dangerous beast, if ever there was one.â
âThanks for the warning,â William said. âIâll take note. And you areâ¦?â
âWill Darby, at your service, sir. I work close by for Mr Winbolt.â He clambered up the slope and went on, âI could tell you a tale or two about that bull, I could. Job Diment. Elias Carter, theyâm both still laid up after âe attacked âem. Not worked for weeks and weeks, they âasnât. Why, itâs not long since Mr Winboltâs own sister barely got away with her life. Donât go near âum!â
âI certainly shanât. Miss Winbolt, you say?â
âAye, sir. Youâm be looking at the very spot where she escaped. Leastways, thatâs what Mr Winbolt said when he told us to mend the hedge just where weâre standing. Lucky, thatâs what she was. With the branch giving way under âer and all.â He looked curiously at William. âBe you bound fer Shearings, sir?â
ââEr, no. Not today. Iâm going in the other direction. Well, thank you, Will.â They clambered down the slope together and William slipped a coin into Will Darbyâs hand. âIâll be on my wayâand Iâll take your advice and go the long way round!â
To Williamâs relief Will Darby gave him a tooth less grin, touched his cap, and set off without asking any more questions. He had no desire to lie to the man, but nor did he wish to explain what he was doing in that quiet spot at such a very early hour.
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William Ashenden suffered from an over-developed sense of humour and a strong sense of the ridiculous. His friends frequently told him that his major fault was a desire to tease. The situation he was in the process of uncovering was so perfectly bizarre, so exactly to his taste that, as he rode on to Charlwood, a bubble of mirth was growing inside him. He was hard put to it not to laugh out loud. Ice-cool Emily Winbolt and his passionate seductressâwhat an unlikely combination! Soberly dressed Emily Winbolt and a raggle-taggle, bare-legged gipsy girlâwhat a contrast! Oh, yes! The alarm in Miss Winboltâs eyes, her fear of him, were both now perfectly understandable. Indeed, she must be worried out of her skin lest he should recognise her and tell the world what she had been up to. His grin broadened. What fun he would have with her! The little cheat deserved a bit of teasing before he put her out of her misery.
For a moment he paused. Did she deserve it? Was she in the habit of finding secret pleasure with strangers? Or was she indeed a respectable woman who had been under the same spell as he had been that day, unable to resist, swept up by some mysterious force? For a moment he hesitated, but then shrugged his shoulders. It wouldnât do her any lasting harm. Circumstances had forced him to be too serious latelyâhe felt in need of diversion. The problem of what to do with the children had been worrying. The question of a wife and a home, and the chores associated with renovating Charlwood, had been interesting, but not exactly amusing. A brief spell of teasing Miss Winbolt would provide some light relief. Not for long, though. He couldnât keep her in suspense for long. And, whatever happened, the affair would be strictly between himself and the lady. Shemight worry for a short while, but she would under stand that the world outside would never learn from him what had happened between them one evening in May.
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Rosaâs invitation to the Deardons threw Emily into a panic. She realised that she would sooner or later have to meet William Ashenden again, but this seemed altogether too soon. During the intervening week she at tempted to find a dozen reasons why she should not be present, but her sister-in-law frustrated them all. Rosa thoroughly approved of William Ashenden and knew Philip liked him, too. This was enough to persuade her that this was
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