‘Not necessary?’ he ground out. ‘Have we nothing to say to one another after so long?’
‘If you had something to say to me, I imagine you would not have waited seven years to air it,’ Deborah snapped. She took a deep breath and looked away, striving for composure. She would not give him the satisfaction of guessing that she’d pined for him for years after he went away. She would never let him know that she’d wanted to write to him in the Indies but had felt unable to abase herself and beg an address from his friend, the Earl of Gresham, so she might do so. Nor would she have needed to do so if Randolph Chadwicke had been true to his parting words on that glorious day when Marcus Speer had married Jemma Bailey.
At the reception, away from prying eyes in an alcove in the hallway of Marcus’s magnificent mansion, Randolph had kissed her and told her that he must go away to sort out pressing family matters, but that he would write to her as soon as he could. Obviously he had never found the time or the inclination to put pen to paper and say where he was, or how he was doing, or when he would return and issue that unspoken proposal that had thrilled in the air between them. But no disaster had befallen him to prevent a communication. She had heard through her friends that Randolph Chadwicke was still in the Indies with his older brother.
‘I didn’t wait one year and well you know it,’ Randolph muttered viciously through his teeth. He’d deliberately put too little volume in the words. He was equally keen not to reveal he’d been wounded by their ill-starred attraction. ‘You sound as though you might have missed me, Miss Cleveland,’ Randolph drawled as his eyes roamed over her classic pearl-skinned profile.
This time she heard very well what he’d said, just as he’d intended she should. A bubble of laughter met his conceit, but she swallowed the immediate denial that sprang to her tongue. It would sound false however she expressed it. ‘Perhaps I did at first, sir,’ she insou-ciantly agreed. ‘But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.’ A smile was forced to her lips. ‘I was just a girl of eighteen when last we spoke.’ She raised cornflower-blue eyes to his, held his narrowed gaze for a significant long second whilst adding, ‘Now I am a woman.’ Her brashness withered beneath lupine eyes. She felt suddenly uneasy for having implied something that was quite untrue, and she was at a loss to know why she’d done it.
‘Despite all that water and experience you recognised me straight away,’ he reminded her very quietly.
‘As you did me,’ she returned in a snap and then swiftly turned to stare at the sea sparkling in the distance. Her mind was in turmoil. She felt unprepared and unequal to dealing with this meeting. Once she had longed for it to occur; she had prepared in minute detail what she would wear and what she would say. But the event had sprung up defiantly when she’d believed the chance of it doing so had expired. She was at a loss to recall any of that witty conversation that had for years whirled in her mind, and her outfit was sensible rather than seductive. ‘I didn’t intend to sound brusque a moment ago,’ she hastened on. What was she thinking of? Seductive? She no longer wished to attract him, she reminded herself. ‘I have rather a lot to do. I expect you, too, have a lot to do as you are in the area on business.’ She inclined her head towards the forge. ‘I see Donald Smith is again looking for you. He is a stickler, so I’ve heard, for having his bills immediately settled.’ She imagined Donald would not be too worried that this gentleman might abscond without paying. She ran a discreet eye over the impressive masculine figure beside her. His tailored jacket and snugly cut buff breeches were of obvious quality and the long leather riding coat that carelessly covered them looked to have been topstitched by a master craftsman. She remembered that she’d always admired how well his lofty, muscular body suited formal attire when they’d socialised together at balls and parties.
But all that was gone and forgotten. Charming and elegant he might have contrived to be, but she knew it all for a sham. He’d been a practised flirt and she’d been naïve enough to take his empty promises seriously. She extended gloved fingers. ‘It is nice to have met you again, Mr Chadwicke. I hope your business in the area goes well.’ It seemed he was not going to match her polite farewell. A firm clasp tightened on her hand as she made to slip it free after an appropriate time had passed.
‘I have to go home now. My mother will wonder what has become of me.’ Deborah again wriggled her fingers against the warmth of his palm whilst scouring her mind for a polite yet meaningless remark. ‘Of course, if you find business ever again brings you this way, sir, you must come and see us.’
He looked down at those fidgeting digits and slowly released them. ‘Thank you for the invitation,’ he said softly. ‘I shall call on you tomorrow afternoon.’
‘I didn’t mean this time—’ Deborah blurted before her pearly teeth nipped at her lower lip. She hadn’t intended to sound quite so inhospitable, but she wasn’t sure she could cope with again being tormented with his presence. This impromptu meeting had set her pulse accelerating alarmingly; she couldn’t countenance sitting and politely taking tea whilst brooding on memories of what had happened seven years ago. The disturbing knowledge that just ten minutes of his company had the power to stir to life embers of emotions she’d believed withered to ashes made her heart constrict beneath her ribs. ‘It would be better to leave a social call till your next trip to Sussex,’ she insisted, dipping her head in readiness to step away.
‘Why next time? I should like to see the Viscountess before I leave the area.’
‘She is plain Mrs Woodville now and not always in the best of health.’
‘Then I should certainly like to have the opportunity to pay my respects to her, if I may. I remember both your parents with fondness.’
Deborah looked about as though hoping something might catch her eye and allow her to distract him.
‘Where is your house?’
‘Oh…not far. It takes me only about twenty minutes if walking briskly towards Rye.’
‘You have no carriage or servants accompanying you today?’
‘I did set out with a vehicle and a driver…’ Deborah hesitated, feeling oddly reluctant to disclose to him the tale of her servant’s misfortune. She concluded there could be no harm in recounting what had happened to Fred. ‘My driver was set about by some bullies whilst I was shopping.’ She grimaced in a mix of regret and disgust at the memory of it. ‘I sent Fred on ahead in the trap so he might rest in case he is concussed.’
‘I’ll walk with you,’ Randolph said, quietly adamant.
‘There’s no need,’ Deborah immediately countered. ‘I’m quite able to look after myself. But thank you in any case for your concern.’
‘I’ll walk with you,’ Randolph repeated with such grit in his voice that Deborah blinked nervously at him. As though to impress on her that he meant what he said, he took her elbow and moved her determinedly with him towards the forge.
Once the bill had been paid, and Donald had tugged at his forelock several times before ambling back in to the smithy, they set off along the lane that led to Rye with the magnificent stallion clopping docilely at his master’s heels.
At first they proceeded in silence, both seemingly deep in their own thoughts. Debbie’s feverish mind had been occupied in searching for an innocuous topic of conversation that would skirt any past intimacy between them, yet be absorbing enough to fill the twenty minutes that stretched ahead. The most obvious subject was settled upon. Their mutual friends would provide all that was needed to fill the time until they reached Woodville Place.
‘I have recently had a letter from Jemma—’ ‘What caused those louts to attack your driver?’ They had spoken together and fell silent together too. Deborah realised she’d had no reason to fear he’d been brooding on their past and might increase her uneasiness by referring to it. She was unsure whether to feel relieved or indignant that Fred’s misfortune seemed of more interest to him.
Randolph