Page 134 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

When he reached it, he put his hand over hers on the doorknob to stop her opening it. She looked up at him. Their faces were very close. Their eyes met, and a message passed without volition between them. He closed his eyes – his eyelashes were very thick and very dark, she noticed – and he laid his lips softly against hers. They were warm and firm, like the touch of a sun-ripened fruit. It was a feather of a kiss, and lasted only an instant, and then he tipped his hat and was gone.

She put her fingers to her lips in dismay, and thought, My God, what next?

Footsteps up the stairs, that’s what – her next pupil and her mother.

Alice rode into the yard, and saw Axe’s cottage door open, though he was not in sight. Dolly barked and came running out but, seeing her, sat down in the middle of the yard, waiting for her, eyes bright and stubby tail beating the dust. Alice halted Pharaoh and jumped down, expecting Axe to come out. But perhaps he was at the back, or even out in the woods. He wouldn’t mind leaving his door open out here – there was no-one to bother him.

She and Rachel had started out for a ride together, but once they were away from the house, Rachel had told her she was going to meet Victor Lattery. ‘You can come too,’ she said. But it was plain she didn’t mean it – and Alice had no wish to sit and listen to their silly talk. ‘I’ll come back for you,’ she said. If they arrived at home separately, questions might be asked.

So, naturally, she thought of riding over to see if Axe was about. She half thought he wouldn’t be, so the open door was a pleasant surprise.

‘It’s me,’ she called, leading Pharaoh over to the ring. He knew the pattern by now, and was nosing about on the ground for spare wisps of hay as she tied the rope round his neck.

As she reached the cottage door, Axe appeared at last, but he seemed put out. His cheeks were very red, and his hair was ruffled, as though he had run his hands through it backwards.

‘I was just passing, so I thought I’d stop by and see you,’ she said, and heard a sound from inside the cottage, a suppressed cough. ‘Oh, have you got visitors?’ she said.

‘Just one,’ he admitted. He wasn’t moving to let her in, and she was a bit puzzled.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Well, that’s nice for you. Is it one of your family?’ He had a large selection of brothers and sisters. ‘I’d love to meet them.’

‘No, it’s not—’ he began.

Someone inside moved, hurried across the cottage behind Axe’s back in what was almost a furtive scuttle. She only caught a glimpse, but she couldn’t mistake him. ‘Is that Mr Crooks?’ she said in surprise. ‘I didn’t know you knew him.’

Axe looked away, and then back, his gaze direct, though his cheeks were flushed. ‘He’s helping me to read,’ he said. ‘He gives me lessons.’

‘But I’d have done that,’ Alice said, disappointed. ‘I brought you books, didn’t I?’

Axe shuffled his feet. ‘He offered first,’ he muttered. ‘You’re both very kind.’

Alice realised he was embarrassed by the situation, and that it was up to her to end it. ‘Never mind,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to go. Can’t leave Pharaoh standing – he’ll get chilled.’

She turned away. Axe started forward. ‘I’ll help you up,’ he said awkwardly.

‘No need,’ she said stiffly. She felt a little hurt.

But she couldn’t get up on her own, and the alternative was leading Pharaoh away until she found a gate or tree stump. So she let him throw her up, and he stood holding the rein lightly, looking up at her with a frown of thought. When she gathered the rein, he let go, but said, ‘I like your visits. Mr Crooks – well, he’s kind. He’s helping me. But … I like your visits,’ he finished helplessly.

She couldn’t think of anything to say. She turned Pharaoh and rode away.

A message sent to Brown’s Hotel, where Mr Cowling liked to stay when he was in London, brought him to Draycott Place, looking very nervous and subdued. Haydock admitted him, with a face as carefully wiped of expression as was possible in a butler, giving him no inkling of what his reception would be. He was shown into the drawing-room, but had to wait only a few minutes – not even long enough to open the thoughtfully placed newspaper – before the door opened and Nina came in. She was in a grey-blue dress that he thought suited her colouring perfectly and made her eyes look darker, and he wondered, not for the first time, at her beauty, and why the young men of London were so blind to it they let her get away. He looked automatically at her shoes, and saw with approval they were Cowling & Kempson heeled kid lace-up ankle shoes, smart and practical.

He got his word in first. ‘I know you are a kind person, Miss Sanderton, so don’t keep me on tenterhooks. Tell me right away if it’s “no”.’

‘It isn’t “no”,’ she said.

He had been so expecting a rejection that he didn’t take it in for a second, and then an incredulous smile spread across his face. ‘Are you saying – you will marry me?’

She couldn’t help smiling too. ‘Yes, I will marry you. And thank you for asking me.’

‘Oh, no, no! Thank you! You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.’ He stepped forward and took both her hands, and she had to let him. His were hard, the hands of a working man, but dry and smooth. She was glad they were not damp and clammy, like those of some young men she had danced with during the Season. Hard, dry hands that she would be living with for the rest of her life. For a moment she misgave, and swallowed – but she had made her decision carefully, and, no, she didn’t repent of it. It was still the rational thing to do, and the course that promised her the best chance of happiness.

‘I will do everything in my power to make you happy, I promise you,’ he said. ‘Anything you want, you just say the word. I mean it. Oh, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you!’ He was beaming at her, holding her at arms’ length. Then he said, ‘Can I – may I – kiss you?’

She nodded. He drew her to him by the hands, dipped his face, and kissed her on the lips – a dry, firm kiss, brief, unfrightening. His breath smelt of peppermints. When it was done, he stepped back and beamed at her again, and said, ‘I had better go and talk to your aunt, hadn’t I? Do it all fair and square.’

‘She’s coming here to speak to you,’ Nina said.