The Passions of Lord Trevethow by Bronwyn Scott

Author:Bronwyn Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-12-06T19:41:03+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Pen could see why he’d chosen this spot. It was peaceful and green. There was a pasture with deer and cows to one side and a keeper’s lodge to the other. The Serpentine served as one border and Kensington Gardens served as another. Within the enclosure, two springs contributed to the country coolness of the space. ‘Would you like a glass?’ Cassian offered as they strolled past an old woman sitting at a table beside the springs. Oscar gave her a friendly high-pitched puppy yap. ‘One of the springs is a mineral spring.’ Cassian stopped and fished out coins from his pocket for two glasses. ‘You should try some. The water is always cold. Perfect for a warm day like today.’ He gave her a glass and they went to the spring to drink.

Pen sipped the water, tentative about the taste. She smiled, pleasantly surprised as the cool water slid down her throat. ‘It’s so much more refreshing than hot tea. What’s the other spring for? Is it mineral water, too?’

‘People come to bathe their eyes from it. I don’t know if it works. Do you have weak eyes? Should we try?’ Cassian laughed and the sound made her smile. This was the man she’d wandered the St Piran’s Day fair with, to whom everything was an adventure.

‘I’ll pass on that today. My eyes are fine.’ She could feel herself starting to relax, starting to remember how it was between them, how easily they talked, how comfortably they moved together. Surely those things weren’t lies? Remembering made it easy to forget the wariness she’d armed herself with, the knowledge that this man, who wasn’t dangerous to Em, was indeed dangerous to Pen. She needed to determine how dangerous and in what ways.

‘I think the enclosure’s gamekeeper has the best job in the world,’ Cassian nodded towards the lodge with its picturesque gardens. ‘To be able to live here, surrounded by the feel of the countryside, and still be in one of the world’s most vibrant cities. Anything he wants or needs is within his grasp without sacrificing tranquillity.’ He gave her a smile. ‘How do you find your first time in London?’

‘In a word, overwhelming. There are so many rules, so many people, so many things to do and to see, and everything seems to require a change of dress to do it. Phin is determined that I see it all. He’s taken me everywhere: the Tower, Astley’s, Gunter’s, we’ve seen the cathedrals, the British Museum, the art at Somerset House. I’ve shopped on Bond Street incessantly and excessively. I’ve never had as many clothes or needed as many.’ This was safe conversation. It was personal but not terribly probing. There was nothing dangerous in it, no disclosures, no secrets.

They stopped beneath a shady oak. Cassian brushed off the bench, freeing it of tree debris for her to sit. Em would not have cared, but Em hadn’t worn expensive Bond Street gowns. ‘Can’t have you ruining your dresses,’ he teased.

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