Chapter One #2
“The tide is coming in so I’m afraid we won’t have a lot of time on the beach,” he said before taking a bite of egg.
“That’s fine. We can always visit another day,” she replied.
Will couldn’t help noticing Margaret was wearing a dark-blue riding outfit that brought out her eyes. Again, he noticed things about her he normally never did. Or at least not to this degree. “Of course, but today we’ll start there. Then we’ll ride to the lake.”
“At least there’s no tide to deal with on the lake,” she replied.
As soon as he finished his meal, Will rose from the table and addressed Margaret. “If you’re finished, we need to leave.”
“Yes, I’m ready,” she replied. She followed him out of the house to a pair of horses who stood while being held by their grooms.
Will pointed to a bay gelding. “Walter will be perfect for you today.”
She marched over to the animal and checked his saddle before having Walter brought next to the mounting block.
Will mounted a tall gray gelding he needed to ride. The animal had just enough training to go on such an outing as today. He was young and sometimes a little headstrong, but Will hoped today would take care of that particular issue.
They had not been in the saddle for five minutes, and Margaret had urged her mount into a gallop to the trail leading down to the beach.
Will shook his head and followed her. Obviously, Margaret hadn’t heard him when he announced that the tide was coming in.
At high tide the water would lap all the way up to the path, leaving no beach and forcing whoever was there to turn around and go back.
At this moment he noted the water was fast approaching the lower part of the path. Her horse had its front feet in the water. “Margaret,” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Don’t go any further!”
She turned to look at him and turned back to look at the water. Slowly she turned her mount and headed back up the path.
Margaret began to say something, but Will stopped her. “The current runs fast here. It’s best not to get caught up in it. You might not be able to get back.”
Her lips formed a perfect, silent “O”. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No harm done. That’s part of the reason I only come here when the tide is low.”
“I’ll have to remember that in the future,” she replied.
“Do you still want to see the glass house on the lake?” he asked brushing back an unruly curl off his forehead.
“Yes,” she exclaimed.
They rode side by side for the most part in silence. Will would point out things he knew would be new to her. The closer they got to the small lake, the more Will fidgeted with his reins. How would he explain his actions when they got to the water’s edge?
“What happened here?” she asked as the lake was in sight.
The boat that had given his parents so much pleasure taking them to and from the house sat on the edge in ruins, holes in the sides as though it had been done deliberately.
Someone had destroyed it since Nick last used it.
The house itself sat in complete destruction. A fire had raged through the structure.
Neither of his siblings knew the real truth of what happened that fateful day. Will wanted to keep it that way, but inside he knew he couldn’t hide the truth forever.
“This is where my father died,” he said lowly.
“The house had caught fire and in my father’s attempt to get my mother off the small island, he somewhere had gotten a very small hole on the bottom of the boat.
It wasn’t until he and my mother were returning to this exact spot that the boat began taking on water.
My father couldn’t swim and it was all my mother could do to save herself.
I came upon them, or rather my mother, the boat bobbing behind her.
I swam to her and brought her back to dry land. ”
“Will, I never knew. Jane has never mentioned it.”
“That’s because no one knows the truth. My mother insisted.”
“So that’s how you became duke,” she muttered. “And your father’s body? Where did you find him?”
Will shook his head. “His body has never been found. Once I got my mother settled on land, I began diving and looking for any sign. I found none. Mother even began to walk the shoreline to see if she might find any sign of him. And that’s why I hate water now.”
“But you don’t act like it.”
He smiled. “I try to hold it in, but I no longer swim here or anywhere else on the estate, including the sea.”
“Did your family bring in more experienced divers to search for your father?”
A hush fell between them as the weight of Will’s confession lingered in the air, the gentle lapping of water against the ruined boat the only sound.
The loss, the mystery, and the memories seemed to settle over the lake like a veil, and for a moment neither spoke, simply letting the gravity of the past wash quietly across the shore.
“Yes, but he still wasn’t found. I recall one of the divers saying something about the bottom of the lake being quite dense with plant life and mud, making it quite murky and very hard to see.”
“That’s so sad,” Margaret replied.
“Mother was going to have a plaque made and set it on shore in my father’s memory, but she hasn’t.”
Margaret neared. He got a whiff of her orange and vanilla scent. “She will when she feels the time is right. I’m sure the entire incident is still painful for her.”
“Have you ever thought of rebuilding the house?” Margaret asked.
“As long as the dowager duchess still breathes, it won’t happen. Jane and I had thought about adding a small dock for access, but Mother said absolutely no. The entire area would have to be cleared away before rebuilding could begin.”
“I’m sure it’s still painful for her,” Margaret replied.
“True, but to be honest with you, she’s never come here since that day, other than to walk the shore in the beginning. At least, not to my knowledge. She seldom even comes to the manor house let alone come here, as she stays at the dowager house.”
Will gazed out over the still water, recalling how his father used to take him fishing at dawn, their laughter echoing across the mirrored surface.
He remembered summer picnics beneath the giant oaks and the way the old house used to glow with candlelight and music during sporadic family gatherings of the duke and duchess and their three children.
Those memories, bittersweet and cherished, clung to him now—gentle reminders of love and loss—calling him to honor the past even as life urged him forward.
“Would you like to see Nick’s secret encampment where he goes when in trouble?”
“Nick has a what?” she asked back at him.
“My brother has a place in the forest that he goes to when he’s done something bad. It’s nearly impossible to find unless you’re looking for signs of life.”
“It sounds as though he’d do well with it once he becomes of age,” Margaret replied.
“Right now, it’s a game to him. He believes to have the upper hand, which I have to admit he does.”
“I suppose it’s best to let him have his fun. Once he is grown, he’ll have other responsibilities,” Margaret stated.
“Yes. Part of it’s planned for him. The Royal Navy first, and then we’ll see.”
Margaret smiled at what Will told her. “Second son, commissioned officer?”
“Yes.” Will wondered why it was so easy to talk with Margaret. Though they’d known each other for years, he’d never had many conversations, serious ones, with her. She stayed true to herself, and he felt at ease with her.