A Stranger's Kiss (4 page)

‘Surely not, Sara,’ she said softly, ‘I had hoped we could be friends, for life is dismal here and Violet is such a trial, not to mention ...’ Here she broke off and I had the distinct feeling she was going to name her father as another trial. I was just about to reply when someone took my arm. Turning away from Rosalind I could see it was Violet.

‘You promised to see my studio, Sara,’ she said excitedly, tugging at my bell sleeve, ‘I’ve been looking for you all over.’

I looked at my fobwatch. An hour until luncheon. ‘I have an hour, Violet,’ I said kindly. She was indeed like a child, although a beautiful woman in truth. ‘Excuse me, Miss Tremaine. I accept your kind offer for luncheon when we may continue our conversation.’

Rosalind watched Violet and I as we walked up the staircase, Violet leading me by my hand to Lord knows where and practically pulling me over in her haste as I quickly gathered up my pink skirts in one hand.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked as we turned into the opposite side of the corridor to where my room was situated.

‘To the south tower,’ she said. ‘Silly you, not knowing. Everyone knows my studio is here.’

‘But I am new here, Violet,’ I said breathlessly due to exertion as she led me up a steep flight of stone steps at the end of the corridor. On reaching the top I took a moment to get my breath as Violet fumbled in the side pocket of her mauve dress for what was obviously a key to the door. So she kept it locked, I thought momentarily and wondered why.

The sight that met me as we entered the room made me feel physically sick. Black ravens filled the room, either cast in stone and painted black or depicted on canvas, some alive, some lying dead, the blood seeping from various wounds and every eye faced me as I looked, even those in death. Quickly I turned away and wished fervently I had my smelling salts with me.

‘Does it frighten you, Sara?’ asked Violet, dancing around me with glee. ‘It does most people, but Amelia loved them, like I do. She was a kindred spirit. Tell me where she is, I liked Amelia.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said gently, ‘but I need to go back to my room.’

‘Not yet, Sara. I have a secret. Come with me.’ She quickly locked the door, and no matter where she took me next I was never so glad to see the back of anything as I was that studio, and as we traced our footsteps back along the corridor the nausea which had risen in my throat started to fade.

Violet stopped at an archway without a door. On passing through I could see a balcony with polished railings.

‘See?’ she said excitedly as she pulled me to the railings.

And I did see, for as I looked over I could see the hall of Ravensmount and I realised I stood in a minstrels’ gallery. I could see the front door of the drawing room and the staircase.

As I looked, Tobias stepped down the staircase and made his way to the small dining room. On the wall between the two rooms was an immense portrait I recognised as the man, Abraham Tremaine.

‘They will play music here for your party,’ shrieked Violet, ‘and I shall watch everything.’

‘So this is your secret?’ I asked quietly.

‘Oh no, Sara. I cannot tell you my secret or it would be a secret no longer.’ So saying she ran off, her shrill laughter pounding in my brain.

4

As I stood there after Violet’s departure, I saw her run down the staircase and enter the dining room. It must be time for luncheon, I mused, and was unsure whether to join the family or not. It was then I saw Michael leave the drawing room and walk slowly to join his siblings. The sight of him made my mind up for me and I made my way to join them myself.

Entering the room I could see all five of them there. Abraham sat at the head of the table watching me, indeed as they all were, and my thought was to make my excuses and leave, but Abraham stopped me from doing so.

‘Be seated, young lady, we’ve waited long enough.’ As he spoke he indicated a chair opposite him. The table only held places for six and as I sat dutifully on the chair I idly wondered how long it had been since the mistress of the Ravensmount had occupied it. Violet sat next to her father and I noticed his hand was laid across hers protectively.

Rosalind sat by her father, also opposite her sister. She now looked down at her plate not meeting my eye. Michael sat to the left of me and Tobias to the right. Strange, I thought, how they all had dark eyes like their father except for Violet, but as she looked at me with a sardonic expression on her lovely face, I realised she was the one most like her father, cruel and manipulative.

‘We will bow our heads,’ commanded Abraham, and I saw they all did. Before closing my eyes I caught Michael looking at me and as our eyes locked he smiled encouragingly, which served to make me feel better and doubting my resolve to leave.

‘Are you comfortable?’ asked Tobias as he handed me a glass dish which contained a salad.

‘Why yes, thank you,’ I replied looking at him and thinking once more how ruggedly handsome he was, more so than his brother.

‘And where are you sleeping, Miss Osborne?’ Abraham’s voice was loud and demanded an instant answer. I looked towards Rosalind not sure as to what I should say.

‘I have given Miss Osborne the rose room, Father.’

As she spoke Rosalind looked down at her plate. At her words a look of thunder crossed Abraham’s face then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

‘You know, daughter, that I do not wish that room to be occupied,’ Abraham admonished.

‘But Father, it is such a pretty room, far prettier than any other bedroom in this house,’ Rosalind pleaded her case.

‘My thought is to leave tomorrow,’ I cut in, hoping to distract Mr Tremaine from taking Rosalind further to task. My words had a various effect on the Tremaine family as they all looked at me.

‘But you can’t leave,’ wailed Violet, ‘I have so much to show you.’

‘You surely don’t intend to leave us so soon,’ Michael said quietly.

‘The girl can leave when she wants,’ observed Abraham sharply, ‘after all she is but a stranger. Now eat, and that’s an order.’

For some reason his words cut me to the core, but they were true, I was indeed a stranger, although I felt that in less than twenty-four hours I had come to know them all.

‘If you’ll excuse me,’ I managed to utter. Michael and Tobias stood. I noted that Abraham Tremaine did not, he just watched me with callous amusement. All was silent as I left the room except for my heels clicking on the polished floor. I stood for some moments at the foot of the beautiful staircase intent on gaining some composure.

‘Miss Osborne,’ a deep mellow voice caused me to turn around to see Tobias walking purposefully toward me. ‘Please stay.’ At these words I was stunned. To have heard them from Michael I could have understood.

‘It would seem, Mr Tremaine, that your father would prefer me gone,’ I replied quietly.

‘But I wish you to stay. You have brought a ray of sunshine into this house. Please come with me to see Lizard Point this afternoon. It is so beautiful there and it may help you change your mind. Please say yes,’ Tobias urged.

‘Very well,’ I agreed. For how could I say no, the mouth which had uttered the words ‘please stay’ was so beautifully shaped I had a sudden urge to kiss it, but Tobias would never know my thoughts.

‘Please give me half-an-hour to refresh myself,’ I said, noticing the afternoon sun was starting to spill through the drawing room window. The door was open and I thought of only yesterday when I had first set eyes on this man in a beam of sunlight.

‘I will organise the pony and trap this instant.’ With which words he was gone.

Before I ascended the staircase I looked across the hall to see if I could locate the minstrels’ gallery. It was there, but quite high in the wall and I needed to raise my eyes upward to see it. Even as I looked at the polished railings I could see Mrs Mallory watching me. As I observed her she stepped back into the shadows out of view and my thought was that she would report the scene she had just witnessed, but to whom?

Settled in the trap, my pink skirts placed decorously around my legs and my prettiest pink bonnet with the brim decorated with tiny violet flowers on my head, I watched my companion climb deftly onto the seat beside me and expertly take up the reins, urging the pony forward.

‘Are you warm enough?’ Tobias asked me solicitously.

‘I am fine, thank you,’ I answered, smiling at him. The afternoon sun behind us warmed me as did thoughts of my good fortune at sharing this glorious afternoon with a handsome stranger. What Papa and Mama would think of it I could only imagine.

‘A penny for your thoughts,’ said Tobias, bringing me out of my revelry.

‘I was thinking of Amelia,’ I replied quietly. It would have been so easy to have told him a white lie, but for some reason I wished to be completely honest with this attractive man.

‘What exactly are you thinking?’ he enquired as we bowled along the lane through the pleasant countryside, not a dwelling in view.

‘To be perfectly honest, Mr Tremaine, I was asking myself how Amelia would feel if she could see me with you,’ I answered tentatively. ‘For you must have loved her once.’

As I spoke I looked wistfully at my companion who pulled the reins, causing the pony and trap to come to a halt.

‘I thought I loved Amelia, Miss Osborne, but the more time I spent in her company I came to realise that despite her gaiety and happy disposition, Amelia was transparent and for the want of a better word, boring. I soon came to realise that she was not the wife I imagined that I wanted and then ...’ Here he paused, turning away from me and looking out over the green fields deep in thought.

‘And then?’ I prompted him.

‘Nothing, Miss Osborne,’ he said urging the pony forward, ‘I feel I have said too much already. Let us forget Amelia and enjoy our outing.’

‘But Amelia is the reason I came to Ravensmount,’ I replied.

As I spoke I noticed we were coming into a small village which had rows of thatched cottages either side of the dusty track, with a small general store, a blacksmiths and a delightful looking teashop.

‘How lovely!’ I enthused, pointing to the small pink cob stone building which boasted the name Teashoppe on a plaque above the door.

‘Yes, it is a pretty little place isn’t it,’ agreed Tobias. ‘It is the only place like it for miles,’ he informed me.

‘If I stay I shall make a point of partaking tea there one day,’ I said gaily, for my mood had suddenly changed and I realised it was the thought of Amelia which plunged me into moments of gloom.

As we reached the far side of the small village I observed a very small cottage set apart from the rest. There was a border of brightly coloured pansies, their tiny heads turned towards the sunshine, and sat alongside in a rocking chair was a slight elderly woman with wispy white hair drawn back of her kindly face. Tobias slowed down as we passed and she raised her hand in greeting, smiling pleasantly.

‘Who is that?’ I asked innocently.

‘She was our nurse until a couple of years ago. Her age meant she had to leave Ravensmount. We are all very sad about it, for life is not the same without our dear Millie Sutton to turn to.’ Tobias’ voice held a sad note.

‘I’m sure she is still there for you and always will be,’ I soothed.

‘Oh yes, Miss Osborne, you are right. My brother, Michael, visits her frequently,’ he said, his voice sounded stronger for which I was thankful. ‘And here we are.’ He continued reining in the pony once more.

‘Why it’s beautiful here,’ I whispered, overawed by the scenery before me.

Cliffs rose some two hundred feet above the sparkling water, broken here and there by small rocky coves for as far as the eye could see, to the tip of the Lizard. ‘What is that green rock I can see?’ I asked excitedly.

‘It is Serpentine, quite unique and very fashionable for ornaments to be made from it to grace the houses of our present society.’ As Tobias spoke he jumped down from his seat and assisted me to the rocky ground.

‘I wish I’d thought to bring my parasol,’ I laughed nervously, not daring to look at him as his strong hand still grasped my smaller one.

‘Are you too hot?’ he enquired with concern in his voice.

‘I’m fine, really, Mr Tremaine.’ We stood closely to one another in companionable silence, looking out over the sea.

‘The dreaded reefs of the Manacles lie off shore a little further along the coast, many a seafaring man has been drowned there,’ Tobias said sombrely.

‘That is hard to believe when the sea is as calm as it is today,’ I commented.

‘The sea has many moods, Miss Osborne, always be aware of it. Today it quietly slumbers in the warm May sunshine, but it can awaken suddenly and be a menace to ships and sailors alike.’

As he spoke Tobias turned to me still holding my hand and taking the other one also in his strong grasp. ‘Please stay, Miss Osborne, if only for a short while. Rosalind has planned a party for tomorrow evening in honour of your twenty-first birthday. I wish to see you in your most beautiful gown, your face flushed with pleasure, your green eyes sparkling,’ he said seriously. ‘And above all I wish to dance with you.’

For some moments I looked at him before I answered. ‘Your earnest request is not in vain, Sir,’ I said. ‘I will stay for a little while longer. Not just because of your entreaty, but also because I feel some loyalty to Amelia.’

On our way back in the pony trap I thought of my decision to stay. Tobias’ words had been most persuasive and I had felt drawn to him. But what of Michael, and I recalled the cruel way he had only yesterday secured my wrist akin to holding me prisoner.

I truly believed Tobias wanted me to stay and my earnest hope was that we would form a bond between us, one that couldn’t be broken. And then there was Violet, what other horrors would she show me? And had Amelia really loved her studio full of ravens?

Abraham would loathe the fact that I was to stop at Ravensmount longer, he had the authority to turn me out. I had not forgotten Rosalind, but as beautiful as she was, Rosalind was a quiet, silent figure in the household who would step back into the shadows out of the spotlight and keep the peace. She said that she had wanted us to be friends, and I made the resolve to do just that for I was sure she needed female companionship.

‘What is the village called?’ I asked Tobias as we passed through it. Millie Sutton was not sat in her chair on our return, in fact both her and the chair had disappeared. It took some time for Tobias to reply.

‘Moll’s Bay.’ The words drifted across me. I noticed we had turned into a side lane. It was a dead end and I marvelled at the beautiful view which lay in front of us.

‘Why Moll?’ I asked him as I looked out to sea.

‘Two hundred years ago, Moll stepped into the water with no intention of returning,’ he said quietly.

‘And why was that?’ I asked him curiously.

‘Because her lover forsook her. I would never do that to you, Miss Osborne,’ he said quite unexpectedly, and as we looked at each other I knew not what to say.

On reaching Ravensmount the ravens swooped noisily overhead to the tower and I marvelled at the fact that I had arrived here only yesterday. On entering the beautiful hall I encountered Abraham Tremaine.

He was standing at the foot of the staircase as if to bar my way and my heart started pounding.

‘Did you enjoy your outing, Miss Osborne,’ he asked with some sarcasm in his voice.

‘I’ve had a lovely afternoon,’ I replied sweetly, for indeed I had.

There was a pregnant pause before he said quietly, ‘Beware my son, Tobias, young woman, for he is fickle.’

These few words quite spoiled the whole day and as I made my way to my room I wondered if they were true and prayed not or I would die.