Mistress Below Deck by Helen Dickson Read Free Book Online Page B

service,’ he murmured with a slight incline of his head, sweeping his hat from his head in gallant haste, revealing his thick dark hair, which gleamed beneath the sun’s rays.
    â€˜Do you have to keep bothering me?’
    One eyebrow crawled up his forehead and his smile was almost lecherous. ‘So I bother you, do I, Rowena?’
    â€˜Like a wasp. Do you wish to speak to me, Mr Searle?’ she asked haughtily, her manner implying that, if not, he could take himself off and look sharp about it.
    â€˜I was merely riding my horse when I came upon you by surprise. Now we have met, there is no reason why we can’t be congenial to each other and converse on a matter that will not give offence to either of us.’
    â€˜And what do you suggest? That we should discuss the weather, perhaps, or the latest gossip in Falmouth?’ she retorted, her lips twisting with sarcasm. ‘I cannot think that you and I have common interests, Mr Searle.’
    â€˜I find you to be a more interesting topic, Rowena. Once again I find you courting danger. This track is notmeant to be ridden at breakneck speed by a horse controlled by a foolish woman.’
    Rowena’s face tightened and she gave him a frigid stare. ‘For your information, I have ridden it many times—so many times, in fact, that I could ride it blindfold. I value my freedom, Mr Searle—the freedom to do as I please—a desire which is sufficiently met up here on the high ground.’
    â€˜Be that as it may, but you should have more concern for your own safety. Have you no sense at all?’
    â€˜Apparently not, and as I have told you before, it is no concern of yours—and I cannot for the life of me think why you make it so. Nor can I imagine what you are doing hanging about up here, unless it is to waylay unsuspecting females. I am neither fragile nor defenceless,’ she told him sharply.
    â€˜Is there a reason that brings you up here today?’
    â€˜You have a nerve, Mr Searle,’ she snapped, casting an indignant glare at him. ‘What I do—’
    He raised a hand to silence her. ‘Is not my concern.’ His gaze went beyond her to Tregowan Hall. ‘Tregowan Hall is close by.’ He fixed her with a direct stare. ‘Hoping to catch a glimpse of your new neighbour, Rowena? I’ve heard he’s come to take up residence, though whether there is enough interest to keep him here is a matter for conjecture.’
    â€˜Are you acquainted with Lord Tregowan?’ she asked, reluctant to fall into conversation with him, but she was curious about her suitor and felt it was important to glean any information she could about him.
    â€˜As a matter of fact, he is well known to me.’ His gaze softened. ‘Why the sudden interest in Lord Tregowan, Rowena?’
    She gave a casual shrug. ‘I suppose you’ll find out soon so I might as well tell you. I am to marry Lord Tregowan. He—offered for me…I have accepted.’
    Tobias looked at her long and hard for several moments, and then his lips curved slowly, his eyes, filled with some secret amusement, raking her. ‘Ah, now I see. I really do. So, you have given your father his way, and by accepting Lord Tregowan’s proposal he will not have sold you for a mere pittance. My own wealth does not compare with that of Lord Tregowan’s—so I must accept that any hope I may have had that you might succumb to my offer and marry me is a lost cause. It appeals to you to be Lady Tregowan, does it, Rowena?’
    Rowena stared at him dispassionately. Her longing to sneer was overwhelming. It was his smug, conceited expression she hated most. How she yearned to set him in his place. ‘I am sure Lord Tregowan is kind and polite—’
    â€˜And hardly the sort a beautiful young woman would want to be married to, to spend the rest of her life with, in a draughty old house. But if you are to marry him, then