Beatrice (14 page)

“I was a
heap on the floor,” she muttered glumly.

“You
were a very beautiful heap on the floor,” Ben mused
teasingly.

Beatrice
smiled at him. “As I recall, you looked at me as though I was going
to lunge for your throat, or drag you down onto the floor with me.
You hurried off a fast as your feet would carry you.” Although her
words were light and jovial, there was a small tinge of hurt hidden
in her voice that Ben couldn’t ignore.

“I was
too stunned for words, Beatrice. You were – are, the most beautiful
woman I have ever seen in my life.”

Beatrice’s cheeks flooded with colour. She wasn’t sure quite
what to say to that. A wild thrill of delight coursed through her
and she stared nonplussed at her plate while she tried to get her
wildly swinging emotions under control.

Ben
smiled at her and leaned toward her so he could capture her chin
with gentle fingers. He eased her around to face him and looked
deeply into her eyes.

“I have
not been able to forget that day; I have to be honest with you. The
first time I looked into your face, something changed within me and
I haven’t been the same since. Each time I have closed my eyes
since, I have seen you. You are there throughout each waking
moment. Right now, there is nowhere else I would rather be. I need
to be here for me as much as you. Because of the way I feel about
you, I cannot sit back and allow anyone to hurt you. Not you,
Beatrice.”

“Ben, I
don’t know what to say. You have always seemed so aloof; so
unapproachable, that I had no idea you felt this way,” she replied
quietly. A part of her was thrilled, but another part of her was
incredibly wary. “Each week, at Sunday service, all you seemed to
do was glare at me, and I never really knew what I was doing that I
offended you so much.”

Ben
scowled “I wasn’t offended. You could never offend me, Beatrice.
You are by far the most wonderfully kind, considerate and
thoughtful person in the village. Everybody says so and, if I was
scowling at you at church on Sunday and it made you feel
uncomfortable, then I apologise because it certainly was not
intended.” He sighed and studied his plate for a moment while he
thought about his determination to go to service just to see her.
“I have to be honest with you Beatrice, that while most of the
county go to church, I am not an overly religious man. My parents
always went to church, and forced me to go, but it was always a
burden of mine that I have endeavoured to break myself out of as an
adult. However, since I moved here and met you, I have found myself
going again, but only because your pew was directly opposite
mine.”

He
looked up at her gauge her reaction; she looked more than a little
puzzled.

“You go
to church because I am there?” she asked with a small frown. “But
you never made any attempt to speak to me.”

“I
know,” he sighed. “That’s always because you hurry out of church
after each service as though you just realised that you have left a
pot of water on to boil. You don’t even stop to speak to Harriett,
or any of your friends. Unless I decided to chase you across the
churchyard, I have had little opportunity to speak with you, so had
to make do with at least being able to see you.”

“I
always meet with my friends at Harriett’s tea shop on a Monday,”
she replied quietly. “I am shocked; I had no idea that you wanted
to talk to me too,” she added and meant every word.

“You
wanted to talk to me too?” Ben asked incredulously. He was
relieved, yet strangely sad at the thought of all of the time they
had wasted when they could have been together.

She
nodded. “After we met on Main Street, I heard that you were new to
the area. You were so incredibly handsome; I wanted to know more
about you. I asked Harriett about you. She told me that you had
just moved in to the Old Bakery on Church Street, but nobody knew
all that much else about you.”

“What do
you want to know?” Ben asked, and carefully picked up her hand and
held it.

“How old
are you?”

“Twenty
nine. You?”

Beatrice
smiled. “Twenty four.”

“What do
you do for a job? Do you work?”

“I
work,” Ben replied. “I am an artist. I sell my work through an
agent in London, and mainly work on commission. My parents are
deceased and I inherited their wealth, although have invested it
because I earn more than enough to live a relatively comfortable
life.”

“I
didn’t mean to pry,” Beatrice assured him, and hoped that he didn’t
think she was nosing into his private affairs.

“It is
important information, Beatrice. I told you; you didn’t ask. I like
fruit cake – a lot, and Eccles cakes, but my favourite food is
strawberries. I don’t like going to church; enjoy being out in the
countryside, and mainly draw and paint landscapes and still life. I
don’t do portraits because I don’t have the patience to coax
someone to sit still for as long as it takes to draw anyone,
although I would like to do at least one to see how it turns
out.”

Beatrice’s smile dimmed when he looked at her meaningfully
for several long moments. “Oh no. Not me.” She shook her head
frantically. “You are most definitely not putting my face down on
paper.”

Ben
smiled at the mulish tilt of her chin and decided to set the issue
aside for now. He had no doubt that at some point during their
lifetime together he would coax her to sit for him but, right now,
he wasn’t going to push for anything she wasn’t happy
with.

“One
thing I want you to understand about all of this, Beatrice, is that
while I would prefer it if you were not in danger, and didn’t have
all of this mystery to contend with, I am not going to let you deal
with it by yourself. I will be with you every step of the way while
we solve this. While I do have work to do at home, there is nothing
that cannot wait for a few weeks, and cannot fit around my need to
help you.” He looked at her a little sheepishly. “One thing I meant
to add to my list of ‘likes’, is that I love a good
mystery.”

Beatrice
groaned and shook her head. “Oh, so that’s why you are helping me,”
she teased and smiled when he laughed.

“What
about you? What kind of things do you like?” He asked when the
mirth had faded.

“I love
to garden, and enjoy being outside in the sunshine. I want to keep
myself busy, but am not sure what I want to do with my life
really.”

“I
thought I heard somewhere that you were looking into purchasing Mr
Montague’s old haberdashery in the village,” he replied with a
frown.

Was the
gossip wrong again?

Beatrice
sighed. “I am still not entirely sure it is the right thing to do.
The only reason I thought about buying it was to be able to get out
of the house and meet people. I love to sew and make things, and
thoroughly enjoy the Circle. We talk while we make things and
discuss all sorts of topics, like books and the trips we would like
to go on. Purchasing the haberdashery initially seemed like a good
idea, especially now that I am here all by myself. You see, I have
inherited my parent’s wealth and have invested it, but I cannot
keep living off it without putting anything back. At some point the
well will run dry, and then I am going to have a serious problem on
my hands.”

Ben
nodded. “A shop is going to take a lot of your time up though,
Beatrice. In order to be really profitable it is going to have to
be open for long hours, and will restrict your ability to, say,
have tea with your friends on a Monday. While I fully agree that
you need to find something to occupy your time, I just wonder if
running this house, and a shop, is a little too much?” He held a
hand up when he read her instinctive objection. “I just think that
you are young yet. Life can change. You could marry and have
children. What then?” He frowned at the table. “While investing in
property is always a good idea, why don’t you look at renting the
shop out? At least then you won’t have to run it yourself but will
have the rental income to live off.”

“I
hadn’t thought about buying the shop to rent it out,” Beatrice
admitted with a frown. “Because of everything that has happened
around here since Sunday, I really haven’t given it a moment’s
thought. At some point I have to sort out the mess in the
conservatory, and the study, but I just cannot bring myself to
tackle such a mammoth task. I cannot help but think that purchasing
the shop will bring yet more problems.” She glanced at him and
smiled ruefully. “Right now, I have more than enough to contend
with.”

“I admit
that clearing out the study and conservatory will be time consuming
jobs, but I will help you with them, if you would like me
to?”

“You
have helped me so much already that it doesn’t seem fair to expect
you to wade through my uncle’s old things as well.”

Ben
considered his words carefully for a moment while he thought over
what he wanted to say. “Beatrice, I want you to think about
something for me?” He waited for her to nod and ran a thumb over
the backs of her fingers. “I want you to consider our association
to be more of a proper relationship, not just a friendship. We are
more than just friends; in spite of our shot acquaintance. I think
that we owe it to ourselves to consider these wonderful feelings
that lie between us and see where they take us. Because of that, I
want you to consider letting me become a larger part of your life.
Let me help you with this mystery. I can also help you with your
uncle’s things, and will offer any advice you need relating to the
shop.”

“It
doesn’t seem fair though. I mean, you are doing all of this for me
but I cannot return the favour.”

“The
only thing I want in return is for you to consider allowing me to
become a more permanent part of your life.”

Beatrice
smiled ruefully at him. “I think you have been dragged into my life
whether you want to be here or not.”

That
made him chuckle. “I didn’t do too much screaming and kicking, I
assure you.” It was the truth. While he hated the thought that the
plant had brought her so much trouble, Fate did appear to be
smiling down on them because he had, for once, been in the right
place at the right time. It all made him feel as though his
relationship with Beatrice was meant to happen.

“So, can
we consider that we are in a relationship now?” Ben asked when
Beatrice had started to clear the pots away.

Beatrice
placed the cutlery on top of the plate and turned to face him. She
nodded before she could think too carefully about it, and settled
comfortably into his arms when he drew her toward him.

“I warn
you now though,” he added with a mock frown. “There is going to be
a lot more of this.” He placed a tender kiss on her lips. He leaned
back to look into her eyes, and was relieved to find nothing but
acceptance, and a little humour, shining back at him. He slid one
hand into her hair, and ignored her gasp when his fingers dragged
the silken strands of her hair loose and showered them both in
pins. Her hair cascaded round her shoulders in a wild mass of
silken delight that smelled slightly of lavender, and curled
lovingly around his wrists to ensnare him in a gentle
hold.

“This,”
he whispered, and captured her lips in a considerably deeper kiss
which branded them both and left them both wanting more.

CHAPTER
NINE

The
following morning, Maud was considerably better and was busy
clearing away the breakfast pots when there was a knock on the
door. Beatrice was in the sitting room doorway by the time the
housekeeper reached the hallway.

They
looked at each other in concern.

Beatrice
knew that Mark and Isaac had already gone to London. Ben wasn’t due
for another hour and they were not expecting anyone
else.

“Wait
here,” she whispered to Maud, and hurried upstairs, into her
uncle’s bedroom at the front of the house. Although the black
carriage wasn’t at the end of the driveway, she recognised the man
on the doorstep: Sigmund Hargraves.

She
quickly made her way back downstairs, and winced when several
louder knocks hammered loudly against the front door. She glanced
at Maud. “Is the bolt across the back door?”

Maud
suddenly scuttled off to slide the bolt closed, and draw the
curtains. Beatrice followed her, and felt her anger begin to build
as she watched Maud peer through the gloom at the contents of the
table. Without the shutters closed there was just enough light to
see, but it was a struggle, and an utterly ridiculous situation to
be in.

Determined not to be cowed by such an odious creature as
Hargraves, Beatrice walked up to the kitchen window and slid the
curtains back. Her startled gasp was loud as she saw Hargraves,
mere inches from the glass on the outside, but she glowered out at
him defiantly.

“I want
to talk to you,” Hargraves called through the window.

“I am
going to report you to the police. You have been told to go away,
now do so,” Beatrice replied firmly and quite pointedly turned her
back.

She
ushered Maud out of the kitchen, and deliberately ignored the
threats Hargraves was shouting at her. A desperate glance at the
grandfather clock warned her that she had nearly an hour before Ben
was due to arrive. Although it was unfair to drag him into another
of her problems, she fervently wished that he was there now to help
her deal with the persistent little man on her doorstep.