She waited for him to come up to her. Despite the busy market bustling all around them there was no one close enough to hear their conversation and they might as well have been alone. He stopped in front of her, irresolute. There was so much to say, yet Annabelle could not voice any of it. Perhaps it was the same for Lucas. At length he cleared his throat.
'I did not have the opportunity to say goodbye to you last week, Miss Havenham.'
Miss Havenham. So formal, after she had heard her name on his lips in the most tender of moments. It stung her to retort.
'I was in the sitting room when you left, sir, as you could have ascertained, had you wished to do so.'
'I was afraid,' he said bluntly. 'My mood was such that I might have uttered words better left unsaid.'
'And should I be grateful for that?'
He winced at her scornful tone. 'Yes. Your father and I agreed-we are both doing our best to protect you.'
Anger and misery welled up inside her. Perhaps they were right, perhaps they were protecting her, but should she not be allowed some say in her own future? Apparently not. She thought it best to remain angry, since the alternative was to give way to the threatening tears, so she waved him away.
'Let me pass. You can have nothing more to say to me.'
He caught her wrist as she tried to step around him. 'Why did you agree to drive out with my cousin? was that to punish me?'
'Perhaps.' She would not admit she had not known what she was agreeing to.
He pulled her closer. 'Promise me one thing,' he muttered urgently. 'I have to go to London shortly, to see my lawyers and organise for Oakenroyd to be restored to your father. Promise me, while I am gone, you will do nothing … rash.'
She drew herself up. 'I think, sir,' she replied with icy calm, 'you have forfeited any right to tell me what to do.' He was still holding her, his grip like an iron band around her wrist. She said coldly, 'Please let me go now.'
'Belle!'
She hardened her heart. She had tried to help him, to comfort him, but her forgiving nature had brought her nothing but wretched unhappiness. She could not allow herself to weaken.
'Let me go!'
'Not until I-'
'So there you are, Cousin! I thought you had left without me.'
Whatever Lucas was going to say was interrupted by Captain Duggan's hearty call. Belle pulled herself free from his grasp and hurried off. Tears were not far away and she would not for the world have anyone see them.
Lucas stared after her. Blast Hugh for interrupting. Or perhaps he should be grateful. He had given his word to Samuel that he would keep away from Annabelle and give her time to forget him, yet here he was already seeking her out. Hugh came up to him, panting slightly from the exertion.
'Miss Havenham was in a hurry to get away,' he observed. 'I do hope she has not changed her mind about driving out with me tomorrow. Is that it, Lucas, did she give you a message for me?'
'No, nothing like that,' Lucas responded quickly. 'I suppose you want to borrow my curricle for your drive tomorrow?'
'Well, yes, Cos, since I have no vehicle of my own. You told me you would be working at the manor all day tomorrow, so I thought you wouldn't mind?'
'Of course not. Rudd shall harness up the greys for you.'
'Not your matched bays?'
'I allow no one to drive the bays but me.' He saw his cousin was inclined to argue and said curtly, 'It is the greys or nothing, Hugh. Take it or leave it.'
His cousin grinned. 'Oh, very well, damn you! I don't suppose anyone in this out-of-the-way place can tell the difference between the two teams.'
Annabelle can, thought Lucas. She saw at a glance that the bays were quality. He became aware of Hugh's arm, linked companionably through his own and another thought quickly followed: I hope she is as good a judge of men.
It rained heavily during the night and Annabelle wondered if Captain Duggan might be obliged to call off their proposed drive. She almost hoped he would, but at the appointed time a carriage drew up outside Croft Cottage, pulled by a pair of beautiful high-stepping greys. Stifling a sigh, she put on her bonnet and went outside.
'Good day to you, Miss Havenham. My cousin has loaned us the use of his curricle, you see, so we shall look very smart, tooling around the countryside, eh?'
Annabelle allowed him to hand her into the vehicle, her eyes flicking briefly to the empty rumble seat. She wondered if she should refuse to accompany him without a servant, but quickly dismissed the idea. This was Stanton. She had grown up here and was quite in the habit of going out alone. Pride would not allow her to consider that her reduced circumstances might make her more vulnerable.
'I thought we might take a drive to Morwood,' Captain Duggan continued. 'We can see what progress my cousin is making with the park there, what do you say to that, Miss Havenham?'
Belle forced herself to smile. She could only hope they would not see Lucas while they were there.
Captain Duggan set off down the High Street at a pace that had Annabelle clutching at the side of the curricle. She said nothing, but could not help comparing his erratic driving very unfavourably with that of his cousin and was only thankful that he did not have the bays harnessed to the centre pole.
'I did think at first that we could drive around the park at Oakenroyd,' remarked the captain as he hauled the team sharply around a bend. 'But you will be very familiar with that, and it won't be long before you are back there as mistress, will it?' He laughed. 'Oh, you need not look so surprised, ma'am, my cousin has no secrets from me. He told me the other day that he was giving Oakenroyd back to your father.'
'Yes, he has been most generous.'
'Aye, uncommonly so, although perhaps he hopes to gain your favour by this gesture.'
'I do not think so.'
'Really?'
Belle struggled to maintain her composure, but after a moment she managed to reply coolly, 'Really. My father is opposed to any alliance with Mr Blackstone.'
'Well, that is dashed good news, if you don't mind my saying so.' Belle stiffened, but he continued, quite unabashed, 'Lucas may be the richest fellow in Stanton, but I know his manners can be a little rough, and after what he did to your father I can understand Havenham setting his face against him-'
'Ah, we have arrived at Morwood,' she interrupted him, anxious to change the subject. 'I haven't seen the park for some weeks, how different it looks.'
'Aye, it always looks its best in the autumn.' He slowed the curricle and turned into the park.
Belle had forgotten how beautiful the park could be, with the leaves turning to gold upon the trees. In the distance was the manor, still surrounded by scaffolding and tiny figures of the men moving around it. One of them might well be Lucas.
'I hope Mr Blackstone will not object to our driving here.'
'Oh, I am sure he won't,' replied the captain cheerfully. 'I am his heir, after all. I was not planning to drive up to the house, unless you wish to do so, Miss Havenham?'
'No, no, not at all.'
'Good. It's little more than a building site at the moment, so there is nothing of interest there. We'll tool around the park for a while, then see what progress has been made on the woodland carriageways.'
Driving around the park with captain Duggan was a very different experience to Belle's previous visits in Lucas's company. The captain was interested in the changes only as far as they improved the value of the estate, and despite his constant references to the happy times he had spent at Morwood, Belle was left with the impression that he saw the house and its grounds as a commodity and not a home. When they drove down to the lake his comments were fixed upon the value of the timber rather than the beauty of their surroundings. Annabelle decided that if he was trying to impress her he had failed miserably. She did not like the way he leaned against her when he had some point to make, nor his constant allusions to his 'inheritance'. She began to wish she had not accepted his invitation and she was quite relieved when it was time to turn for home.
'Well, that was very pleasant,' he declared as they drew up outside Croft Cottage. 'Shall we do this again, Miss Havenham?'
She jumped nimbly down before making her reply. 'I think not, Captain.' She smiled and tried to soften her response. 'Papa and I have a great deal to do over the next few weeks and I really will not have time for pleasure jaunts. But thank you, sir, for your time today.'
Captain Duggan did not look best pleased with his dismissal, but Belle could not help that. She hurried inside, watching from the sitting-room window as he drove away.
'Ah, Belle, my love.' Her father came in. 'Did I leave my book in here? I was reading Horace … ' He smiled absently at her. 'Have you been out, my dear?'