“Yes, please. At the very least it will be a pleasure before…before…”
He nodded as if he understood. “Yes. Well, the family has held the title since the 1400s. The castle was a fortification, especially during the Hundred Years War. Henry V even stayed here a while.”
“That’s very exciting,” she said, and meant it. The idea of having a home where the famous king had stayed was a thrill. “How did it come to be replaced by the current home?”
Lockhart rolled his eyes. “You know how those with power and money are. They sometimes don’t take care of their responsibilities. The castle was left in disrepair while the family stayed in other places. It began to rot. About seventy years ago, my great-great grandfather decided he wanted a fine new manor house and began dismantling it to have Pembrooke Hills built as it is now. Much of the old stone and timber was used in the construction, but the tower remains.”
“I noted the tapestries in some of the parlors,” she said. “Was the one with the lions depicting Henry from back then? Some of the hills around him look like those here.”
He came to a stop and stared at her. “Yes,” he said. “Great God, Lily, I don’t think anyone else has ever noticed that. Indeed, those were made after one of his stays here to celebrate the honor.”
She couldn’t help but smile in pride at his astonishment. He seemed truly pleased that she cared about this topic and she couldn’t deny that she liked pleasing him. Too much. Luckily her thoughts were drawn away from that fact because they were almost at the tower now and it rose up in all its tarnished glory. There were remnants of broken walls near it, overgrown with grass, shrubs and flowers that poked their heads out from between gaps in the stones.
“It’s lovely,” she breathed, and stepped forward. “Oh, it must have beenmagnificentin its prime.”
“Yes,” he said, wistfulness to his tone. “I wish I could have seen it as it was. I can imagine it, of course, and spent many a day as a boy doing just that. I fought a great many battles defending the old castle, I admit.”
She laughed. “Oh, that’s a very sweet thought.”
“Sweet?” he scoffed. “No. Never. Well, perhaps. A child doesn’t understand war, so I think it was all a bit romantic to me.” Their eyes locked a moment and he cleared his throat before he continued, “There are old plans in the library, some sketches here and there and a few paintings. I can show you them later if you’d like. But when you stand here where she used to be, you feel how wonderful she was.” He sighed. “Perhaps when I’m earl, I’ll do a little renovation. At least bring the tower back to her former glory.”
She faced him and found him staring up at the remains, his expression far away. The sunlight was on his face and he looked so…different. Not just the confident rake who could seduce with the cock of an eyebrow, but something deeper. More interesting, at least to her.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” she said softly.
He glanced at her and for a moment their eyes held. Then he looked away. “Would you like to look inside?”
“Oh yes!” she said, and followed him as he led her carefully over the broken stones and knotty bushes that grew up in the open spaces. “What were the men doing that first day when I arrived? The ones you helped with the horse.”
“Oh,” he said. “When areas of the new house and stables need masonry repair, they come and collect stones here.”
“That makes perfect sense, they’re the perfect match after all.” She drew in a breath as he unlatched the tower door and pushed it open with a creak.
She stepped in and drew in a deep breath of the cold, wet smell of the stone. It was dim inside, the only light coming from the small, uncovered windows high above. The space where they stood was large and open. There was a trap door on the floor and then a small opening that led to spiraling stairs.
“I’d take you up, but it’s narrow and not very safe,” he said. “The trap door leads to what was once the castle prison.”
She looked at him with a laugh. “You have your own prison? I’ll try not to break any rules, then.” He swallowed and she realized how those teasing words could sound. She smoothed her hands over her skirt and then said, “It’s wonderful. I can see why you’re fascinated. And I can think of five different things you could do with this tower if you do decide to recover it to its full beauty over time. Thank you for showing me.”
“Of course.”
He stepped back out of the door and she followed. Once more they picked their way through the stones. They were almost past the outer walls of the original structure when her foot caught on a hidden root of a bush and she staggered. As much as she tried to right her balance, she couldn’t. He seemed to realize it, for he grabbed for her hand as she stumbled forward and she hit his chest with her full weight. His arms came around her to steady her and for a moment all time stilled.
She stared up at him, trying not to react to the clench of his fingers against her spine, the warmth of his chest against hers. His breath was short and his pupils dilated. There was no doubt that he, like her, was moved by this. That he recalled just as easily the last time they’d been in each other’s arms. And how effortlessly they could go back to that moment, forget themselves and surrender to the desire that still pulsed here, dangerous and wrong.
It took all her self-control to extract herself from his embrace and step back. She dropped her gaze from his and sighed. “If we cannot find a way to…to fix this, I’ll have to leave. To protect her, to keep from ruining her future, I’ll have no choice.”
He let out a low sound that was almost pained. “I know. Buthowdo we fix it? It happened. And there are echoes of it everywhere just like the echoes of our voices bouncing off the rocks in that big tower.”
Tears stung at that statement, but she blinked them back. “I feel them too. The memories of that night just…sit in my head. Before I knew the truth, I liked having them there. Liked reliving that stolen night with a man whose face I’d likely never see again.”
“Until you did,” he said softly.
She nodded. “Now when those memories come back it’s not just some wicked gentleman who played my desire until it sang. It’syou, Lockhart.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. She could tell he meant it.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “We didn’t know. You were in the hell looking for a last night before your future was set. Wasn’t that it?”
