Read Online The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Camden
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she caught sight of it in the instant before he flicked his gaze away from her. Her jaw tightened, and terrible suspicions began to form in the back of her mind. “I sent you dozens of compositions,” she said.
That seemed to surprise him, if the lift of his brows and quickly indrawn breath were any measure. “I never received anything. I waited for months but nothing ever came. Did you get what I sent to you?”
She stood and turned to face him. There was no deception on his face, no trace of teasing or misguided humor. She felt the blood drain from her face as a growing realization of what had happened began to penetrate her stunned senses. “You sent me music?” she asked. “I just assumed you were far too busy with everything to be bothered with music.”
“Too busy to be bothered with Chopin?” She could tell he was trying to sound lighthearted, but she heard the anger simmering behind the words. “I sent the music to your aunt Helen’s house in London. I sent letters, too. And none of this got to you?”
“None of it,” she said weakly. Her father had done this to her. Her father and Aunt Helen had conspired together to pry the most meaningful person in her life away from her. The sense of betrayal was enormous, but even worse was the knowledge that Daniel must have believed she had abandoned him. During the most gut-wrenching few months of his life, she must have appeared to be the most frivolous girl on the planet, darting off to Europe and not even bothering to return the letters he had taken precious time from his day to write to her. There were no words she could say to apologize for what her father had orchestrated.
Daniel braced his elbows on his knee and yanked a blade of grass, rolling it between his fingers. Finally, he let out a harsh laugh. “Well, I’m a prize idiot.”
“How do you mean?”
“I noticed the way your father looked at us, toward the end. I certainly was not the kind of man the esteemed Reverend Endicott wanted for his only daughter. Your aunt Helen obviously prevented any letters you sent to me from leaving her house. And she made sure none of mine got to you.”
“I can’t believe they would have stooped to this,” she said. But she knew they had. When she was growing up she thought the sun rose and set with Daniel Tremain’s smile, and that was simply too much of a threat for her father to handle. She felt awful as she dragged her gaze to Daniel. “I’m so sorry. My father had no right to cast you out of my life just because you were poor.”
The wistful, damaged look on Daniel’s face lingered for just an instant; then his mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “Don’t be naive. Your father spotted trouble before either one of us knew it was on the horizon.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward. “And we were trouble, Clara.” His voice roughened when he said the words, and the way he gazed at her with that gleam in his eye made her breath freeze in her throat.
When he picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to it, she nearly jumped out of her skin, but Daniel kept a firm grip on her hand. “Big, breathtaking, unrelenting trouble.” He touched his lips to her hand again. She shouldn’t have let it affect her so, as the gentle kiss was as proper as could be. He could have kissed the queen of England like that and no one would have thought anything of it, but the thrill that raced up her arm from that tiny touch of his lips was splendid.
At last he released her hand, and Clara knew that everything he said was precisely correct. What girl of sixteen had the ability to manage the torrents of infatuation she experienced when Daniel was the center of her universe? Even now she was intensely conscious of the magnetic pull that hummed between them. It was awkward and exhilarating at the same time, so Clara took the safe route and changed the topic.
“So was it any good? The music you sent me?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Adolescent dreck. Pure
That seemed to surprise him, if the lift of his brows and quickly indrawn breath were any measure. “I never received anything. I waited for months but nothing ever came. Did you get what I sent to you?”
She stood and turned to face him. There was no deception on his face, no trace of teasing or misguided humor. She felt the blood drain from her face as a growing realization of what had happened began to penetrate her stunned senses. “You sent me music?” she asked. “I just assumed you were far too busy with everything to be bothered with music.”
“Too busy to be bothered with Chopin?” She could tell he was trying to sound lighthearted, but she heard the anger simmering behind the words. “I sent the music to your aunt Helen’s house in London. I sent letters, too. And none of this got to you?”
“None of it,” she said weakly. Her father had done this to her. Her father and Aunt Helen had conspired together to pry the most meaningful person in her life away from her. The sense of betrayal was enormous, but even worse was the knowledge that Daniel must have believed she had abandoned him. During the most gut-wrenching few months of his life, she must have appeared to be the most frivolous girl on the planet, darting off to Europe and not even bothering to return the letters he had taken precious time from his day to write to her. There were no words she could say to apologize for what her father had orchestrated.
Daniel braced his elbows on his knee and yanked a blade of grass, rolling it between his fingers. Finally, he let out a harsh laugh. “Well, I’m a prize idiot.”
“How do you mean?”
“I noticed the way your father looked at us, toward the end. I certainly was not the kind of man the esteemed Reverend Endicott wanted for his only daughter. Your aunt Helen obviously prevented any letters you sent to me from leaving her house. And she made sure none of mine got to you.”
“I can’t believe they would have stooped to this,” she said. But she knew they had. When she was growing up she thought the sun rose and set with Daniel Tremain’s smile, and that was simply too much of a threat for her father to handle. She felt awful as she dragged her gaze to Daniel. “I’m so sorry. My father had no right to cast you out of my life just because you were poor.”
The wistful, damaged look on Daniel’s face lingered for just an instant; then his mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “Don’t be naive. Your father spotted trouble before either one of us knew it was on the horizon.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward. “And we were trouble, Clara.” His voice roughened when he said the words, and the way he gazed at her with that gleam in his eye made her breath freeze in her throat.
When he picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to it, she nearly jumped out of her skin, but Daniel kept a firm grip on her hand. “Big, breathtaking, unrelenting trouble.” He touched his lips to her hand again. She shouldn’t have let it affect her so, as the gentle kiss was as proper as could be. He could have kissed the queen of England like that and no one would have thought anything of it, but the thrill that raced up her arm from that tiny touch of his lips was splendid.
At last he released her hand, and Clara knew that everything he said was precisely correct. What girl of sixteen had the ability to manage the torrents of infatuation she experienced when Daniel was the center of her universe? Even now she was intensely conscious of the magnetic pull that hummed between them. It was awkward and exhilarating at the same time, so Clara took the safe route and changed the topic.
“So was it any good? The music you sent me?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Adolescent dreck. Pure
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