he would not yield. “Ten when my father married Helena. Fourteen when he died.”
“How hard it must have been for you having to witness all that while being too young to help. I wish I’d known.”
Laura reached for his hand, but Ford jerked away, shuffling the lease papers he was determined to resume reading. He did not want her pity! Neither did he want to give up more of his secrets to her. How dare she pry into his past while being so guarded about hers?
Yet hard as he tried to hold back, he could not. “She used me, that grasping baggage! Father never would have married her if he had not been convinced I needed a mother. So Helena proceeded to ingratiate herself with me. I was too young and stupid to see through her deluge of attention.”
That painful admission rung from him, Ford vowed it would be his last word on the subject. “There. I have answered your question. Now, I will thank you to let me get on with my reading.”
“Very well,” said Laura. “Only do not blame yourself for what happened. Your father was a grown man. He may have acted out of love for you, but you did not force him to marry Helena. Besides, it is possible that in spite of her fortune-hunting schemes, your stepmother truly cared for you.”
Harsh laughter scoured Ford’s throat. “I assure you, I have learned a thing or two since my gullible youth. Now I view all protestations of affection with a healthy dose of scepticism.”
He made the mistake of glancing over at Laura, only to find he could not look away.
“I suppose you could never forgive what she did,”Laura’s eyes searched his. “No matter what the circumstances?”
Was she asking about Helena or herself? During the past few days, Ford had been forced to consider the circumstances that had led Laura to forsake him in favor of his cousin. By times, a flicker of sympathy had kindled in his heart as he’d imagined what it must have been like for her. But this moment, with the memories of his despised stepmother so painfully fresh in his mind, was not one of those times.
Forcing himself to ignore the wistful plea in Laura’s eyes, he kept his features immobile as he shook his head. “I cannot imagine any conditions under which I would be willing to forgive her.”
Ford’s damning words ran over and over in Laura’s mind as she walked briskly along a wooded path toward one of Hawkesbourne’s tenant farms. Though he’d been speaking of his stepmother, she had no doubt his implacable resentment extended to her as well.
Ever since they’d returned from London, he had been more distant than ever. She would have given a great deal to know what he was thinking. Was he still brooding about the past? Or was he having second thoughts about marrying her? That possibility unsettled her more than she expected.
Laura slowed her pace as she approached the spot where her path cut across a drove road that had been trampled into the ground by centuries of hogs heading to market in London. The packed earth was nice and dry as she crossed over it and scrambled up the opposite bank. But troubling thoughts dogged her footsteps.
How would she feel if Ford jilted her ?
He couldn’t, of course. For a man to break an engagement was a breach of promise —a complete loss of honour and grounds for legal action. But if he had been able to change his mind and marry some other woman…? One younger and prettier, perhaps. More agreeable, less apt to take offence at everything he said or did. One without a dependent family.
She would be humiliated, of course, angry and resentful, even though she had not wanted to marry him in the first place. Even though she would be relieved to regain her freedom. Could that be how Ford had felt seven years ago, when he’d received her letter?
She asked herself that uncomfortable question as she glimpsed Appleshaw Farm through the budding orchard for which it was named. Spotting the farmer’s wife taking laundry from the line, Laura welcomed the
“How hard it must have been for you having to witness all that while being too young to help. I wish I’d known.”
Laura reached for his hand, but Ford jerked away, shuffling the lease papers he was determined to resume reading. He did not want her pity! Neither did he want to give up more of his secrets to her. How dare she pry into his past while being so guarded about hers?
Yet hard as he tried to hold back, he could not. “She used me, that grasping baggage! Father never would have married her if he had not been convinced I needed a mother. So Helena proceeded to ingratiate herself with me. I was too young and stupid to see through her deluge of attention.”
That painful admission rung from him, Ford vowed it would be his last word on the subject. “There. I have answered your question. Now, I will thank you to let me get on with my reading.”
“Very well,” said Laura. “Only do not blame yourself for what happened. Your father was a grown man. He may have acted out of love for you, but you did not force him to marry Helena. Besides, it is possible that in spite of her fortune-hunting schemes, your stepmother truly cared for you.”
Harsh laughter scoured Ford’s throat. “I assure you, I have learned a thing or two since my gullible youth. Now I view all protestations of affection with a healthy dose of scepticism.”
He made the mistake of glancing over at Laura, only to find he could not look away.
“I suppose you could never forgive what she did,”Laura’s eyes searched his. “No matter what the circumstances?”
Was she asking about Helena or herself? During the past few days, Ford had been forced to consider the circumstances that had led Laura to forsake him in favor of his cousin. By times, a flicker of sympathy had kindled in his heart as he’d imagined what it must have been like for her. But this moment, with the memories of his despised stepmother so painfully fresh in his mind, was not one of those times.
Forcing himself to ignore the wistful plea in Laura’s eyes, he kept his features immobile as he shook his head. “I cannot imagine any conditions under which I would be willing to forgive her.”
Ford’s damning words ran over and over in Laura’s mind as she walked briskly along a wooded path toward one of Hawkesbourne’s tenant farms. Though he’d been speaking of his stepmother, she had no doubt his implacable resentment extended to her as well.
Ever since they’d returned from London, he had been more distant than ever. She would have given a great deal to know what he was thinking. Was he still brooding about the past? Or was he having second thoughts about marrying her? That possibility unsettled her more than she expected.
Laura slowed her pace as she approached the spot where her path cut across a drove road that had been trampled into the ground by centuries of hogs heading to market in London. The packed earth was nice and dry as she crossed over it and scrambled up the opposite bank. But troubling thoughts dogged her footsteps.
How would she feel if Ford jilted her ?
He couldn’t, of course. For a man to break an engagement was a breach of promise —a complete loss of honour and grounds for legal action. But if he had been able to change his mind and marry some other woman…? One younger and prettier, perhaps. More agreeable, less apt to take offence at everything he said or did. One without a dependent family.
She would be humiliated, of course, angry and resentful, even though she had not wanted to marry him in the first place. Even though she would be relieved to regain her freedom. Could that be how Ford had felt seven years ago, when he’d received her letter?
She asked herself that uncomfortable question as she glimpsed Appleshaw Farm through the budding orchard for which it was named. Spotting the farmer’s wife taking laundry from the line, Laura welcomed the
Similar Books
