Page 6 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

Lucinda poked her tongue out briefly. “I meant for you too.”

Her sister shifted her hands, gesturing vaguely. “I do not understand you, Lucy. All I remember from when I was little was you speaking of castles and knights and how you were going to explore and document every single one. Recall all the gruesome stories you told me? Especially the one about Edward, where they shoved a poker—”

“Cease!” Lucinda begged. “I most certainly should never have told a little girl that story. It was reckless of me.”

“It was not reckless—it was fun.”

Fun? Lucinda drew in a long breath. Perhaps it had been. But she learned the hard way that one should not live for fun when one is a young lady. If she wanted better for her sister, her dreams of castles and adventuring simply had to be consigned to the past.

“Let us continue,” Lucinda pleaded.

She could not bear for her sister to poke at the past any longer. That young lady who had spoken of travelling the country was long gone, taken in one night by her own silliness, and she did not wish to dwell on it any longer. “If we are to ever find this castle, we should make haste. It looks as though it might rain.” She eyed the clouds ahead critically, spying one particular gray one that did not look welcoming at all.

Mary-Anne waved a dismissive hand. “We will be fine.”

Gathering her skirts, Lucinda took a few more steps up the slope of the hill. Mary-Anne blessedly ceased arguing and followed suit, moving at pace. They reached the top of the hill and the gray cloud vanished, so Lucinda allowed herself a little moment to relax and take in the views of the generous lake below and the hills and mountains spread out about them. She allowed herself a smile.

“I saw that,” her sister said.

“Saw what?” she straightened her lips.

“You were imagining things. I know that look.”

“You know nothing.” She was not some silly girl who dreamed of silly things like knights and castles and days of old. “I’m simply enjoying the view.”

Mary-Anne pursed her lips. “I do not see this ruin.”

Lucinda frowned and put a hand to her bonnet as a gust of wind whipped about them, ruffling their skirts. “Neither do I and it’s getting a little blustery up here. Perhaps we should return.”

“Itmustbe here somewhere. Mrs. Gleeson was quite emphatic about it.”

“Perhaps she was mistaken.”

Mary-Anne pointed to a large rocky outcrop, jutting from near the very top of the next hill. “Why do we not walk over there? That looks like a fine vantage point.”

The great slabs of stone looked as though they had been laid by giants once, rather like dominos angled together. Lucinda could not deny that Cumbria was a beautiful place. However, they also looked a fine spot for her sister to get into some mischief of some sort. She wasn’t certain what Mary-Anne could do with some rocks, but trouble found Mary-Anne in the strangest of places.

“I think we should return to Mama.”

“Nonsense. We have come all this way. It shall not take another ten minutes.”

“Mary-Anne,” she warned.

“Please, Lucy,” her sister begged. “I cannot stand another afternoon of tea and dull chatter, and we are so close. I’m sure this castle is here somewhere.”

Lucinda eased out a breath, tried to harden herself to her sister’s pleading gaze, then sighed. “Very well. Just to that rock then we are returning to town.”

Mary-Anne’s grin turned triumphant and Lucinda regretted giving in. It would not make life any easier in future.

They made their way up to the next hill, following a tiny worn path through the grass. Sheep grazed on the hill, scampering as soon as either of them came near. Thanks to their father’s work, they tended to spend most of their time in London so a visit to the country had not been unwelcome, and were it not for her sister’s determination to have an adventure, Lucinda would be enjoying the sights.

She also, admittedly, would not mind finding this castle. But there was only so long two ladies could trek across the hills of Cumbria before they ran into trouble.

Mary-Anne paused at the base of the gray rocks and pivoted around. “I wonder if the ruin is very small and we simply cannot see it.”

“We have a fine view.” Lucinda scanned the area. “I do not see how we have missed it.”

Grabbing her skirts, Mary-Anne stepped onto the first rock. “I’ll get a better view.”

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