Page 56 of A Misguided Devotion

A thousand happy recollections flooded his mind. Riding with one sister. Painting another. The chance words of praise from his brother-in-law that had encouraged him to keep studying his art while he was up at Cambridge. The beautiful horses his grandmother had bought for him.

Every remembrance involved his family—and it was family that Kitty lacked. After observing the loneliness in her eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to flaunt his relations in front of her.

As a result, it was a flirtatious answer he returned to Miss Barrington, rather than the truth. “Meeting you—and being allowed to paint your portrait.”

Colour flooded her cheeks. “What a pretty thing to say. What do you think, Kitty? Is he being honest?”

“Without a doubt. Mr Merry has made no secret of his devotion to you above all else.”

Kitty’s tone was teasing, and her friend giggled, but William could hear the underlying note of criticism.

He glanced at her, hoping to see a glimmer of understanding in her eyes, but there was none. She flared her nostrils at him as she’d done when he first arrived at Rufus House.

William’s chest constricted. He had lost Kitty’s good opinion again, and he was surprised how much it mattered.

The party assembled outside Rufus House at three o’clock. Kitty looked forward to the visit to Cave Hole, but not to the travel arrangements.

Poor Mr Jenkin had been outmanoeuvred, and there was nothing he could do about it. He stared after the curricle as William pulled away with Laura by his side. So did she.

On the other hand, Hugh seemed content with his position. Seated much closer to her than she would have liked, he pointed out every ship on the horizon as the carriage bowled along the road. How condescending! She was quite capable of spotting the ships for herself and didn’t care to have him continually leaning over her side of the seat, brushing his leg against hers.

Mr Jenkin pulled up his phaeton next to William’s curricle. Hugh climbed down from the vehicle and offered her his help to descend the steps. There was no polite way to refuse, so Kitty took his hand, but snatched it away from him as soon as her feet touched the ground.

William and Laura stood waiting for them, buffeted by the wind. Mr Jenkin led them over the uneven surface and down a steep slope to a section of exposed rock near the cliff’s edge.

He pointed to the dark hole in the middle of the depressed area. “If you lean over, just a little, you can glimpse the water below.”

Kitty craned her neck to see inside, but she was too far away. Any attempt to move closer was prevented by Laura, who gripped hold of her arm, keeping her distant from its menacing depths, as if afraid she would be blown in by the wind.

The three gentlemen stood on the opposite side of the gap, and Kitty watched with bated breath as William stepped forward and peeked over the edge.

At that moment, a wave hit the rocks below, spurting a jet of water that would have soaked him if he had not darted back just in time.

A second breaker crashed into the cavern underneath them, sending another fountain upward, spraying the ground in front of the riding officer, who was standing close to the opening.

As a third wave struck the rocks in the cave and produced a column of water before them, William’s hand shot out and grabbed Mr Jenkin. At the same time—or was it a moment before?—the man seemed to lose his footing, and Hugh’s arm also reached out, pulling him back from the edge.

“Careful, Jenkin,” Hugh said. “One wrong step, and you could plummet to your ruin.”

Not the most sympathetic way to address a man who had almost plunged to a watery death. The colour had drained from the poor fellow’s face, and he moved away from the opening, somewhat dazed.

Laura stalked over to where he stood. “How could you be so careless? I don’t think my nerves will ever recover. Why did you get so close to the edge? So close that you almost…”

She trailed off, shuddering, and Kitty put a consoling arm around her shoulders. “Don’t dwell on it. All’s well.”

“Catherine is right, Laura,” said Hugh. “You are making too much of it. The danger has passed. Mr Jenkin has learned his lesson and realises that if he takes such risks, he will get himself into trouble one day.”

“I can’t help but be disturbed, Papa. The thought of anyone falling down there is…terrifying. I shan’t be in a hurry to visit Cave Hole again. Wouldn’t you agree, Kitty?”

“I confess, I found it very interesting. But watching Mr Jenkin stumble and almost fall in? No, that was not at all pleasant.”

Nor was the ghost of a feeling that something more sinister had occurred in front of her eyes. If only she could recall exactly what had happened. She couldn’t rid herself of the fear that the preventive officer had not stumbled. He had been pushed.

But who would have done such a thing? William? She might deplore his arrogant pursuit of Laura and his obsession with painting her, but even if he had shown signs of being deeply in love, she was sure it was not in his nature to threaten his rival.

Now she pictured the scene in her mind, she could see his blond hair flopping forward as he reached for Mr Jenkin. Her instincts had been right. He could not have pushed him. The riding officer had already lost his footing when William grabbed him.

Which left Hugh. Was he so protective of Laura that he would publicly threaten an undesirable suitor for her hand? Surely this was taking protectiveness too far. It was callous enough to set his butler on Mr Jenkin for daring to visit his daughter at night—but this?