Forsters 04 - Romancing the Runaway Read online

  Behind him Gabe discovered the entrance to a huge cave and he supposed that must be where Miranda had taken shelter from the biting wind. Relieved, he stepped into the cavernous room and was about to call her name. Before he opened his mouth he noticed her sitting on the ground, knees pulled up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. Her head rested on top of her knees and she was sobbing her heart out. Tobias sat beside her, head cocked to one side as he alternately whined and licked her hand. She didn’t seem to realise he was there.

  Gabe’s instinctive reaction was to go to her, pull her into his arms and comfort her. He’d been fighting that impulse with increasing regularity over the past few days, and now she’d presented him with the perfect excuse to indulge his baser instincts. No, not base, he told himself but natural brotherly concern.

  Yes, definitely brotherly, nothing more.

  Gabe almost laughed aloud, unable to convince even himself. He hesitated to take ungentlemanly advantage of her distress. Something told him she wouldn’t thank him for barging in on her at such a moment and so instead he remained concealed by an outcrop of rock and tried to decide what could have overset her. Was it returning to the Wildes and finding it so dilapidated and devoid of family heirlooms? That would be understandable, but somehow he didn’t think it was the reason. The Miranda he was getting to know had greater fortitude than that.

  Gabe retraced his steps until he was standing in the very entrance to the cave again, cleared his throat and called to her.

  “Miss Cantrell, are you in there?”

  He heard snuffling, the sound of a nose being blown and then Miranda’s voice. “Lord Gabriel? What are you doing here?”

  “I might ask you the same question,” he said, smiling as she and Tobias approached him. He bent to ruffle Tobias’s ears, observing Miranda without making it obvious. She looked more composed than he would have imagined possible, given the extent of her recent distress. He pretended not to see her swollen eyes and red nose.

  “Excuse me. I didn’t realise that I had to ask your permission before walking on my own land.”

  “The weather’s closing in. There’s a storm on the way and I was concerned when I couldn’t find you.”

  “Thank you, but I’m perfectly able to take care of myself.”

  “You told the truth about the labyrinth of caves,” he said, glancing around with interest.

  “Oh yes, it’s an extensive network that links half the properties along this part of the coast, particularly ours and our neighbours, Mr. Banks.”

  “I didn’t realise they were linked. You should have said something.”

  “Why?” She arched a brow. “What possible significance can it have?”

  “I’m unsure, but it’s the only part of the estate that holds secrets.”

  “You think Mr. Peacock is interested in the cove and the caves?” She blinked repeatedly. “Why?”

  “That,” he said smiling, “is what I would very much like to know.”

  “This is my special place,” she replied with a brittle smile. “And no one would dare to invade it. Not even the odious Mr. Peacock.”

  Gabe was trying to decide whether to mention the new rope handrail when she spoke again.

  “Why did you really come in search of me, Lord Gabriel? I’m persuaded you weren’t motivated by the metrological concerns.” Her lips lifted briefly. “Perhaps you were looking for an excuse to abandon chopping logs, for which I don’t blame you in the least. It’s hardly an occupation worthy of a marquess’s son.”

  “On the contrary, I enjoyed the exercise. There’s something immensely satisfying about stretching one’s legs in front of a roaring blaze of an evening, knowing one’s responsible for providing those logs in the first place.”

  “That must be a novel experience for you, and one you will soon grow tired of.”

  “Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Miss Cantrell? Have I done something to offend you?”

  “Not in the least,” she replied, her tone implying precisely the opposite. “I am entirely at your service, as are my servants.”

  “Ah, so that’s what it is. You think I’ve overstepped my authority.”

  “I don’t think about you at all.”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him until she was compelled to meet his gaze. “Never imagine for a moment that I doubt your ability to manage your own affairs, sweet Miranda,” he said softly. “You must forgive me if I seem overbearing. It’s just that I’m accustomed to giving orders, you see. Besides, I desperately want to help you restore the Wildes. It’s a wonderful house and I can quite see why you’re so attached to it.”

  “That’s as may be, but there’s no need to dismiss my views as inconsequential.”

  “Would you have agreed to my hiring so much help, had I consulted you beforehand?”

  “Of course not. I can’t afford to pay them.”

  “Precisely my point. Your pride would have put up too many objections. I however can pay them without noticing the cost.”

  Her eyes darkened, but he could see she was no longer angry with him, merely confused. “Perhaps, but why would you—”

  “Take pity on a poor man who’s never had to lift a finger to help himself in his entire life, if you possibly can. I’m enjoying myself enormously, and learning a great deal about myself at the same time.”

  “Well, I suppose if you put it like that.” She shook her head. “But still, it doesn’t seem right. I’m not a charity case.”

  “No, you most certainly aren’t.”

  “Then why are you doing this? Why are you still here, come to that?” Confusion clouded her eyes. “I don’t understand any of it.”

  Nor did Gabe, not really. He knew he should remove his hands from her shoulders, but couldn’t bring himself to do so for no other reason than he enjoyed touching her. They were standing way too close, his clothing brushing against hers, his breath peppering her upturned face. She looked directly at him, as though searching for clues. Her expression of naïve enquiry was at variance with the flicker of awareness that illuminated her eyes. Even so, he was sure she couldn’t understand what was happening between them, or very soon would if he didn’t put daylight between them absolutely immediately.

  His emotional investment in Miranda and her affairs was too strong, his recollection of her sobbing her heart out still too fresh in his mind for him to do the sensible thing. His hands slipped from her shoulders to her waist, closing the almost nonexistent space between them by pulling her towards him until their bodies collided with a soft thud. Her breathing hitched but she made no attempt to pull away. He cupped her chin with one hand, his vision hazy as he briefly contemplated the wisdom of the step he was about to take.

  Very briefly.

  Recklessness and a disregard for all the reasons why he shouldn’t do this streaked through him in unstoppable waves. Her lips were so plump, so damnably tempting, that he was lost to all reason. More to the point, they were so close to his that it would take a stronger man then he would ever be to resist kissing her. Just one brief kiss, he promised himself. Surely there could be no harm in that?

  Gabe slanted his mouth over hers, euphoria ripping through him as he finally claimed her lips, thoughts of which had caused him many a sleepless night since he’d met the little witch. He remained passive, giving her the opportunity to get accustomed to his mouth on hers, giving her every opportunity to protest. Hopefully she’d managed to retain a modicum of common sense and would put him firmly in his place since it was beyond him to end what he should never have started.

  She didn’t. Instead, with a soft sigh, she leaned into him and her arms worked their way around his neck. Her reaction caused his spirits to soar, even as the tiny part of his brain still capable of rational thought screamed at him not to do this. It might as well have been speaking to him in double Dutch for all the notice he took of it. He felt the pressure of her breasts squashed against his chest and had the good sense
to know he was lost. That being the case, he might as well permit himself a moment’s pleasure. Just one brief moment, and then he’d be himself again.

  With a smothered oath he took control of the situation and deepened the kiss, savouring the gift of her sweet mouth as the tip of his tongue tangled with hers. With their mouths fused together, he explored the contours of hers with seductive strokes of his tongue and drew on her lower lip until she expelled a needy little moan.

  Miranda endeavoured to return his kiss, clearly acting on instinct since she had no real idea how to go about it. The child hadn’t been kissed before and the desire to instruct her in the best way to respond to him actually brought Gabe to his senses. If he didn’t stop this now, there was no telling where it would lead. Abruptly he broke the kiss and released his hold on her. She almost stumbled without his arm to support her back, and he reached out a hand to steady her.

  “Miranda, I’m sorry, that shouldn’t—”

  “Shush.” She smiled up at him, her eyes now sparkling with an emotion Gabe preferred not to examine too closely. “Of course it should not, but it’s of no consequence. I dare say elegant gentlemen like you kiss ladies all the time. It meant nothing and is already quite forgotten, Lord Gabriel.”

  For her, perhaps. Gabe took a moment, waiting for his tumescence to subside so he would have better control of himself.

  “Gabe,” he said softly. “My friends call me Gabe.”

  “I’m sure they do, but we are hardly friends. We don’t even mix in the same social circles.”

  She was looking everywhere except at him, probably confused by what had just happened. Gabe took full responsibility for that.

  “Nevertheless,” he said. “I just kissed you, which makes us anything but strangers. Oblige me, if you please, and use my given name.”

  “If you wish.”

  She was likely too embarrassed to talk about what had just happened between them. Gabe would explain it to her if he could, but it was beyond his abilities at that precise moment since he still didn’t understand it himself. Further apology would simply muddy the waters and so he looked for something else to say.

  “I would enjoy a guided tour.”

  “Certainly, but if we go much deeper we shall need a lantern.”

  “Ah, that we should, but I can see daylight here,” he said, wandering a little deeper and glancing upwards.

  “Yes, we’re below Mr. Banks’s land here. There are several areas such as this where light filters through the upper strata.”

  “Natural chimneys.”

  “What? Oh yes, I suppose they are.”

  “What’s this?” Gabe pointed to a table directly beneath a larger gap, with a makeshift funnel leading up to the open air. “There’s been someone in here, and recently. Look at all this equipment, and these footprints. We didn’t make those.”

  “There can’t have been. Why…what—” She shook her head, appearing totally bewildered. “I don’t understand.”

  “Did you notice the new rope handrail leading down the steps?”

  “Yes, but I assumed Dalton installed it as a kindness when I came home. He knows how much I enjoy coming down here and was always warning me to be careful on the steps.”

  “Somehow I doubt it was him.”

  “Oh, then perhaps it was someone from Mr. Banks’s estate who wished to gain access to the cove from our land for some reason. Perhaps their access steps have crumbled away. They always were more treacherous than ours.”

  “It seems unlikely. What does Banks do?”

  “Nothing now. He’s quite elderly and he and his wife spend a lot of time on the continent where the climate is more beneficial for his aching bones. He made his fortune through tin mining but that business no longer thrives in these parts. The bottom fell out of the market. Besides, most of the mines are worked out.”

  Gabe took notice. “Banks has tin mines on his land? I don’t recall you mentioning the fact before.”

  “It didn’t seem germane. Besides, they’re no longer worked.”

  “How long since they were?”

  “I believe he continued until quite recently.” She shrugged. “He’s a stubborn gentleman and refused to admit defeat until it cost more to extract the tin than he could hope to recoup. He was certainly still mining when I left here to attend Miss Frobisher’s school but before Papa died he wrote to tell me that he’d ceased mining. Why are you so interested?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  Gabe crouched to examine the paraphernalia he’d just discovered. An open fire below a sturdy metal table, several scarred pans and that chimney. He straightened up again, rubbing his chin as he tried to make sense of it.

  “What did Banks do with the by-products of his mining?” Gabe asked, a germ of an idea forming inside his head.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The flue dusts produced during the refining process?”

  “Oh, these you mean.”

  She led the way outside. Where the shingle beach abutted the cliff edge there were piles of damp gritty dust resembling grey sand. Gabe scooped some up in his gloved hand and wrapped it in a handkerchief.

  “Do the caves link directly to the old mine shafts?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Ah, then that can’t be it.” Gabe stared at the sea, convinced he was on the right track but missing something vital. “Now, if this cove was accessible by boat, it would make more sense.”

  “The fishermen use it all the time to lay their lobster and crab pots.”

  “But I thought you told me it wasn’t possible to come close to the shore.”

  “Forgive me. I thought you intended to anchor The Celandine here. It would be entirely unsuitable for that purpose but small wherries can come to shore quite easily on a high tide. Not that they need to do so very often, but local fishermen know the shoreline like the backs of their hands. They could tell you where every rocky hazard is situated and navigate to shore blindfolded.”

  “Well then,” he said, smiling at her. “I think I know what your guardian’s interest in your property is.”

  “What is it?”

  “Arsenic, Miranda. Arsenic has been in short supply since the war and the downturn in Cornish mining.”

  “I had no idea, but still fail to understand the connection.”

  “If I remember my chemistry aright, then the dust I just put in my pocket is a toxic by-product high in the arsenide that tin and copper naturally produce. If Peacock’s found a way to solidify it and transport it out of here, then he’ll make a fortune. No wonder he needs control of this property.”

  “Are you absolutely sure about that?” Miranda blinked in apparent confusion. “It seems rather extreme.”

  “It’s the only explanation.”

  “Even if you’re right, how did they find out about it? Neither of my guardians spend any time in this part of the world.”

  “That’s something I have yet to discover.” Gabe grasped her arm and whistled to Tobias. “Come along, if you’re ready to leave, I’ll escort you back to the house before the storm hits. I need to make sure I’m right, then we’ll look into how Peacock and Nesbitt became aware of it.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Miranda was acutely aware of Lord Gabriel close on her heels as they ascended the steps from the cove. She could hear his breathing, inhale his musky scent, and she took a perverse sort of comfort from having him with her, even though she would prefer him not to be there. In fact, she was quite out of charity with him for making her feel so confused. Confound him, why had he felt the need to intrude on her solitude? He’d caught her off guard, embarrassing her because she was sure he must have heard her crying. She wasn’t thinking straight, which was the only reason why she permitted him to kiss her.

  Liar!

  The fizzing had raged out of control the moment he pulled her into his arms, which really wouldn’t do. It seemed to rob her of all common sense, and had he not instigated the kiss, she couldn’
t be precisely sure that she wouldn’t have taken matters into her own hands. So deep was her hunger for affection and her curiosity to know how it would feel to be kissed by him that she appeared to have developed a shameless streak.

  It was most inconvenient, having shown such weakness before him. Still, he seemed able to brush it aside as though it were of no consequence. Miranda scowled. As she’d just suggested to him, gentlemen in his position probably went around kissing ladies all the time and expected them to be pathetically grateful. The last thing on her mind was gratitude. The situation shouldn’t have arisen, but she’d put it to the back of her mind and forget all about it. There was nothing else to be done.

  Louisa Marshall and her list of eligible gentlemen flashed through her mind, compelling her to squelch a smile. What she would give to see her classmate’s face if she discovered that the suave Lord Gabriel—so close to the top of that list—had actually kissed mousy Miranda Cantrell?

  “I still don’t understand why arsenic would be so profitable,” she said when they reached the top of the steps and walked briskly side by side towards the house. “Is the poisoner’s trade in the ascendancy this season?”

  Lord Gabriel—had he really invited her to use his name?—laughed. “Arsenic isn’t just used as a poison. You’d be surprised just how many products bear traces of it.”

  “Such as?”

  “Glass manufacture, lead-shot and leather tanning spring immediately to mind. It’s an ingredient in sheep dips and some medicines too. It’s also used by the unscrupulous in lady’s face creams, although I believe there’s a risk of permanent disfigurement.”

  “Goodness, I had no idea.”

  “I’m assuming your erstwhile guardians would prefer it if no one does. That’s why they need to instigate production in secret.”

  “In my cave?” Miranda felt outraged. “That would be a desecration.”

  “Which is why we won’t permit it to happen,” he replied calmly, sending her a warm smile.