The Sea Between by Carol Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

him?’
    To be truthful, Charlotte didn’t much care what had prompted the invitation—it would get her out of the house and, more to the point, away from Isobel. The past two days had been terrible. It had rained almost non-stop and Isobel had been as bristly as a yard broom. To make matters worse, Ann and George had returned to Lyttelton and Sarah had spent most of the time in bed with a cold, with the result that Charlotte had spent two long, wet days cooped up with a bad-tempered aunt and two bored young nephews. She knew very well what was nettling Isobel: she was still simmering like a pot of soup from the row that she and John had had on the way back from the Steeles’. John had been absolutely furious with her. ‘Arude, ill-mannered old woman!’ he’d called her. ‘An embarrassment to the family!’ Not one to be cowed by strong words, Isobel had sneeringly retorted, ‘And you, John, are a typical male bigot!’ which had only served to add more fuel to John’s fire. The two had barely exchanged a civil word since.
    ‘Ah, Charlotte!’ John turned a beaming face on his daughter as she emerged from the house. ‘Captain Steele has just arrived. He’s wondering if you’ll join him on his ride. His mother has been telling him what a fine horsewoman you are.’
    ‘She tells me you ride like the wind,’ Richard said. ‘But I’m afraid I don’t, so you may have to settle for a somewhat slower pace today. Assuming you’re agreeable to accompanying me, that is.’ He smiled, a wide, charming smile which was obviously intended to do just that—charm her.
    Well, Charlotte mused, perhaps Isobel is right about Richard Steele. He doesn’t have the look of a man who’s been coerced into doing something against his will.
    She smiled back at him. If Richard did have it in mind to court her, she’d no objection at all. He was an interesting man and she liked him. Whether she liked him enough to marry him—assuming that marriage was what he had in mind—only time would tell; but when they’d had supper with the Steeles on Tuesday evening she’d certainly found herself looking at him in a way that she couldn’t recall looking at a man before. He was quite a good-looking man, although good looks, of course, were always a matter of opinion. However, no one could argue with the fact that Richard was well built. And he would weather well. If you must marry, be sure to choose a man who will weather well, Isobel had advised her in one of her regular aunty talks. In Richard’s case, one only had to look at Ben to know how Richard would weather. The two men were like peas in a pod. Although sixty, Ben still had a good head of dark hair, although his sideburns andmoustache had turned grey. The skin around his eyes was scored with lines and he had two very deep lines running down from the sides of his nose to the corners of his mouth, but he was still quite a good-looking man for his age; still straight-backed, still solid-chested, and still as strong as an ox. Richard had inherited both his looks and his build. He would also one day inherit Ben’s farm.
    ‘I’d be very pleased to accompany you, Captain Steele,’ she replied and gave him a charming smile of her own. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her father, sporting a smile as wide as a frog’s.
    ‘I’ve brought a picnic lunch.’ Richard dipped his head towards his bulging saddlebag. ‘I hope you have a good appetite, because my mother has packed enough food to feed a regiment.’
    Charlotte glanced at the saddlebag, then at the sky. The sun was shining and it was reasonably warm for September, but the wind was coming from the south and there were one or two smudgy dark clouds hanging about, which might or might not indicate rain in the offing. It was the sort of day when it was difficult to say what the weather would do. September was renowned for its fickle changes.
    Reading her thoughts, Richard said, ‘My father seems to think the weather will