“Emily will not be a worry and, besides, she is not yet here. I honestly cannot think of a single thing that those two could do to me. Or to you while you reside under my protection.”
Gemma smiled, feeling a sense of relief in Nathan’s sublime confidence. But the worry still remained, eating away at the back of her mind, refusing to be entirely dispelled.
“I cannot remain here forever though. Even if Emily arrives and we discover that we are the best of friends. It would still not be appropriate for me to simply take up residence here. And once I leave…I’m sorry, that is hardly your problem to bear.”
Nathan frowned, sipping his tea, and stroking his chin with his other hand. “You can remain here for as long as you like. And the problem of your cousins can be addressed by legal means. I shall write to my solicitor in York this morning to seek his advice. That is how we will beat them. In the meantime, I should like you to enjoy your time here. I will show you the castle and the grounds. Do you ride?”
“I have not since I was a girl,” Gemma admitted.
“A Lady should ride. I will help you refresh your memory,” Nathan replied.
Gemma found herself beaming and her face coloring. It was not the blush of embarrassment but rather contented happiness. She knew that this bliss could not last. It had the feeling of a dream. A castle in which she was protected from those who sought to harm her. A chivalrous and brave nobleman to protect her. Even a maid of her own. Gemma had never known many of the accouterments which she knew many Ladies simply took for granted. Maids, horses to ride, and lovely clothes to wear. Since her father’s death, such things had been denied to her.
“Does Dunkeswick not maintain a stable?” Nathan asked.
“My father did. It is now my cousin’s but he does not allow me to ride. There are many things that he does not allow,”
She watched Nathan’s face darken and sought to change the subject.
I do not know the limits of this man. It may be that he becomes angry at the drop of a hat and acts as impulsively as I am prone to. I do not want him getting in Elliot’s way and getting hurt. Or killed.
“Would you mind if we did not talk of my cousins?” Gemma asked. “It is not a pleasant subject for me,”
Nathan nodded slowly, placing his tea back on its saucer. Gemma was amazed by his skills, she found herself forgetting that he was blind at all.
“How did it happen, if you don’t mind me asking?” Gemma asked.
Nathan waved a hand before his eyes. “This?”
Gemma nodded, then quickly added, “Yes.”
“A blow to the back of my head during a battle. When I awoke, I could not see. And my sight, contrary to what the physicians believed, has not returned.”
“When was that?”
“1815. The last scrap with Bonaparte and his bullies,” Nathan said.
“So, in five years you have learned all…of the things you can do?” Gemma was amazed. “All of the…magic?”
Nathan laughed. She found it an easy and infectious sound. It was difficult not to join in and impossible not to smile. When he laughed his face was illuminated, as though by a glow from within. If ever a face was made for smiling and laughter, it was Nathan’s.
“Yes, through hard work. Every day. It was that or die of self-pity. And I refuse to roll over and die because life was never easy for me.”
Gemma pondered that sentiment, considering her own life. Nathan spoke as though reading her thoughts.
“I have a comfortable life though, with a fortune at my fingertips and a great old house to suit me. I could not ask for a softer cushion on which to land after my misfortune. How is it that you come to be at the mercy of two reprobates as that?”
“My father became ill and died two years ago. I was still in my minority then and my father specified in his will that I should be made a ward of the Baron of Dunkeswick, who was his cousin and close friend. But the Baron was old and infirm. His son, Eugene, whom I grew up with, was running the house. At first, he was kind to me. When his father died, within a matter of months, that changed. Elliot, his younger brother, came to the house to live and the two of them began to treat me…poorly.”
“Poorly?” Nathan asked, leaning forward in his chair.
“Little better than a servant. I was made to take empty rooms in the servant’s quarters and carry out the duties of a servant. I was always told that I was a burden to them through no fault of their own, and must…earn my keep.”
She felt ashamed to be saying it, sharing her disgrace with another. At the same time, there was a sense of relief, of unburdening herself.
“I sought the aid of my father’s solicitor, in London, writing to him in secret. He replied that I had no authority or power to resist my cousins but that I had the freedom to leave whenever I wished. While I remained their ward and in my minority, I could not even do that. His only advice was to wait until I was eighteen and then take my leave. But, I had no money, nowhere to go. Nothing. So, how could I leave?”
“But what of your father’s estate?” Nathan asked. “Surely, he left you something. Were there any other children? Any other heirs?”
