Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,69

a person could have would not be an understatement.”

“I agree,” Lydia said. “Thankfully, Mr. Boyd has not arrived at Corless House as yet, but he has written to Esther. He has renewed his offer of marriage and hinted that if she were to refuse, the news of her birth might become more commonly known. He is trying to blackmail her, and I am worried that she is very vulnerable at this time.”

Samuel stood and started to prowl around the room. “The blackguard! He has guessed at her weakened state once she found out the reality of her past and is using the situation to try to gain advantage.”

“Yes. You can imagine Esther’s state of mind if she were to even consider marrying him. I do not know the whole of her original involvement with him, but I know that she was in real danger of being attacked.”

“Yes.” Samuel was not going to give Lydia further information, even though he knew she could be trusted. Not everyone needed to know how close to ruination Esther had come. The thought that Mr. Boyd might have touched her inappropriately was enough to make him seethe with anger. “Has she replied?”

“No. He has said he will visit in a week for her answer. I am afraid of what will happen. I know Cook and Dawson will do everything they can to protect her, but they are only servants when all said and done,” Lydia said.

“When did Miss Hardy receive the letter?”

“Four days ago.”

“That means he will be at Corless House in three days.”

“I know that leaves little time …”

“You forget, Mrs. Dunn, I am a cavalry officer who travelled across the Peninsula at great speed. I shall take my leave. I have a journey to prepare for. A fast journey.”

“Of course. Captain Jones, please look after her. She is very precious to me.” Lydia was so relieved that he had reacted in the way she had hoped. There was every possibility that with Samuel there, Esther would not be forced into a marriage with a man she despised and feared, if she had interpreted the tone of the letter correctly. Whether anything else might happen, she did not want to speculate, but she hoped nonetheless that there would be a happy ending for two people who seemed to need it more than most.

“And she is to me,” Samuel said. He immediately left the room, all thoughts of tea gone.

*

Esther was like a cat on a hot bake-stone. She could not settle, dreading the day that Mr. Boyd was going to arrive. She could refuse to see him, but what would that achieve? If he carried out his threat of spreading rumours in Sidmouth she would be finished for good.

Since her return, there had been a few questions asked and comments made about what had happened. Although she insisted that there had been an illness requiring the immediate closing of the school, there were raised eyebrows and a few mutterings whenever she ventured into the town. It would take very little for her reputation to be beyond repair.

It was as if events were on a downward spiral, and she could not think of a way to stop it.

She had hardly eaten, to the point where Cook had stormed into her study and, hands on hips, demanded Esther eat something or she was going to resign.

“Please don’t,” Esther said quietly. “I am sorry, but I cannot face food at the moment.”

“And by the looks of those eyes you haven’t been sleeping well either.”

“No.” There was no point in lying to the woman who had known her so well for years.

Cook’s expression softened, and she approached the desk. “What can he gain by revealing anything? He is trying to frighten you into giving in to his wishes. A wicked way of doing things.”

“I can’t take the risk, though, can I?”

“Please tell me you aren’t going to accept his proposal.”

Esther put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do. The thought of being in his company again makes me shudder, so to think of being married to him makes me feel physically sick, but I cannot think of a solution.”

“You can make that woman who is supposed to be your grandmother homeless, for one,” Cook said.

“How can I do that?”

“Quite easily, my dear,” said the deep voice of Samuel. “And I would advise the eviction is carried out as soon as possible.”

Cook spun around, a smile on her lips. “Welcome home, Captain Jones! I shall