Lord Beast (4 page)

“Let me see you,” she murmured,
blinking.

He balked and began to draw away
from her.

“No!” she clutched at his arm,
staying his retreat. “Please. If… if you let me see you, you can kiss me.”

Why did the thought of that
appeal to him so much? All he had to do was drop his hood and lower his mouth
and… God, then he’d have to face the pity on her face. He couldn’t endure that.

He pushed her away from him and
her back caught against the railings of the stairs. He didn’t fail to catch her
wince.

“Don’t be stupid,” he snarled. “I
could never want you.”

The hurt that flashed across her
face caused guilt like he had never known to butcher his soul. He was an utter
ass.

“I see,” she said softly,
lowering her eyes to her lap before raising them to his again. “You may think
that you’ve hurt me, but you haven’t. You’re only trying to push me away. You
might not want me as a-a lover, but I’m quite sure you could tolerate me as a
friend.”

She was as far from the truth as
she could get. He’d jump at the opportunity to have her as his lover but… but
the scars! How could he endure watching her watch his scars? It would be too
much, too painful… What would he see mirrored on her pretty face? Pity?
Repugnance?

“Danielle, you need to leave and
don’t come back here.”

“I will.”

“You mustn’t!”

She slowly began to stand, her
legs uncoiling from where they had been coyly crossed under her, her arms
clutching at the railing and then at her back, her face displaying an array of
pain that concerned and confused him. Surely he hadn’t hurt her when he shoved
her away from him?

“Are you in pain?” he asked harshly.

She nodded slowly. “Think nothing
of it.” She waved her hand dismissively. “An old injury that comes back to
plague me.”

“Well, I’ll escort you to your
horse or carriage so you can return home safely and lie down.”

She threw him an amused look. “I
walked, my lord, and lying down is the last thing on my mind. I think I’ll
explore the coastline a bit before I go home.”

He inclined his head graciously.
“Whatever you wish.”

“You wouldn’t care to join me?”

And ravish you on the beach?
“No.”

“Very well. I shall see you soon,
Lord Ashcroft.”

“I’d really rather you didn’t,
Miss Carmichael.”

She grinned impishly. “Farewell,
my lord.”

Unfortunately, the small jarring
of her back given to her by Lord Ashcroft had caused more pain than Dani
thought possible.

Her spine was in utter agony all
through the day and into the night. Sleep eluded her but moving caused too much
pain so she opted to remain in bed until her agony subsided. 

The following morning she sent
word down to her aunt that she would be unable to attend breakfast and
requested a tray sent up to her. Naturally, Fiona was quick to survey the
extent of Dani’s immobility in person, fussing over her like a worrisome
mother.

“Is it your back again, dear?”
she enquired sympathetically, hovering in the doorway.

“I’m afraid so,” Dani lamented.
“I so wanted to go for a walk along the coast today… I can’t seem to bring
myself to bite through the pain and get up.”

“Hmmm. Would you like me to send
for the doctor?”

“There’s no need. I know what
they’ll say- bed rest and laudanum.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Fiona
gave her an assessing look where she lay on her side, a pillow wedged between
her knees, on the bed. “Shall I send anything up to you? I’ll make sure your
embroidery is sent up-”

Dani smothered a laugh. Her
embroidery was shameful. The last thing she wanted to do was stitch a boring
piece of fabric. “No, thank you. But if you could send up a few books for me to
read, that would be lovely.”

“I will do so at once,” she
assured her motherly. “You just keep still now and I’ll make sure you’ve
everything you need to make the day pass smoothly.”

“Thank you.” Dani smiled at the
old woman appreciatively before being left to her own devices. She sighed
resignedly, having long ago decided that she would have to visit Falmouth
Castle again another time. There was absolutely no possibility that she would
be able to walk there when her back was in this much pain. It was irksome,
that. She’d never been given to being made lame by an injury. It was just a
pity that she was now when quite the most exciting thing was happening to her.

Good God, she had befriended the
Earl of Falmouth! Well, she hoped she was at least making headway befriending
him. One could never tell with that infernal hood. She could safely assume that
he was warming up to her… well, maybe not safely but she liked to hope. Maybe
he found her an amusing diversion to his normally humdrum life. She suspected
that his life would be quite humdrum… locked away in a lonely castle with no
one for company other than… how had he put it? Ah, yes… the pile of rocks
around him.

Or maybe his life was quite
exciting. Everybody thought he was dead. Why? Was he trying to keep some
mysterious secret from the rest of society? Oh, it was thrilling! Titillating!
And Dani was the only person who knew of his existence. Not that he’d gone
through much pains to hide his identity from her… what if he were an imposter
who merely knew enough about the history of Falmouth Castle to use the earl’s
identity as his own?

Dani shook the thought from her
mind. She
knew
he was the real Rhys Ashcroft. Deep down, she just
knew
.
It made her quite melancholy that she wouldn’t be able to further their
acquaintance that day but she sighed resignedly and flipped open the book she
had been reading since last night- a tome of Keats’s poetry and works. Life
always followed a certain routine for her and, on occasion, she would become
quite envious of people who had exciting lives: people who travelled and
explored the continent, men who wrote about their adventures, those poor
unfortunates involved in the most scandalous of gossips... Danielle’s life had
progressed in quiet anonymity. She didn’t draw attention to herself. She never
made a fuss or a scene and she had scarcely stepped foot out of London up until
three months ago. She had even shied away from dancing during balls because of
her back, not that she received many offers from gentlemen in the first place.
Then again, she had tried to look as reluctant as possible in order to stave
off actually rejecting someone.

Reflectively, Dani realised that
she didn’t have much to complain about in her life. Her dowry was small, but
adequate, and she always had relations that cared about her. Perhaps in a few
years she could use her dowry to set herself up comfortably in the country. A
small cottage would be nice with an extensive collection of books and a pretty
garden.

Maybe life would have been better
if things with her mother had been different, but she didn’t dwell on that for
too long.

Content as she was with her lot,
she couldn’t help but feel a small thrill of excitement unfold within her.  

It was about four o’clock when a
knock sounded at her bedroom door and her aunt poked her silver head around.
“You have a visitor, dear. Would you like to see her? Or shall I inform them
you’re indisposed?” she asked.

“Who is it, aunt?”
Her?
Dani didn’t have any female acquaintances in Cornwall.

“Hmmm… A Mrs Valerie Donaldson.
Says she has to return something you left at her house yesterday.”

“Oh.” Curiously, Dani tried to
recall all the places she had been yesterday but the only place that stuck out
in her mind was Falmouth Castle. “I’ll see her, aunt. Thank you.”

Fiona nodded her head and a few
minutes later a stout, middle-aged woman was shown in carrying the picnic
basket Dani had left at Falmouth Castle.

Valerie Donaldson had a warm,
round and friendly face, equipped with red cheeks and brown eyes. She wore a
smudged apron which pronounced that she held a station as a servant in
someone’s home –presumably Lord Ashcroft’s- and was altogether a pleasing,
motherly specimen that bustled towards Dani’s bedside concernedly.

“Oh, my,” she gushed, setting the
picnic basket on the floor, “are you alright, child?”

“Um… yes!” Dani assured the
strange woman hastily. “Just an old injury acting up, I assure you. But… pardon
me for being frank, but who are you?”

“Oh!” Mrs Donaldson looked
flustered and embarrassed. “You must forgive me! I lost my manners! Oh, how
terribly rude of me.” She bobbed a polite curtsy. “I’m Valerie Donaldson, his
lordship’s cook and housekeeper, miss. Everybody calls me Val, though, and I’d
be honoured if you do the same.”

Dani gave the woman a warm,
tentative smile. “Very well. I shall be honoured to call you Val.”

Val beamed approvingly before
placing herself on the edge of the bed. “I was so concerned when you didn’t
show up today,” she blurted cheerfully, “I was sure something terrible had
happened. You’d been so persistent these last two times I thought… we
all
thought that you’d have to turn up today. Well, when you didn’t, the lordship
was in a right mood, he was-”

“I beg your pardon?” Dani
spluttered. “Lord Ashcroft missed me?”

Val gave her a conspiratorial
wink. “He’d never say so himself, my dear. And he’d have my head if he knew I’d
say such a thing to you, but we could
tell
the moment his mood
blackened. The whole day he’d been pacing that place like a hungry cat, jumping
at the merest sound. Grayson and I both think he was waiting for something-”
she paused and gave Dani another motherly smile- “waiting for
you
, I
believe, and when it became clear that you… uh… couldn’t visit, he sent me over
to your cottage on the pretence of returning your things but actually to find
out what had been keeping you.”

“Did he actually tell you to find
out all that?” Dani asked disbelievingly. Ashcroft had made it quite clear that
she was the last person in the world he would consider caring about so she was
having a difficult time believing the stout cook’s presence in her room.

“Well of course not!” Val chuckled.
“The man’s too proud for his own good but I know that boy well enough by now.
As soon as I return he’ll be wanting to interrogate my every word uttered in
this house, mark my words.”

Dani allowed herself a small,
private and secretive smile. Surely if Val had known the earl for as long as
she seemed to have, then her assumptions about him would be correct. Oh, how
she wished she could visit him! Regret, disappointment and…
longing
all
coalesced to make her yearn to see him again and it was a strange feeling for
Dani. She had never longed to see anyone of her acquaintance, let alone a
cloaked gentlemen whose appearance was an intriguing mystery to her.

She gave the cook a nervous look,
wondering if she would be out of place to ask such a thing. “Val,” she hedged,
“why does he not… that is, why does he wear that cloak all the time?”

Val sighed sadly, her brown eyes
filled with tears for a moment before she stilled. “An accident,” she said
softly. “His carriage rolled into a ditch a few years back. The glass from the
windows shattered and scarred the left side of his face terribly. Such a pity
that. Never was there a handsomer man that Rhys Ashcroft. Mind you, he was also
a cold man and quite rude to the ladies that didn’t quite meet his standards. A
rumour went around that it was after he gave one vindictive young gel the cut
that she fiddled with his carriage and that caused the accident. Oh, the poor
lad. He took it so badly, he did. He didn’t leave his chambers for months and
when he did… it was only with that infernal cloak on. Hasn’t taken it off…
well, not in company anyway. I haven’t seen his face after the accident. I
think Grayson did once, but his lordship is very secretive.” Her brown eyes
glinted excitedly at Dani. “But you!
You’ve
done something to him, lass!
I’ve never seen him gnaw at his bit like this before. It’s like there is-is a
fire
at his heels! Oh, Miss Carmichael-”

“Wait, Mrs Donaldson, I’m not
sure I understand what you’re implying,” she interrupted slowly, warily.

“Oh, I know he can be a cold
lout,” Val trilled happily, “but with a little patience I’m sure he’d be the
most lovable man in existence. He’s sorely lacking in affection, miss. I can
only ask you not to give up on him when he pushes you away-”

“Val,” Dani said firmly, “I’m not
trying to make the earl fall in love with me. I assure you, I was only seeking
his friendship. It was a mystery to me, is all. I’m not sure how you came to
the conclusion that I could be a woman he came to love, but… well. Oh drat, I
don’t know what to say with you looking at me like that!”

Val was looking at her in a
benign, condescending almost knowing way. It was a look that said
‘that’s-what-all-you-young-people-think-at-first-but-I- know- better’.  Val
reached out and patted her hand affectionately. “We’ll see, dear,” she murmured
softly. “It would just be nice to have some warmth and laughter in that old
heap of stones again.”