1. A New Life by Merry Farmer

Author:Merry Farmer [Farmer, Merry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-13T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

O wen had never really believed his da’s insistence that there came a time in a man’s life when he changed from being a boy to a man. But as he sat in church that Sunday, paying more attention to the back of Millie’s head than the vicar’s sermon, he was convinced his da was right after all. Because instead of dreaming about the things he could buy with the money that being a mine foreman would earn him, or the respect his fellow men would give him, all he could think about was how soon he could afford a house and how many children he wanted.

“And so, let us end our service today with Hymn 74, ‘This is My Father’s World’.” The vicar finished his service, and the congregation stood.

Owen grinned as he imagined the day when he and Millie would sit side by side, closer to the front of the church, instead of with Starcross Castle’s staff, the men separated from the women by a wide aisle and several rows. Thoughts of the future lifted his heart, and so he lifted his voice to match, singing the simple hymn with feeling.

“Was that you I heard singing?” Millie asked several minutes later, as they made their way out of the church and over to the shady tree in the corner of the church yard where he’d left their picnic basket.

“Why?” Owen asked. “Did you like the singing?”

Millie giggled, the blush on her fair cheeks so pretty that Owen wanted to take her face in his hands and kiss her right there, church or no.

“I did like it,” she said. “You have a beautiful voice.”

Owen shrugged, sending her a sly grin. “All Welshmen have fine voices. It’s in the water of the Welsh hills. We take it in with our mother’s milk.”

They reached the tree, and he bent to scoop up the basket that the cook, Mrs. Harmon, had put together for them. Millie picked up the blanket she’d brought, and they strolled back toward the path, where the rest of the congregation was leaving the church and heading home.

“I like the things you say.” Millie’s smile was as bright as the sun. “I’ve never heard a man say anything so pretty before.”

“Ah.” Owen nodded. “That’s because poetry flows through a Welshman’s blood just as music flows through his soul.”

Millie laughed, and Owen puffed with pride that he could make her happy.

At least until her smile faltered. The moment the light left her eyes, he looked around to see what had caused the cloud to pass over her sun. It wasn’t hard to find.

At the edge of the church yard, where the path met the road, Lord William was stepping down from a carriage. It was no surprise that the man hadn’t attended church, but what made Owen uneasy was that he was there at all. Unless it was to find some new and heinous way to torment Millie. It rankled Owen that the blackguard lord had set his sights on Millie, and that there wasn’t much he could do about it.

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