Oh, she was so mixed up, so very unsure ofwhatshe wanted. Probably what sheneededto do was to go home to Bath next Monday as planned and get back to her familiar life there. She could be happy at home, as she had always been with Mama and Papa andher brothers and sisters and all the people who came to their house to pursue their own dreams. It was a happiness that had held true since she was nine years old.
But she was twenty-one now. Things had changed, though she did not know quite what she meant bythings.
Anyway, perhaps Owen intended nothing more than a walk and a continuation of their conversation. She hoped that was all. For now, anyway. Perhaps after she had had time to think in the familiarity of her home surroundings and got her head straight on her shoulders again…
Well, who knew what would happenafter? One could be sure only of the present.
—
It was an enormous relief to Nicholas to watch Owen and Miss Cunningham at dinner—seated side by side and talking almost exclusively to each other. That was not normally acceptable in polite circles. One was expected to converse equally with one’s dinner companions on both sides. However, this was more a family gathering than a formal occasion, and he was glad to see them wrapped up in each other, talking with bright animation, laughing together, their heads almost touching. Neither of them ate a great deal. They were more interested in talking. More interested in each other, by the look of it. And then, at the end of dinner, Owen told Devlin that they were going to walk along the riverbank—in the opposite direction from the cottage, Nicholas imagined. And though he held his breath in the hope that Owen would not ruin his sense of relief by inviting someone else to join them, it did not happen.
It was his sincere hope that all was well between those two, that he had not done irreparable harm this afternoon by making a fullouting of his ride with Miss Cunningham and holding her hand and actually kissing her on the island. He still felt hot under the collar when he remembered that.
In the meantime, he was taking care of business on his own account, thoughbusinesswas probably an unfortunate word to choose. He sat beside Grace at dinner and addressed most of his conversation to her. It did him good to be reminded of how quietly dignified, even charming, she was. When he did not try to look deeper, that was. She seemed to have very much enjoyed her visit to Cartref this morning. She told him that Lady Rhys had talked at tea about her former home in Wales and all the family she still had there. She and Sir Ifor spent several weeks of each summer with them, and it was always good to discover that they still had not forgotten how to speak Welsh, even though their relatives insisted that they had very English accents.
“I believe that part of Wales would be a lovely place to visit,” Grace said to Nicholas. “It is by the sea and close to long golden beaches.”
Nicholas found himself almost promising to take her there for their honeymoon. He caught himself in time. There needed to be a proposal and a wedding before there could be any honeymoon.
“They are a people full of music and warm, spontaneous emotion,” he said.
He thought that for a moment she looked almost wistful.
“Would you allow me to order a tea tray sent up to the glass room on the west tower?” he asked her. “It is a lovely place to spend an evening like this and watch the sunset.”
She hesitated. “Will you invite Mama and Papa too?” she asked him.
“No,” he said firmly. “But I will certainly inform them that weare going up there. It is in many ways a very public place, you know. One can see for miles in all directions through the glass, but one can also be seen by anyone who cares to look up. Have you been up there?”
“No,” she said. “I have been to the portrait gallery, but we did not go up to the turret room. Mama was too weary.”
“Will you come now?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Thank you.”
General and Mrs. Haviland, when applied to for permission, looked only too happy to give their consent.
Grace did not immediately sit down when they got to the tower. She turned slowly all about, gazing at the views. Nicholas could see Miss Cunningham and Owen on the road down to the bridge, about to turn right onto the river path, which would take them past the bottom of the meadow and under the overhanging trees beyond. They would have some privacy there. They were obviously talking, their faces turned toward each other, though she did not have her arm through his. She was holding a shawl in place about her shoulders, and Owen had his hands clasped behind his back.
Nicholas wondered if Owen had made up his mind. Did he intend it to be a romantic tryst?
But this was not the time to be thinking of his brother. Or, more important, of Winifred Cunningham.
“It is lovely here,” Grace said. “How wonderful it must have been to grow up here at Ravenswood.”
“Indeed it was,” he said. “And it is lovely to be able to come back here whenever I wish. Devlin and Gwyneth are very sociable. They are never happier than when they have guests here, whether family or friends. Even family and friends with children. And dogs.”
It struck him that she had had a very different upbringing from his. General Haviland as a man of means owned a large home on one of the fashionable squares in London. Mrs. Haviland and her daughter would always have remained there in spacious luxury when he had distant postings. When they were not so distant, they would have joined him and seen a bit of the world. But there was no home in the country.
“They have been very kind,” she said.
A servant arrived carrying a tray with tea for two and a plate of fruitcake sliced thin. He poured the tea for them and withdrew quietly. Grace sat down on one of the sofas, and Nicholas sat beside her. He was relieved to discover that he felt a wave of affection for her.
“You have been avoiding me,” he said.
Her face visibly paled as she stared back at him, her eyes wide. “That is quite untrue,” she said. “It is unfair of you to say such a thing, Colonel Ware. I—”
“Yes, it is,” he said, instantly contrite. “You have been unfailingly courteous to everyone, including me. What I meant was that you have avoided being alone with me. On the day we went driving over the crest of the hills, for example.”
