The American Bride - By Karla Darcy Page 0,55

disappeared Julian knew without conscious thought that he would find him in the schoolroom.

"It will give me the greatest pleasure to throw the bastard out!" Julian snarled pouring another glassful of brandy.

After bolting the door Cara's knees gave out and she sank to the floor beside the bed. Her whole body shook in relief at her narrow escape. Eventually her trembling gave way to a bone-jarring anger.

"How dare that man touch me?" Cara raged.

She had done nothing to encourage Tallworth. He had attacked her for his own sexual gratification. She ground her teeth remembering how casually he had appraised her body and how he had taken it for granted that she would accept his advances, even welcome them.

Having been raised in a sheltered environment Cara was unprepared for the realities of an unprotected female. In dawning awareness she wondered if other female servants were the objects of the lustful advances of their employers. It was only now that she realized the true dangers of her situation. As a member of the gentry she had always been safe in the company of gentlemen. She had been chaperoned in public but the idea that she might be subject to an attack on her person in private was inconceivable. She wondered in confusion if her grandmother could have any conception of her vulnerability. Cara doubted it, for if she had, her grandmother would never have countenanced this masquerade.

Tiredly Cara stood up and staggered toward the washstand. She poured water into the basin with trembling hands. Stripping off her clothes she scrubbed her body until her skin reddened and still she felt violated by Tallworth's touch. Her teeth chattered as she curled up into a tight ball beneath the covers. As warmth began to creep into her body, she relaxed and fell asleep.

Chapter Ten

Despite her nightmare-broken sleep, Cara was up before dawn. She lay wide-eyed in the feather bed watching as the first rosy tint of light fell on the silk wallpaper of her room. Her body felt loggy; her mind whirled with uneasy and half-thought ideas. Her first instinct was to escape back to the safety of her grandmother's presence. Tallworth's attack had disoriented her, shaking the foundation of security she had held to be an inviolable part of herself. Up to now her life had been a sheltered one, she realized. She had never been in physical want for any of the basic needs, never had to call on her own character strengths before, never been tested.

Cara had known sorrow at the death of her mother and then more recently with her father's death. She had felt frustration with the marriage that had been arranged for her. She had felt anger and the burgeoning of passion in her relationship with Julian. But she had never known fear. The attack in the schoolroom had frightened her out of all proportion to any other emotion. But with that fear came a realization of her own inner strength. She did not have to run away; she would stay until her grandmother sent for her. With that resolution made, Cara jumped out of bed to don her riding habit.

Since Julian had been riding with Richard most days, Cara had been able to resume her morning rides in safety. Although Glum had told her that Julian had not been going out in the early mornings she still avoided the jumps in the high meadows, content to roam the countryside and enjoy the woods. When he observed the haunted circles beneath her eyes, Glum shook his head in worry but threw her up onto Gentian's back without comment.

As the horse paced uphill Cara unpinned her hair from the confining bun and swung it back over her shoulder. She emitted a purr of contentment as the morning sun beamed through the trees, falling on her upturned face. Freeing a hand from the reins she stretched along Gentian's neck, patting and crooning to the graceful little mare.

The woods thinned and Cara drew rein, listening to the morning sounds. Summer was in full bloom in England; the fields and hedgerows were a blaze of color. Walking the mare to the edge of woods Cara looked down the hillside to the estate spread out below her. From this height she could make out the gentle roll of hills that led down to the lake and the outbuildings behind the massive edifice of Weathersfield Hall. Her eyes kindled with a glow of pleasure as she was able to pick out the familiar places