‘No, no, no. Nothing at all. I just got a surprise when I saw your face, that’s all.’
‘Not an unpleasant surprise, I hope.’ The smile was back.
‘Not at all. I just hadn’t realised you were–’ he tried to think of an adjective less emotive than gorgeous ‘– so attractive.’ He saw her register the compliment, and rushed to temper it. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say things like that. It’s just that in all these months of passing you in the fields, I wasn’t expecting you to be so –’ He was in trouble again.
She took pity on him. ‘You scrub up pretty well yourself. Anyway, thank you for the compliment. A girl likes to hear that she’s still got it.’ The kettle boiled and clicked off. She busied herself with making the tea. A bowl of sugar appeared on the table, but he declined with a shake of the head. A packet of chocolate Hobnobs appeared from the fridge. He gave her a smile.
‘That must be fate. We share the same taste in biscuits. Thank you.’ He took the mug of tea and warmed his hands gratefully around it. She sat down opposite him and proffered the packet of biscuits.
‘Want one?’
‘Very definitely.’ He took one, relieved to see that his hands were not shaking. He had not been in close proximity to a beautiful woman for quite a while now. He cleared his throat. ‘Can I make a confession?’
‘Forgive me father, for I have sinned.’ She was still smiling. ‘Go on, get it off your chest.’
‘I’m really sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name.’
‘It’s Ros. And don’t let it bother you. I remember yours, because I’ve got a brother called Tom. Of course, I’ve known Noah’s name for ages. So what do you do, Tom, if I may ask?’
He allowed his eyes to rest on her as he formulated an answer. She could have come straight out of the pages of Vogue. She was tall and slim. Her hair was a sort of browny-reddish colour, her face speckled with occasional freckles. He made a mental note to check the proper names for women’s hair colouring. Was that auburn, maybe?
‘Is your hair auburn?’
She blinked, reflected, then answered. ‘Sounds good to me. It’s been all colours over the years, and it’s been called a few different names. This is natural me again. I like auburn. We’ll go with that. Now, weren’t you going to tell me what you do for a living?’
‘I write.’ He saw her glance up, and he hastened to clarify. ‘At least, that’s what I spend a lot of my time doing. My normal job is at Exeter University. I teach English, but I’ve taken a year off.’
‘Is that so? Well, we would seem to have more in common than chocolate Hobnobs. I do a bit of writing myself. What are you writing at present?’
He suddenly felt very embarrassed. He took refuge in a version of the truth.
‘Historical novels, mainly. I’ve just finished a trilogy set in the Middle Ages.’
‘Wow. Have you done lots of research? Are you doing research at the moment?’
The embarrassment returned.
‘I had to do lots for the medieval stuff. I came to history relatively late on. I’ve spent most of my spare time over the past ten years reading anything I could get hold of about the twelfth to fourteenth centuries.’
‘Twelfth to fourteenth. That would be before the Tudors and the Stuarts, wouldn’t it? That’s about all the history I did at school.’ She sounded interested.
‘A fair bit before. Henry VII was the first of the Tudor line. If I remember right, he came to power in the 1480s, after the Battle of Bosworth Field. No, my period covers the Crusades, the Cathars, Knights Templar. I suppose we’re talking about a couple of hundred years earlier. To be honest, most of my research has been on French history. I’m not that well up on England.’
‘Who were the Cathars, again?’ She screwed up her face and tilted her head to one side, as she struggled to remember. Even with her face screwed up, she still looked amazing.
‘Southern France in the 1200s. They were wiped out by the Catholic Church. Their beliefs were branded as heretical.’
‘“Branded as heretical?” Why do you say that? Weren’t they heretics?’
‘They called themselves “Good Christians”. Their views were unorthodox, but not deserving of genocide. They believed in the duality of God –’ He stopped himself in time. ‘I’m sorry, unless you are very careful you’ll still be here tomorrow morning, with me droning on. So what about you? What sort of writing do you do? Wait a minute, let me guess. You’re a fashion journalist. Am I right?’
To his surprise, she nodded. ‘That’s what pays the bills, and lets Sophie and me live down here in the country six days a week.’
He noted that she only mentioned herself and the dog.
‘For fun, I write whodunits. At least I’ve finished one, and I’m thinking about the next. But tell me, how do I get hold of these books of yours?’
‘Not on the shelves, I’m afraid. I’ve been beating my head against a wall for years, trying to get somebody in the trade to read one of them. Every time I send off a synopsis I get the same reply: “I’m afraid” – ’
‘“Your work is not suitable for our list.”‘ Clearly this was something else they had in common. ‘“But this does not mean to say that another publisher or agent or whatever won’t find your work appealing etc. etc.” Signed by a girl called Fenella or Lysistrata. Tell me about it. I’ve been there too.’
He changed the subject in case she asked him what research he was currently undertaking. ‘So you spend six days here each week. What about the seventh?’ He really wanted to know with whom she spent the seventh.
‘I’ve got a little place in London. Sophie and I take the train up most Sundays. If all goes well, we are back on the train again on Monday evening. Although I work from home most of the time, I like to keep up personal contact with my editor. I wouldn’t want her to forget me.’
‘I can’t imagine anybody forgetting you in a hurry.’
If she heard what he said, she gave no sign. ‘Of course, during spring and autumn collection time, I’m away a bit more. But I love Devon, and can’t wait to get back down here. And dear old Soph loves it to death.’
‘So when are you off to the bright lights again?’
‘Well, my editor is on holiday in the Caribbean, so I haven’t been up to London this week. I imagine I’ll be off on Sunday.’
‘So you will be here on Saturday?’
‘I certainly will.’
‘If you’ve nothing better to do, perhaps you might let me buy you dinner to say thank you for the tea and the shelter?’ Asking a woman out was something else he hadn’t done for quite some time. He suddenly found himself feeling quite unusually nervous.
‘Dinner in return for a cup of tea seems a rather unfair trade. But, if you are sure, I’d love to.’
He felt his spirits soar. But, no sooner had he registered his delight, than a sense of guilt had him questioning whether he was doing the right thing. It was too late now, he supposed. He cleared his throat.
‘Wonderful. Now I think the rain has passed for the moment, so I’d better make a break for freedom. Pick you up at seven thirty on Saturday?’
She nodded. Upon opening the door, they found Sophie the spaniel and a soggy Labrador squeezed together on the old armchair that served as a dog bed.
Somehow, neither of them chose to comment.
‘Come on Noah, let’s head for home before it gets too dark to see.’