‘Oh! I did not hear you. I-'
He interrupted her without apology.
‘Jed is preparing the carriage now. Collect your things and he will take you back to Allingford.'
‘What has happened?' she demanded, alarmed by the urgency in his tone. ‘Why must I hurry?'
Ross stepped up to the table and began to pull off his gloves.
‘Phineas will not pay,' he said shortly. ‘I am letting you go.'
She frowned.
‘I don't understand.'
‘What is so difficult about that?' His response was almost a snarl. ‘Jed is going to take you home as soon as you are ready. Excuse me. I have a great deal to do.'
He strode out and she followed him across the hall to the study.
‘But what about you?'
‘That need not concern you.' He was pulling papers from his desk, paying her very little heed.
‘But...Wheelston?'
‘Once it is known that I am the Dark Rider, Wheelston will be forfeit to the Crown. The tenants should be able to start paying their rents next Lady Day, so I hope they will be allowed to remain.'
She pulled the shawl a little tighter around her.
‘Has my father discovered your identity?'
‘Not yet.'
‘Then you think I will reveal it?'
He looked up.
‘You told me yourself he would force it out of you. I would rather he did not have to. I would not have you suffer for my sake.'
She shook her head slowly.
‘It need not be like that. Phineas cannot question me if he has no legal reason to do so. We will convince him I was never here, adhere to the story I have already told my maid. He will think the Dark Rider was trying to dupe him. You do not need to give up all this, we can keep it a secret. You may trust me.'
He gave a savage laugh.
‘The last time I trusted a woman-'
‘I am not like Hannah!'
‘Even if I believed that, Phineas would drag the truth from you.'
‘Not if he thinks the Dark Rider was lying, that there was no kidnap. After all, what proof did you give him?'
‘He had your letter.' He stopped, his brow furrowed. ‘Although he did admit he could not recognise your handwriting.'
She bit her lip. ‘Please, listen to me. No one need know I have been here, I can deny I wrote the letter to Phineas. Let Jed take me back when it is dark so that no one will recognise the carriage. I will say it was the snow that has kept me away from Allingford longer than I intended-no one will question that.'
‘Do you think Phineas will not do so?'
‘He has no jurisdiction in Allingford.'
‘I am aware of that, but he is a dangerous man.'
Her fingers crept up to the curl resting on her shoulder.
‘Do you think I do not know that? However, he cannot touch me if I stay in Allingford, with my friends. Once it is seen that I am safe and unharmed, he will think someone played a trick upon him.' She could see that he was wavering and she added softly, ‘I will not betray you. You have my word.'
‘Why should you do this for me?'
She blushed. Why indeed?
‘Let us say I am atoning for past mistakes. And besides, you have been wronged by my father.'
He met her eyes for a moment, his own dark with suspicion. At last he said, ‘The carriage will be at the door in a moment. You should get ready.'
‘You will not quit Wheelston? I assure you there is no need to do so on my account.' When he did not reply she put a hand on his arm. ‘Please, Ross, do not judge all women by the standards of Hannah Weston.'
It was the first time she had called him by his name. She saw the flicker of surprise in his face, quickly suppressed. He covered her hand with his own and his touch shocked her. It burned her skin and her hand trembled, causing his fingers to tighten as if he thought she would pull away from him. Charity raised her eyes to his face and his fierce, burning glance set her heart racing, thudding so hard and so erratically that it was difficult to breathe.
The air around them had changed; it was suddenly heavy and oppressive, charged with anticipation. Ross was staring down at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. She forced her eyes away from that disturbing gaze, but they moved no further than his mouth. How was it she had not noticed before the sensual curve of his lips? Her fevered brain began to imagine how those same lips would feel on her skin, not just her mouth. She had read of such things, heard them discussed by her friends in the theatre and had always thought the idea of giving a man such licence quite abhorrent, but now, with Ross holding her hand she suddenly wanted nothing more than to have him explore her body. She felt that familiar ache between her thighs and a hungry longing possessed her. An invisible thread was drawing her closer. She was a moth to his flame; if they came together she would disintegrate, but she didn't care....
A hasty step, a sharp knock on the door and Jed appeared.
‘The carriage is ready, Master. I don't want to be keeping the horses standin' in this weather.'
The spell was broken. With a start Charity stepped back and Ross made no attempt to stop her when she pulled her hand free, but he kept his eyes on her face while he addressed his servant.
‘There has been a change of plan, Jed. Mrs Weston will go home after dark, so you may take the horses back to the stables until later.'
She felt a rush of pleasure and when they were alone again she waited, her body tingling with a need she did not fully understand. Would he reach for her now, drag her into his arms and kiss her until she forgot the world? Her skin was on fire from her toes to the very top of her head. She was almost quivering with anticipation, wanting to hurl herself across the short distance between them and cover his face with kisses, but something held her back, a deeply inculcated belief that he would be repulsed by such behaviour.
Face the facts, Charity Weston. You are the daughter of his enemy. He wants nothing to do with you-however differently you may feel about him.
He had sent Jed away because he had agreed to her plan, not for any wish to make love to her. His continued silence only reinforced this conclusion and after a moment she said, with a reasonable assumption of calm, ‘You are going to stay. I am glad of it and you have my word I will not betray you.'
‘As to that, madam, only time will tell.'
And with that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room.
Chapter Eight
‘Where in hell's name have you been? You have missed the first rehearsals!'
Hywel Jenkin's blunt welcome made Charity smile, despite the faint persistent ache of unhappiness she had felt since leaving Wheelston. She knew that behind the bluff and bluster Hywel would have been concerned at her absence, as was her maid. Betty had interrogated her quite rigorously when she had returned to the house the previous night, wanting to know who were these friends in York and why they had not been mentioned before. In the end Charity had been obliged to give her a gentle reprimand.
‘I am very sorry, Miss Charity, I am sure,' returned Betty, with a disapproving sniff that gave the lie to her apology. ‘It just seems odd that I've been with you all these years and never heard of this Mrs Rawlinson, and neither has Mr Jenkin,' she added, unable to disguise a note of triumph at being able to support her argument.
‘That is because he would have known her unmarried name. It was only by the veriest good luck that we recognised each other at Lady Beverley's the other evening. We had so much to catch up on I was only too happy to return to York with her that night, but of course once the snow set in I was obliged to impose upon her hospitality for a little longer.'
‘Hmm.' Betty sniffed again. ‘Well, p'raps if you'd let me know how long you was staying away I wouldn't have been so worried about you.'
It had taken Charity some time to smooth her maid's ruffled feathers and she had come to the theatre prepared to do the same with Hywel. She had dashed off a note to him as soon as she had returned to North Street, telling him she would be there for the rehearsal the following morning, but she had expected a rare trimming, as she told him now.
‘And you would deserve it, madam. Why, I have already had the handbills printed. I should have been in the devil of a fix if you had not come back. Where have you been, you minx? Who is this Mrs Rawlinson in York?'
Charity only shook her head, saying mischievously, ‘I shall not tell you, my friend, you would not approve!' Seeing he was still looking angry, she said quickly, ‘Nay, Hywel, it was very bad of me to miss rehearsals and I beg your pardon, truly. But I promise you I shall work very hard now.' She met his frowning look with a coaxing smile and after a short struggle with his temper he laughed.