Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,58
behind Esther.
Twisting round to see Samuel, Esther could have sagged with relief. She was safe. He would protect her. In two steps he was by her side, and although she clung to the headstone with one hand, he pulled her other into the crook of his arm and smiled at her.
“Would you like to leave? I am sorry I was later than I anticipated. It appears my poor timekeeping has upset you,” Samuel said.
“N-not at all. I am glad you are here.”
“As am I.” It was true. He had turned the corner and, although he could not see Esther’s face, the way she stood, holding on to the stone for support, had made him pick up speed. He had taken in the man and recognised him from earlier in the churchyard. Looking at the stranger with a challenge in his eye, Samuel coldly assessed him. “What is your business here? You have been watching her for some time, haven’t you? Yet your company is clearly not welcome.”
“I wanted to be reacquainted with her,” he said, ignoring Samuel and looking directly at Esther.
“Become reacquainted?” She was stunned at the words. “But you killed my mother!”
“It was an accident. The inquest ruled that it was so.”
“You forget I was there, sir. You killed her with your own hands.”
The gentleman looked aggrieved. He took a step closer, but Samuel put out a hand to stop him. “No further, or I will forcefully stop you.”
“Your guard dog is annoying. Can you not send him away?”
“I want him here,” Esther said.
The man sighed in defeat. “Very well. I am Mr. Boyd, sir, and I was promised Esther’s hand in marriage.” He turned back to Esther. “You might have been in the room that night, but you did not see what went on beforehand. I was all but promised you as my reward for allowing Sophie and your mother to run the gaming hell in the house I owned.”
“What are you talking about? It wasn’t a gaming hell!”
“Did you never go downstairs?” he asked. “To be fair to them, you were kept protected, and being at school for much of the time you were out of the way.”
“They promised a schoolgirl to you?” Samuel could not help asking.
“We were supposed to be married when she was sixteen, but then the place started to lose money. I was afraid they were going to carry out some sort of midnight flit, so I insisted that we come to some arrangement.”
“You were going to ruin me.” The words were said devoid of feeling, but the tremble through Esther’s body hit Samuel in the gut.
“Only to make sure they would not rescind our agreement. I would have married you as had been agreed.”
“You are despicable,” Samuel said. He was raging inside and wanted to pummel the man to death, but he had the suspicion that Esther needed this conversation to take place. It was painful for her, but something from her past had troubled her, and he knew facing it was the only way of her putting it behind her once and for all.
“Perhaps. But I wasn’t the one using an innocent chit as collateral.”
“I do not believe you,” Esther said.
“No, because Sophie and your mother kept up this front before you. Has Sophie ever told you the truth about your father? No? I can see by your face that she hasn’t. Esther, I am not your enemy here. What happened on that night was arranged by those caring for you.”
“I do not believe anything you say.”
“Do you remember that night?”
Esther shuddered. “It is seared into my memory.”
Mr. Boyd nodded in understanding. “I was brought to you. I did not sneak upstairs like some sort of clandestine lover. I was taken to you and left alone with you.”
Turning her face into Samuel’s shoulder, Esther closed her eyes.
“Breathe slowly,” Samuel said quietly. “You don’t have to listen to this if it is too much. We can leave.”
“No. I will be well,” Esther said. She took a few moments before turning back to the man. “You attacked me.”
“I tried to get amorous with you, yes.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“Perhaps not, but if I’d wanted to force myself on you, you wouldn’t have been able to scream like you did.”
“Mother ran in and started to beat you.”
“Yes, the fool. It seemed as though she wasn’t in full agreement with the scheme after all. Sophie had made all the arrangements.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“As I’ve said, ask Sophie about your father. Why do you