The Dark Stranger by Sara Seale Page B

meticulously the methods used in the factory.
    Bewildered by the noise, Tina was glad to get in the car again. It seemed to her terrible that such dirt and clamour and sweated labor s hould have been Craig ’ s background since he was a boy. An apprentice, like any other raw lad, he had spent the early years of his manhood following the lodes underground, working later in the cannery itself, until, on Keverne ’ s death, he had taken over the management, learning enough to take full charge when his father died.
    “ It seems so wrong that you should have missed so much when it wasn ’ t necessary, ” Tina said dryly. “ Belle always said your father was a very hard man. ”
    “ Well, I don ’ t know that I think that was particular evidence of hardness, ” he replied judiciously. “ Plenty of good business men believe in starting their sons at the bottom. ”
    “ But your brother didn ’ t. ”
    “ No, but he was the eldest, and, I think, my father ’ s favorite. Dad never forgave himself for the accident which killed him. He took no more risks after that with his surviving son. ”
    “ Then there were risks? ”
    “ There are always risks in a mine. ”
    They had stopped for lunch on Tudy Down beside the little stream where Tina had bathed last summer, and the remembrance suddenly brought the color to her face.
    “ Did you really see me naked that day? ” she asked suddenly and, at his startled expression, added with faint embarrassment, “ Last summer—when you told me to buy a bathing suit or make sure I wasn ’ t seen. I ’ ve always wanted to know. ”
    “ Have you, Tina? ” His eyes rested on her gravely. “ Would you mind if I had? ”
    She had finished her lunch and lay on her stomach by the stream, plunging her bare arms into the cool water.
    “ I don ’ t know, ” she answered slowly. “ No, I don ’ t think I would ... ”
    She caught the expression in his vivid gaze and looked away quickly. He had a habit of ignoring a question he did not choose to answer.
    “ Do you still want a job in the cannery? ” he asked.
    She looked up swiftly and her flush died.
    “ Yes, please, ” she said humbly. “ If you think there ’ s something I could be really useful at. I ’ m afraid I haven ’ t many talents. ”
    “ But one rather priceless one. ”
    “ Would it be useful? ”
    “ Not in the cannery. No, Tina, you ’ ll not work there or anywhere else if I can prevent it. ”
    His voice was autocratic and his eyes suddenly very blue in his dark face. She sat back slowly on her heels stretching her wet hands out in the sunshine, and he tossed her his own clean handkerchief.
    “ Thank you, ” she said. “ You don ’ t think I ’ m capable of earning a living, do you? ”
    “ Anyone ’ s capable of earning a living, ” he replied impatiently, “ but I don ’ t want you working when there ’ s no need. ”
    She dried her arms and hands carefully, not looking at him.
    “ There is need, ” she said. “ I can ’ t be a burden to Belle till I ’ m twenty-one. ”
    “ You won ’ t be. ”
    “ Or, more still, to you. ”
    He watched the sunlight playing on her down-bent face. “ I wonder what ’ s given you this strange sense of obligation, ” he said, and she looked up quickly.
    “ It isn ’ t so strange, ” she answered. “ If it hadn ’ t been for me, Belle wouldn ’ t have been hampered after father died. She ’ s still quite young and very good-looking. She might even have married again. ”
    “ Is that what she tells you? She isn ’ t destitute you know, Tina. She could have made a home of sorts for you if she had chosen. ”
    “ You don ’ t care for her, much, do you? ”
    His lips twisted a little bitterly.
    “ I ’ m a Pentreath. I know the breed, ” he said.
    “ You disparage each other? ”
    “ Probably, but for different reasons. Now, let ’ s have no more of this nonsense, Tina. I want you to make Tremawvan your home for as long as you like, and