Page 41 of Rescuing a Tantalising Heiress
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & what dread feet?...”
Isabella was interrupted from her reading by a sound outside the library door. She put down the volume of William Blake’s poems she was reading, looking up in surprise, for she had been entirely immersed in the poem. It was one of her favourites—about a tiger in the forest. Footsteps were crossing the hallway, and Isabella wondered if Edward had returned from his ride.
And what do I say to him?she thought to herself, sighing as she closed the book and rose to her feet.
The handle of the library door now turned, and it opened slowly, so that Isabella was not immediately faced with the person entering.
“I’ll surprise them,” a voice muttered, and Isabella’s heart skipped a beat, as now a man entered the room—a man she had never seen before.
He was tall, with a shock of ginger hair and a bright red face, smartly dressed in a frock coat and breeches, though with mud on his boots, suggesting he had ridden some distance to arrive there. Isabella let out a cry, fearing him to be one of the kidnappers, and she snatched up a letter knife from the library table, pointing it at the man, who appeared just as surprised to see her as she did him.
“Get back, I’ll scream—I’ll bring the footman running, and the butler, too. I’ll make so much noise. Don’t you dare come near me!” she exclaimed as the man raised his eyebrows.
“You’ll not do me much harm with that little thing,” he said as Isabella’s trembling hands pointed the letter knife at him.
But she was terrified, and now she screamed as loudly as she could, calling for help, as the man covered his ears.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he shouted as footsteps in the hallway announced the arrival of help.
To Isabella’s surprise, it was Edward who hurried into the drawing room, and to her even greater surprise, he greeted the man with immediate recognition, albeit with some astonishment. Isabella stopped screaming. Edward stared at her, and she did not know whether he was angry or simply taken aback, as now he addressed the visitor.
“Hugh? What are you doing here? We weren’t expecting you, but what a grand surprise it is. I’ve only just returned from a ride across the moorland—earlier than I expected, in fact. But…” Edward said, turning back to Isabella.
“I thought I was in danger,” Isabella replied, for that had been her immediate reaction to the presence of the stranger.
Hugh was still staring at Isabella in confusion, and he furrowed his brow, evidently not knowing what to say in response to the bizarre situation he had entered.
“You weren’t in danger. I’m sorry, this is my friend, Hugh Grey. We’ve been friends since childhood. He lives on a farm across the moor. Hugh, this is…my cousin, a distant cousin, Isabella. I’m afraid she’s…rather nervous,” he said.
Isabella was about to retort indignantly, but she remembered the necessity of keeping the matter of her kidnapping secret, and, in this, at least, it seemed Edward remained diligent.
“Your cousin? I thought I knew all your cousins,” Hugh said, and Edward smiled.
“One always has a lot of cousins when one has a title. They have a habit of multiplying, especially when the question of inheritance arises. Isabella’s staying with us for a few weeks. I’m sorry for your unexpected introduction,” he said, glancing at Isabella, who had now put down the letter knife and was sitting by the window.
Their visitor smiled.
“Well…it’s a pleasure to meet you, Isabella. Edward’s right—we’ve been friends since childhood. And Augusta, too. Is she here? I came to see you both on the off chance that I could catch you before you went off to London for the Season,” he said.
“We’re not going,” Edward replied, glancing at Isabella, who felt terribly awkward at being the centre of this deception.
She knew nothing of the man, but it seemed he was confused as to her presence, even as footsteps in the hallway brought Augusta hurrying into the room.
“Millicent thought she heard a scream, and…oh, Hugh, how nice to see you,” she exclaimed, as their visitor turned to the viscount’s sister and smiled.
“Augusta, I’m so glad you haven’t left for London. I’ve been in the North for the past few weeks—a terribly dull thing, I won’t bore you with the details, but…it’s so good to see you,” he said.
Isabella was curious—she thought back to her conversation with Augusta earlier that afternoon, and now she was intrigued at the way the two of them looked at one another. Augusta’s whole countenance had lit up at the arrival of her childhood friend, and it seemed he, too, had come to Howdwell House on the excuse of seeing her, and no one else.
“No, we’ve…” Augusta began, but Edward interrupted her.
“We’ve been entertaining my cousin. It was Isabella’s scream you heard, Augusta. She was anxious about a perceived stranger. But it was just Hugh,” he said.
August nodded, appearing to realize why Edward spoke as he did.
