Хелен Диксон – Reunited At The King's Court (страница 9)

‘I think this has been the best day of my life,’ Arlette told him, her eyes alight with happiness. ‘I don’t want it to end. Ever since you left for the Continent I have thought of you, remembering how we travelled together from Mayfield and wondering if I would ever see you again. And now here you are.’

Arlette didn’t know how explicit her expression was—like an open book, exposing what was in her heart. William saw it and was immediately wary, and in that moment he realised that eliminating her from his life now he had become reacquainted with her was going to be harder than he could possibly have imagined.

Having walked as far as they could go, William guided her to a wooden bench against a high stone wall and indicated that they should sit.

‘But not for long, Arlette,’ he replied in answer to her remark. ‘Very soon I shall head for Warwickshire—once the Puritan who took up residence at Arlington Court has been evacuated.’

‘Will you be able to do that—turn him out?’

He nodded. ‘The man was a regicide. His position is threatened now the King has returned. He may not have signed the notorious death warrant for the execution of Charles I, but it is widely known that he actively supported it. He will be lucky to escape with his neck intact. The King has agreed to pardon all those of conscience who appeal for his grace and favour—a generous action in my opinion. However, it does not extend to those who murdered his father—the forty-one men who put their name to that infamous death warrant. It is almost certain that all Royalist properties gained by the regicides and others who supported Cromwell will be rescinded.’

‘Including Arlington Court?’

He nodded. ‘Arlington Court means a great deal to me. The estate was bestowed upon one of my ancestors by the Crown for his acts of heroism and loyalty. Since my father died and the title and estate passed to me, it is my intention to see that this proud heritage is maintained in a manner that represents the grandeur my ancestor earned. I imagine my return will come as something of a shock.’ He smiled down at her. ‘But you need not worry about such things.’

‘But I do—all the time. More so now the monarchy is restored. I pray Thomas will come home. I cannot bear to think of what he is having to endure on that island, and if—when—I have to think positively, you see—he comes home, I would like to think he has one to come home to. As a consequence of my father’s actions and his failure to pay the huge fines levied against him, Mayfield Hall was sequestered. Will it be possible for me or Hester to put forward a petition?’

‘You told me you’ve heard nothing at all from him.’

‘No, nothing,’ she said softly, shaking her head dejectedly.

‘From what I understand, the prisoners’ term of indenture on Barbados is for seven years.’

‘Then why has he not come home?’ Her eyes, big and dark in her face, filled with tears. Her brother’s situation seemed so much worse now that England was at peace and everyone was celebrating the return of the King.

‘I have no idea. I believe when a prisoner’s term of indenture is over they are free to work for themselves or another employer. Those who wish to return to England will have to earn enough to pay for their passage. It is possible that when Thomas was released he decided to stay there.’

‘But if so, then surely he would have written. Unless—unless he didn’t survive. He’s occupied my thoughts so much over the years and I have wondered what has happened to him. I know he will have been put to work on a plantation; that he might have been sold like a slave and forced to perform hard labour on the sugar plantations and treated cruelly. But no matter what has happened to him, I would still like to petition to have Mayfield Hall returned to my family. I think about the tenants and the servants a great deal: the old, the sick and the children who have served my family faithfully for generations, people who were dependent on us. How have they fared, I wonder? It concerns me greatly.’

‘That I can understand. I remember the pain you suffered when you left.’

‘I was fortunate to have stayed at Mayfield for as long as I did. It was a dark day for me the day I left. I felt the darkness of despair and the fear and the knowledge that I would not see my father again. The fear I felt was for the future, not knowing what was to happen. The real reason Father didn’t send me to Hester sooner was because Richard sided with Parliament. We lost contact with Hester during the latter part of the wars. I was so tired of it all and the estrangement.’

‘The wars are over, Arlette. The gaps are closing.’

‘And you are here. I still cannot believe it. In the brief time we were together I felt as if my spirit was alive...as if I had drunk sparkling wine—not that I knew what sparkling wine was like, but I tried to imagine it—and the bubbles were effervescing and bursting inside me. And then you weren’t there any more and I felt quite desperate.’

‘You had Hester.’

She dropped her gaze. ‘Hester wasn’t you.’

Looking at the young woman sitting beside him, at her bowed head and the dejected droop of her shoulders, something of her anguish and despair penetrated William’s mind. Taking her hand he held it tight for a moment, breathing in the faint sweet scent of her, of roses and jasmine, he thought, and rosemary—for remembrance, remembrance of their time together as they had journeyed to London, when the countryside had been crawling with Roundheads searching out fugitives from Worcester. The memories stirred emotions he had long since thought buried.

Holding his hand, Arlette raised it to her cheek and held it there, her eyes brimming with tears. She had to admit to a stirring of emotions she had never experienced—the tremor in the pit of her stomach when he was near, the warming in her heart when he smiled at her—the desolation that he would leave her. She looked at him as if she could not get enough of the sight of him. They were two people, complicit and close, caught in a fragile net of feelings neither of them could comprehend, but each aware that after all the years they had been apart, when they were once again united and with the testimony of yesterday, the memory of that tragic time was etched on their hearts and minds.

William was immediately riveted upon her tip-tilted eyes and the full pink lips. She touched the corner of her mouth with the point of her tongue, which was pink and moist, wetting her bottom lip, and she smiled a little, as if at some secret thought. William stroked her cheek slowly, wiping away a tear that spilled from her eye with a tenderness that gave Arlette goose bumps and made her insides tremble like leaves on a tree caught in a summer breeze.

He slid slowly closer to her, his voice soft and his breath warm as he whispered her name. And then he opened his hand over the contour of her cheek and touched her lower lip with his thumb and caressed it smoothly, slowly. She did not move away—a mixture of terror and pleasure prevented her from doing so. He placed his finger beneath her chin and raised her face to his, resisting the temptation to tenderly cover her mouth with his own.

A shiver ran up Arlette’s spine at the feel of his fingers on her cheek. She basked in his closeness and found she couldn’t move—she had neither the desire nor the strength to do so. Her heart thumped so wildly in her breast that she could hardly breathe. His eyes were both gentle and compelling. The world around her seemed to vanish, leaving her locked in a circle of unreality. Her heart swelled with an emotion of such proportions she was overwhelmed. It was as if she were being sucked down into a pool of deep, dark, swirling water, a turbulence of longing—a longing she had never known before, but which this man could provide.

Recollecting himself, William pulled away. They continued to look at each other with startled eyes, a look that lasted no more than a moment and yet seemed to last an eternity. This strange turn of events was more than either of them had expected for, no matter how attracted William was by her, he had no intention of becoming involved with her for reasons she knew nothing about. He stared at her lovely face, framed by her golden hair flowing down her spine. He noticed how her firm breasts strained beneath the bodice of her gown, how her moist lips trembled as she tilted her head slightly to look at him.

‘My apologies. I forgot my manners. I was quite mesmerised by you for a moment,’ William murmured.

She smiled softly, raising her eyes to his. ‘Don’t apologise. I don’t mind—I care for you, William, and I like it when you touch me—although I shudder to think what Hester would have to say about me sitting on a garden bench in such close proximity to you.’

‘She’d probably thrash me to within an inch of my life,’ he said, his lips breaking into an impudent smile in an attempt to lighten her comment. ‘I’m sorry, Arlette. I got quite carried away—but seeing you here, I am unable to believe my good fortune that I have found you again, that I am here at all.’