Untouched Mistress by Margaret McPhee

Author:Margaret McPhee
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

It was a full day before the hired carriage clattered into the yard of the Crown in Appleby, and only fifteen minutes later that it departed again with Lord Varington and Helena on board. Lord Varington’s pace was recklessly hurried, especially for a carriage that had neither the quality of springs nor plush comfort of his own. Nevertheless Helena made no complaint. Indeed she was glad that she was forced to think of something else other than the presence of the man sitting opposite and what he now was to her. Protector, in name if not yet aught else. Last night he had kept to his own room and she to hers. Helena was torn between relief and disappointment.

‘You are sure that returning to Ayrshire is the best thing to do?’ Helena clung to the securing strap as she asked the question.

‘Positive.’

‘If you are mistaken, my lord…’

‘I am not mistaken, Helena.’ The corner of his mouth flickered up in that self-assured teasing manner so familiar of him. ‘And you need not keep calling me “my lord”. My given name is Guy.’

She blushed like some schoolroom miss. ‘Guy.’ His name sounded too familiar upon her tongue, reminding her of what she had promised this man in return for his protection.

His smile deepened.

As did the peachy hue upon her cheeks. ‘I did not expect that we would turn around directly and head back to Scotland.’

‘Neither will Tayburn.’

She hoped that he was right. ‘What is your plan?’

‘To ensure the transfer of your family to a place of safety.’

She watched him across the small space that divided them, confident that this man would do all that he had promised, knowing that she had made the right decision. ‘Thank you, my lor…’ She caught herself and then said, ‘Thank you, Guy.’

‘You’re welcome, but it’s no more than I agreed to do,’ he said.

Her gaze dropped, all the more aware of exactly what her side of the agreement was.

‘And we shall both rest a deal easier knowing that Tayburn cannot manipulate you through them.’

‘Yes.’ Such a little word to convey such a depth of emotion. Hope. Relief, A wedge of disbelief that in one fell swoop Sir Stephen Tayburn’s power could be destroyed. ‘It has been five long years since the nightmare started. I can scarcely believe that it will soon be over.’

‘How has he held you to him all this time?’

‘You evidently do not know St Vey. There is nothing on the island save Stephen’s stronghold—Dunleish Castle. It was my prison. He kept me locked in my bedchamber for the first year. Thereafter, I was permitted access to various other specified rooms, such as the drawing room, and the dining room. Only in the last few years have I seen something of the outside, but always with a guard, never alone. There was little chance of escape, Stephen was careful of that.’ She glanced away out of the window before adding, ‘And I had seen only too well what befell those that crossed him.’

‘Then how came you to escape at all?’

Some strong emotion flitted across her eyes before she closed them.

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