Read Online Silver Sea by Cynthia Wright - Free Book Online

in the first place.
    For a quarter of an hour, Adrienne wandered in the maze. She listened to the songs of birds that were gathering material for nests, ventured to the edge of the meadow to pick cowslips and budding red clover, and watched the activity of some beetles. It felt rather exciting to do something forbidden like going outside without permission, but what fun was it if no one knew?
    Just then a stormy-faced Nathan Essex came around the hedge toward her and took hold of her by both arms. "Are you mad? I have given you clear orders not to go anywhere without telling me!"
    As her heart began to pump, Adrienne realized that she wasn't bored any more. "Take your hands off me, sir! Must you manhandle me at every turn?"
    "Only when you insist on behaving like an incorrigible child who deserves a shaking!" His eyes blazed into hers. "Would you rather be in the hands of Walter Frakes-Hogg?"
    "Aren't you a bit of an alarmist? Really, it's broad daylight, and I am within sight of the house. Have you no sympathy for my plight? You come and go as you please, but I am trapped with that woman for hours on end, forced to perform as if I were some sort of trained pet!"
    Nathan stubbornly shook his head. "I think it's more than that. I think that you enjoy breaking the rules and misbehaving."
    "To what end?"
    "That is a question only you can answer, chit."
    She found herself being tugged back up the stone steps by his unyielding hand. "Don't call me that," she complained. No sooner were the words out than Adrienne regretted them, for a wicked gleam shone momentarily in his eyes that told her he would probably make "chit" a pet name for her in the future.
    Inside the garden doors, Nathan pressed her into a corner and said in low tones, "If you must have a walk, ask me and I will take you. Understood?"
    Hating him, she nodded. When he released her and she raced away, up the stairs to the drawing room, Adrienne was already plotting ways to rebel against her jailer.
    * * *
    "My dear Hunty will be joining us to celebrate my birthday!" Lady Thomasina rhapsodized. Her good cheer was such that she had scarcely scolded Adrienne for her lengthy absence. "Wait until you meet him, Miss Beau. My son is everything that a man might aspire to become."
    They were just finishing a small supper, served in front of the fire in Lady Thomasina's sitting room. Nathan, apparently having taken pity on Adrienne, had agreed to join the women, and he toyed with his strong boiled mutton as they talked.
    "Perhaps young Lord Harms can provide male companionship for Mr. Essex," Adrienne ventured.
    "I don't believe that Hunty fraternizes with commoners, as a rule," the old woman said with puckered brow. "Perhaps he will make an exception in Nathan's case. However, I don't know whether they would get on well together. Hunty is a different breed of male."
    Adrienne saw Nathan's brow arch at that, and indeed she wondered herself exactly which breed Huntsford Harms might be. Aloud, however, she murmured, "No doubt his lordship is refined in his manners and tastes; a gentleman in behavior and appearance."
    "Exactly so, Miss Beau. Those are the qualities that distinguish nobility, don't you think? There is a certain refinement in the blood."
    One of the kitchen maids appeared then with the dessert tray. Nathan took one look at the goblets of trifle and folded his napkin.
    "I find that I am tired this evening. Will you excuse me?"
    When he had gone, Lady Thomasina turned to her young companion. "You see? He is very attractive in a... potent way, but completely unrepentant in his manners. No true gentleman would leave the table before I had." Frowning, she shook her head so that powder from her wig showered the dishes. "I have a feeling, though, that he knows better and does as he pleases. A reckless type, don't you think? One might even describe Mr. Essex as a rogue."
    "Without a doubt. And I think that his disregard for good manners goes far beyond the dinner table, my