A Second Spring Read Free Page B

Catriona contened herself. Letty must have time to get to know Sir Gideon before marriage was to be thought of—always supposing that the baronet was in the market for a wife.
    * * * *
    As twin red-headed sea serpents splashed towards the new skiff, Sir Gideon shipped his oars. “They have learned to swim amazingly fast,” he said.
    “They are clever children,” said Catriona with a proper pride in her grandchildren, “and they have an excellent teacher.”
    “It is good of Mr Talgarth to go to so much trouble.” Letty dabbled her hand in the water. “Daphne told me they always do exactly what he says because otherwise either they swallow water or he threatens to stop teaching them.”
    “Daphne, Donald, that’s far enough,” came Harry Talgarth’s incisive voice. The twins turned at once and paddled back towards the bank. “Mrs Rosebay,” he called, “we’ll be getting out now. The water is not as warm as it was.”
    “I shall come and fetch them,” Letty called back, averting her gaze from the wet-shirted figure.
    Catriona smiled and waved at him. At the advanced age of forty-two, she was, she felt, exempt from the demands of bashful modesty. She had only come out in the boat to chaperon her daughter. Not that she thought for a moment that Sir Gideon would take advantage of being alone with Letty; he was by far too gentlemanly.
    With long, lazy, powerful strokes, he rowed towards the new jetty. Beneath the blue Bath superfine of his coat, his muscles flexed, driving the boat smoothly through the water without haste or wasted motion.
    The way he rowed was typical of him, Catriona decided. Always tranquil, unhurried, good-humoured, he had already restaffed the manor and taken the reins of the estate management into his capable hands. Hilton, the bailiff, had dropped in to see her at the Dower House the other day. Sir Gideon, he reported was a fair man who realised his own ignorance but knew what he wanted.
    “And among other things, my lady, that’s a new roof for Ben Welter’s farmhouse,” he had said with satisfaction. “Them lawyers wouldn’t let me spend the blunt, but Sir Gideon dubbed up wi’out a murmur.”
    He was generous to his dependents, amused by the children’s antics, as vigorous as a man half his age—What more could Letty want? She was comfortable with him, making a laughing reference to the demolition of the old jetty as he handed her out of the boat onto the new.
    Over the past month, he and his cousin had called at the Dower House nearly every day, or they had met in the park or gardens. Surely kindness alone was not enough to explain such assiduous attentions. Sir Gideon must be attracted to Letty. Several times in the last few days, Catriona had almost spoken to her daughter about the possibility of a second marriage.
    Yet she had hesitated. The Dower House would be sadly empty without Letty and the twins, to be sure. The manor was no more than half a mile off, though. They could see each other daily. So why did her heart ache at the prospect?
    “Shall we go round the lake again, Lady Catriona?” Sir Gideon smiled down at her.
    “I beg your pardon, I was woolgathering! The boat is excessively comfortable, but no, thank you. I ought to be getting home, and I must not keep you.” Cautiously she stood up. He took her hand, steadying her as the boat rocked a trifle.
    “Careful now. The sun is warm, but the water is colder than when Mrs Rosebay and I took our ducking.”
    With one foot on the jetty, Catriona realised that Letty had already left. “Oh, where is she?” she cried. “My stupid heedlessness has prevented your walking with her.”
    In her dismay, she tried to step up too hastily and lost her balance. Instantly Sir Gideon’s arm was about her waist, lifting her as though she weighed no more than a child. She fell against him, or he caught her to him—what did it matter which? She was clasped to his chest, his mouth mere tantalising inches from her own. Gold