Read Online The Homecoming by M. C. Beaton, Marion Chesney - Free Book Online Page B

down into the water.
    Lizzie waited and watched anxiously.
    Then she heard Gerald cry out, saw him clutch his throat, then he fell back on the jetty and lay prone, his hat rolling off into the water.
    “Mr. Parkes!” screamed Lizzie.
    She ran headlong down to the jetty and knelt down beside him, rubbing his wrists and cheeks. “Please, Mr. Parkes,” she begged. “Do not be dead.”
    His blue eyes suddenly opened and he said, “I think a kiss would restore me to life.”
    “Monster!” Lizzie got to her feet and glared down at him.
    “I fooled you,” he cried gleefully, springing to his feet. “You should see your face.”
    Lizzie turned and began to walk angrily away. “I will never forgive you,” she said over her shoulder.
    The duke, irritated by Celia and bored with Verity, stood once more at the drawing-room window.
    His eyes narrowed. There was Lizzie Beverley, hurrying back towards the house. Gerald Parkes was following her. He seemed to be pleading. Then, as the duke watched, Gerald ran around the front of Lizzie and sank to his knees and clasped his hands.
    He saw Lizzie begin to laugh, saw Gerald get to his feet with a sunny smile and tuck Lizzie’s hand in his arm. Chatting together, they continued towards the house.
    Mr. Bond has done well for that chit, thought the duke sourly.
    Lizzie and Gerald entered the hall. Suddenly Lizzie stopped.
    “What is the matter?” asked Gerald.
    “The house is angry with me,” whispered Lizzie.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Nothing,” said Lizzie, “nothing at all.”
    She ran away from him and up the stairs.
    How odd, thought Gerald. She was quite white. I must be careful not to play any more tricks on her.
    Lizzie sat down in her sitting-room and slowly unfastened her bonnet and lifted it from her bright hair. It must have been a trick of her imagination. Now she felt nothing. The fright Gerald had given her at the lake must have overset her.
    There was a scratching at the door and she called, “Come in.”
    The door opened and Peter Bond walked into the room.
    “Peter,” said Lizzie. “Do sit down and chat to me. How is your fair Sarah?”
    “I am at my wit’s end,” said Peter with a groan.
    “Why, has she snubbed you?”
    “Not at all, Lizzie, she is all that is amiable. But I had forgotten that Sarah is very dreamy. Although we talked of people we know in our village, it was as if most of her mind was somewhere else.”
    “Sarah Walters
is
very dreamy,” said Lizzie. “Are you sure…I do not wish to offend you…but are you sure you would wish to be allied to such a family? Squire Walters seems a terrible old man and his poor wife appears to be frightened to open her mouth.”
    Peter clasped his hands and stared at Lizzie beseechingly. “I am sure she would be glad to escape from her family.”
    “How can I say this?” Lizzie looked at him sadly.
    “Such an invitation to such a family from the great Duke of Severnshire must have given them hopes of a marriage for Sarah, and not with you either.”
    “They must see that such a match is unthinkable.”
    “And yet what else can they think?” said Lizzie patiently. “The Walters are not in the way of receiving invitations from dukes.”
    “But they must know it was because of me!”
    “The squire has great vanity, I think,” said Lizzie. “And Sarah did not recognize you. Was she even aware of your existence?”
    “We danced several times at the local assemblies, and then, one beautiful day which will live in my memory forever, I was out walking and I met her. We walked and talked for an hour.”
    “And did Sarah show any warmth towards you?”
    “Oh, yes, she said I was the easiest person to talk to she had ever met.”
    “And what did you talk about?” asked Lizzie curiously.
    It transpired that Peter had done most of the talking. The local vicar had introduced Peter to his bishop and the bishop had given Peter a letter of introduction to the duke. Peter had talked of his hopes of