enough to call itself by anything. What do they have to do with anything all these years later?”
“There is a belief that your father never died that day.”
Will shook his head. “That’s impossible, and even if it were true what would he have to gain by pretending to be dead?”
“His freedom from some bad decisions that were inevitably going to come to light.”
“Assuming this is true, why would he do that to his family? Why is my own mother still grieving after four years? What kind of cruel trick is this!”