Her Favoured Captain by Francine Howarth Read Free Book Online Page B

about and took
her leave of the bridge. What if Ned had failed in his promised endeavour to
secure her safe from unknown male clutches? Where might she end up?
       As she strolled back toward the house a
wild briar rose caught her eye. She could not resist the temptation to pluck
one bloom, just one to take back and to press as a memento of Penhavean, for
she would have to leave the estate, one day, perhaps soon. About to snap the
rose from thorn clad stem, was it her heart beating wildly, or was it the
thunder of horse’ hooves upon the ground? She swung round and indeed a horse
was at the gallop, and on approach to the bridge from the other side of the
creek.
       It was Ned, and waving his hand in wild
gesture as he reined to canter and thence to the trot; his news spilled forth
in haste upon drawing level with her. “Penhavean is yours.” Hers, how could
that be? He leapt from the saddle his arms about her in tight hug. “I shall
miss the old place, but I know it will always be safe in your hands.”
       “Mine, how can it be mine?”
       “I failed to secure you safe from
betrothal, but be assured you will not be bride to the Earl of Moorby, and this
estate is a wedding gift from your future husband.”
       Her heart sank at news of betrothal, and
although Penhavean was hers what of the man who now presumed ownership of
Emerald Lady Penhavean? “To whom, then, to whom have I been sold, Ned? What of
the lawyer? You said in your scant letter that you had engaged a lawyer.”
       “I did, and he did his best to initiate
proceedings against the earl for unjust repayment of debt by way of demanding a
slave in payment, which, as we all know, slavery was abolished in this country
a year past. Unfortunate for us, though, the courts of justice grind ever slow,
and we simply failed in getting a court summons served before Moorby had passed
my overall debt to another.”
       “Who is this other, Ned, and why did the
lawyer not pursue the case with him?”
       “I withdrew the charge upon good reports of
the man and, of his willingness to see you safe at Penhavean forever. And by
all accounts his lordship is a handsome fellow of considerable means. Though I was
given to understand his title has come to him quite recent on the death of his
late uncle, Lord Welldon, Admiral of the fleet, and owner of a grand estate in
Devonshire.”
       “What of you, Ned? What does this all mean
for you? And, when will this Lord Welldon require to see his purchases?”
       “Steady up, Emerald, one question at a
time,” said Ned, a laugh the like unheard in so long she could barely remember
when it had last happened, though recalled an incident of his clinging to a
branch of an old tree whilst sliding to the ground in a most undignified
manner. “I have the chance of a new life in the Americas, as a partner in trade
and commerce and two ships in my care to ply back and forth across the Atlantic
Ocean.”
       “All well and good, if that is really to
your liking, but you love Penhavean, do you not? It was your inheritance, Ned.
And, if I now own it I can give it to whomever I please, and I shall give it to
you.”
       He laughed again, caught up her hand and
placed a kiss upon it. “I love Penhavean, yes, but not as you do, nor as you
have all of your life. I have liked to think of it here, and I able to come
back whenever it suited me to do so, but restlessness within me has always
existed, Emerald. You know that and know that I love nothing more than
adventure and exploration, and remember how I loved my time as a soldier aboard
ship and when warring on land. Well, now I have a chance at a different kind of
adventure. Come, let us walk to the house.” He grasped the reins of his horse;
its nostrils flared though breathing not unduly laboured. “Good old Cornet, you
did me proud today,” he said, a hefty pat to his favourite steed’s neck.
       “And this adventure, what does it entail?”
       “In