The Scandalous Lydia Wickham (Pemberley Presents) by Eliza Austin

Author:Eliza Austin [Austin, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2024-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

13

Patrick asked directions at the inn and found Heston’s cottage on the edge of Denton village without difficulty. It was larger than those that surrounded it and appeared to be well maintained. He dismounted, tied Gladiator’s reins to a stout gatepost and adjured his horse not to eat any of the thriving shrubs that he appeared to be eyeing with speculative interest. He then walked up a neatly raked path edged by crowded flower borders, his boots crunching on the gravel, and rapped at the door with his crop. He wondered if he would recognize Heston after all these years. But when the door was opened by the cottage’s owner and his weathered face lit up with pleasure at the sight of his visitor, those years fell away and Patrick would have known his father’s old manager anywhere.

‘Mr Shannon, it’s a pleasure to see you again, sir.’

‘It’s good of you to say so, Heston.’

‘I heard you’d returned and hoped you would honour me with a visit,’ he said, standing back to afford Patrick admittance.

Patrick shook the man’s hand warmly. His stance was still rigidly upright and he had maintained the full head of unruly hair Patrick remembered so well, even if it was snow white nowadays. Intelligence gleamed as bright as always from grey eyes that regarded Patrick with genuine-seeming affection.

‘I’m happy to see you looking so fit, Heston.’

‘Oh, I believe in keeping myself active; that’s the key to good health.’

Patrick stepped over the threshold and came face to face with a woman hovering in the background, obviously Heston’s wife. Patrick didn’t remember her but then he had been away at school for the majority of the time when Heston had worked for his father and wouldn’t have had occasion to meet the man’s wife. Heston made the introduction and Patrick exchanged a few pleasantries with her as she led them into a neat sitting room and invited Patrick to take the chair beside the fire. She served them with refreshments and then excused herself, her expression apprehensive as she closed the door behind her.

‘How have you been, Heston?’ Patrick asked, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing them at the ankles. ‘You look to be thriving.’

‘Well, like I say, I’m a man who doesn’t take naturally to idleness.’

‘The garden is your work, I imagine,’ Patrick remarked, glancing out of the window and admiring the orderly riot of colour.

‘That it is.’ He shifted his backside in his chair and fixed Patrick with a probing gaze. ‘I’m mighty glad to see you, sir. I’ve waited a long time for this day.’

That assertion surprised Patrick. ‘You knew I would have questions about the doomed silk mill when I returned?’

‘And my abrupt departure from that enterprise.’ The older man nodded. ‘That I did, and I’ve been waiting ten years to tell my story. Plenty have asked but you’re the only one who has a right to know.’

‘You intrigue me, Heston. Nothing will persuade me that you were anything other than

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