Dominic (17 page)

Do
m
i
nic
grinned
ruefully.
“
D
evil
a
bit,
but
e
v
en
so, you could have trusted
m
e.”

“I have no doubt,” she repli
e
d
soberly
, “but I was afraid lest your
m
other
should
insist
that
I
be
returned
to
my
f
a
m
ily. I dared not take the risk,
a
nd whilst
you were sleeping
I took the key from
your pocket.”

“I had gathered
that
m
u
c
h, but where the
deuce
did you go, and in that state?”

She
would
not
tell
him of
the
days
she
had
spent wandering
the
streets
and
the har
d
ships she had faced
.
It would
only
serve
to
prove
how foolish
she
had
been
to abscond
f
rom
his
protection.
N
or
would
she
m
ake
m
ention
that
she
had
been
present
on
the
day
of
the
race,
preferring not to bring that to
m
i
nd. Instead, she would gloss
over
that
ti
m
e
and
m
ake little
of
her
sufferings
as
it was
all
in
the
past
now and
it
would
serve
no
purpose
to regale him
with how desperate she had beco
m
e.

“To
tell
truth,
sir,
I
was
not
long
away
from
ho
m
e.
I was on the point of returning
when
I
ca
m
e
across
David, my younger brother, looking for
m
e...”

“
W
hat,
you
would
have
returned
?
” he
asked
in incred
u
l
ous surprise,
d
i
sbeli
e
ving that she would have willin
g
l
y g
o
ne back.

“I
had
no
option,
sir,
and
I
thought
that
by
ways
I would be able
to reason with
m
y brother. However, the
m
atter
did not arise.
D
avid found
m
e and told
m
e that Ray
m
ond
had
fled
the
country to
escape
his
debts.
I
was then able to return ho
m
e
. However, we were
al
m
ost im
m
ediately turned out from our home
as he had re-mortgaged it to fund his
ga
m
bli
n
g.
That
is
h
ow
we
come
to be
li
v
i
n
g
with
o
u
r aunt who, despite having a large fa
m
ily of her own and being a widow, felt obliged to put a roof over our heads.”

Vale’s face darkened a
n
d unconsci
o
usly he balled his hands into
f
i
sts. “T
h
e
d
a
m
ned cur. I will
n
o
t
f
orget
h
i
s treat
m
ent of you. It’s as well for him that he has left the country.”
B
eco
m
i
ng aware of the tension that showed on her
face
at
his
sudden
outburst, he
s
chooled
his countenance, saying in a
m
ore
reasonable tone, “Now tell
m
e
why
you
did
not
m
ake yourself known at the asse
m
bly
?
”

“I didn’t think it wise, sir. I knew not whether you would wish to be reacquainted with
m
e.”

He gri
m
a
c
ed. “
W
ho should bla
m
e you for your reluctance?
That
dreadful
wo
m
an
had
put
m
e
in
the
devil
of
a
te
m
per.
W
hat
delicately bred
fe
m
ale
would
not
fight shy
of
m
e
in
that
m
ood?
I
offer
m
y
apologies,
though
I
can assure you that you need not have feared my
reaction.”

“You are pleased to see
m
e then, sir?” she as
ke
d, with more enthusiasm
than she had intended.

“I
am indeed,
Jack,
but
tell
m
e,
why
the
continued
m
asquerade as a boy? Are you not happy with your petticoats,
do they confine yo
u
?
And why the
need
to ride astride?
You
m
ust
be
awa
r
e
that
if
you
are
found
out
it will be
s
everely frowned upon.”

She laughed
up at
h
i
m
, her eyes
full
of mischief.
“I
do not
ca
r
e.
F
o
r
the
fi
rst
ti
m
e
in
m
y
life,
I
am free.
My
aunt cares
not
w
hat
I
do
as
long
as
I’m not
forever
under
her feet. As a boy, no one questions that I ride out alone; if I am seen
in
the
countryside
it
raises
no
com
m
ent.
Ad
m
it
it, sir, life is so
m
uch easier for a boy, and besides, who in their right
m
i
nd would prefer nee
d
lepoi
n
t and sketc
h
ing when there is sport to be had?”

“
W
ho indeed,” he agreed,
m
anaging to contain his a
m
us
e
m
ent. “And no one is aware of your hoydenish ways
?
”

“Cert
a
inly
n
ot -
well,
o
n
ly
David
and he
thinks
it
a
gre
a
t ga
m
e.
These
are
his
clothes
by
-t
h
e-bye.
Neat
are
they
not
?
”

Vale’s
green
eyes
sparkled,
but
with
a
supre
m
e
effort he
m
anaged
to
keep
an earne
s
t
to
n
e
to
his
v
o
ice.
“Very appropriate
and
certainly
a
deal
cleaner
than
that
disgusting
coat
I
last
saw
you
wearing
.
Now tell
me
, young sir, exactly
what sport
is it
that
you enjoy,
do you favor the rod or the gun
?
”

Sophie was not fooled. “Now you
are
laughing
at
m
e, my
lord,
a
n
d
that
is
n
o
t
f
air,”
she
chided.
“I
have
only been
able
to be
a
spectator
thus
far
but
it
has
occurred
to
m
e
that
perhaps
you
m
i
ght
be
so
obliging
as
to
allow
m
e to try a shot or two?
That is, if you intend to continue
with your shoot?”

“I
will
not,
it
is certainly
no
pasti
m
e
for
young
ladies. Besides,
fe
m
ales
only
get
in
t
h
e
w
ay
with th
ei
r
witte
r
ing
and co
m
plaining. More to the point, you would probably end up by shooting
m
y dogs and I have an affection for the
m
. No, best you should keep out of the way.”