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‘I hope you still feel you can do that, Miss Havenham.’
She shook her head. ‘No. It is your land now, sir.’ She urged Apollo on. ‘We need to press on, if we are to see much more today.’
The Home Wood was extensive and they had not covered the half of it when Clegg drew her attention to the sun, which was sinking low towards the horizon. Belle looked about her, surprised. Had they really been riding for so long?
‘We should be turning back,’ she said. ‘Papa will worry if I am late.’
‘I hope you have enjoyed your time with me, Miss Havenham.’
‘I have, very much.’ Heavens, he would think her far too friendly! ‘But I would have enjoyed pointing out the hidden valleys and bubbling springs to anyone who showed such interest.’ Now she was too casual and felt compelled to compliment him. ‘You are a good student, Mr Monserrat, and you already know a great deal about Morwood.’
‘I have made it my business to study the ground plan and talk to the locals,’ he told her. ‘Those who are not afraid of the ghosts.’
She knew he was teasing her and chuckled. ‘If there are ghosts here they are friendly ones, for I have never felt in the least uneasy, even in the ruins of the house itself. But I have never seen anyone from Stanton here, which is why I am surprised they know so much about it.’
‘Ah, but I pick up a great deal of information from the taproom of the Red Lion, so perhaps the people I have spoken with make more, er, nocturnal visits.’
‘You mean poachers! That is much more likely. I hope you are not planning any dark nefarious deeds of your own, sir!’
Instead of the laugh she expected, his face darkened and there was a dangerous glitter in his eyes. It was gone in a moment and Annabelle wondered if she had imagined it. Mayhap it had been a cloud passing across the sun, because now he was smiling at her again.
‘We have not seen the half of the Morwood estate yet, Miss Havenham. I would like to ride out with you again, if you will?’
‘Why, yes, if you wish—and if the weather holds.’
She gave him a shy smile. Again Lucas felt that uncomfortable prickle of conscience. He shrugged it aside. He meant the chit no real harm, after all.
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